Planning has started for what could arguably be the most innovative park on the Eastside and perhaps in the state. McAuliffe Park at 10824 N.E. 116th Street was the former home of JoAnn and Jerry McAuliffe, who ran a nursery and landscaping business on the site until Kirkland spent close to $6 million to buy the 12-acre property in 2001.
The McAuliffes have since moved to Seabeck on the Hood Canal, but they left a legacy that includes four homes, several barns, numerous outbuildings and a decidedly eclectic collection of memorabilia that dots the lush landscape.
The property could have become just another pricey housing project, noted parks planning and development manager Michael Cogle. Speaking on a recent tour of the site, he said developers had approached the McAuliffes about buying the property. "But everybody thought, 'wow, that would be a really cool park.'"
The McAuliffes agreed. In fact, JoAnn told the Kirkland Courier in 2001 that she would be unable to return to the property if the land had been sold to developers. "As it is," she said, "everyone is pleased with how things turned out."
Cogle said the sale was the result of an ongoing dialogue between Jerry and the city, along with some serious dickering over a price the city could afford.
"The neat thing about this property is the sense of history about the place," Cogle said. The land was first homesteaded in the late 1800s, he said, and Joanne's family was the second one to buy the property at the turn of the century. Indeed, she grew up in a home that was built in 1905 and still stands on the property, he said.
Connection to the past
The house is not the only connection to a bygone era. Some of the fruit trees are more than 100 years old, and an old barn on the site is also around 100 years old, Cogle said. "It's possibly the oldest barn on the Eastside."
Then there's Jerry's quirky collection, which includes rusted farm equipment, windmills, an old cash register, huge half-globe light fixtures salvaged from a church, numerous Disney toys stored in an outbuilding, signs of all sorts and aging beer trucks used for plant storage. "Jerry was an avid collector," Cogle said with implied understatement.
There used to be even more, but the McAuliffes took much of it with them when they moved, including an antique-car collection worth close to $1 million, Cogle said. JoAnn made Jerry build a separate building at their new home to store the collection, Cogle smiled.
Having the property become part of the city's park inventory ties nicely into Kirkland's centennial celebration, a fact not lost on members of the Kirkland Heritage Society, he said. "They were thrilled and enthusiastic when the city approached (Jerry)," Cogle said.
The McAuliffes also left a diverse collection of plants on the site, including a stand of bamboo that is a favorite food for giraffes at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, he said.
Now what?
"First and foremost, it's to preserve that character of the site," said Cogle, who added that the idea is to find the best uses that fit well into the surrounding community.
A playground to the west of the main park was completed this year, so that's taken care of, but plans are still up in the air for the remainder, which has been divided into different areas such as a forest, farm and public zones.
One idea would be to set up a P-Patch community garden on the land, small outdoor concerts are a possibility and hosting weddings is another, Cogle said. Turning the garage into a café or catering center for meetings are two more ideas, he added.
Many nearby neighbors already weighed in on the issue at a public meeting on June 16, Cogle said. "Obviously, they were concerned about changes to traffic and noise."
It's an unusual situation for the city because three of four homes on the site currently have renters on a year-to-year lease, he said. That could change, and possible uses might include reserving a home for a park caretaker, setting up a small meeting facility or installing restrooms, according to Cogle.
"But really, the question from a community perspective is do we want the city to be in the habit of renting houses," he said. The practice does bring in some bucks, however.
Rentals on the homes brings in roughly $50,000 a year, but that only partially offsets the cost of taking care of the park, Cogle said. "Right now we spend $150,000 a year maintaining it."
Financing for operating the park might involve a new park bond, Cogle suggested, but first planning has to be completed. "Our goal is to complete the master-planning process this year," he said.
"We'll probably have to come up with some sort of interim plan to expand the public zone," Cogle said. But making all the changes is something that will probably take several years, he added.
In the meantime, Cogle marvels at having such a unique park in the city. "Every time I come out here, I find something new," he said.
Staff reporter Russ Zabel can be reached at rzabel@nwlink.com or (206)461-1309.[[In-content Ad]]
