Home Park dedication a success on peninsula

Former dump site now a clean playground for children

Hugh McMillan

Special to the Gateway

Home Park, formerly an illegal dump site, was dedicated and celebrated earlier this month as a success story on the Key Peninsula.

The ceremony was attended by about 80 people on Sept. 16, many of whom were kids.

Elmer Anderson, the Key Peninsula Metro Parks District board president, said people were using the park that afternoon and were happy to find out a community event was planned.

“They were all pleased to learn that the ceremony was for their benefit, and that they were invited to attend and enjoy hot dogs and cake,” Anderson said. “It thrilled me to see them all there playing on the new playground equipment, and they were all thrilled and thankful the park is now a reality.”

The property for Home Park was cleaned up in a pilot program called Pierce County Responds. Items on site were removed by Pierce County Public Works and the Key Peninsula Park & Recreation District.

Several days before the ceremony, parents and kids had been using the park and its collection of Big Toys, swings and a spring-mounted “fire engine.”

The fire truck, the brainchild of Key Peninsula Fire Department Division Chief Chuck West, is a gift of the Zech and Abi West Memorial Foundation.

“I like the swings, slides and fire fighter truck,” young Haylie Gallacher said. “What was fun was I saw some of my friends and chased them.”

“The park was awesome and fun,” Lauren Herold wrote in an e-mail. “The fire truck toy was my favorite, especially when my dad rocked me around in it. I also liked how there was a variety of different slides to go down.”

Her brother, Kennedy, agreed.

“The park was so, so fun,” he said. “The fire truck was my favorite thing ... it was so fun going down the slide and getting my picture taken.”

The dedication ceremony was conducted in a new covered picnic shelter, which was designed and built by the Key Peninsula Lions Club and KPMPD, along with a large number of volunteers.

Lions Club President George Robison said some community members “just appeared and pitched in.”

“Home Park is great!” wrote Ramona Dickson of Lakebay. “My 5- and 3-year-olds are loving it, and so are the parents we’ve met here. It’s wonderful to see kids playing there whenever I drive by.”

Anderson said when the KPMPD put together its comprehensive plan, one of the highest priority items was public playgrounds.

“The grand opening was very well-attended, and, I think, a big success,” he said. “Key Pen Parks, ‘The Key to Your Next Adventure,’ is on the move for the community.”

Scott Gallacher, executive director of KP Parks, said he noticed seven mothers and their children using the park a few days before the dedication ceremony.

“Three mothers had walked with their children from residences in Home (and) two had come together, each bringing a child, and the others drove themselves and their children to the park,” Gallacher said. “This is exactly what Home Park is for: giving children a safe place to play in their own community.”

Hugh McMillan is a longtime freelance writer for The Peninsula Gateway. He can be reached at 253-884-3319.