June 15th marked the soft opening of a new outdoor classroom space in the Hundred Acre Wood area of Bellingham’s Fairhaven Park.
Recreation Northwest, in collaboration with Bellingham Parks and Recreation — as well as other local collaborators including Phillips 66 Ferndale Refinery — created the new space, which hosted about 60 people for a stewardship project update and live music from the Red Sky Riders, a local Americana Bluegrass band.
“It’s delightful to see our vision — the vision of the community — come together,” says Todd Elsworth, Recreation Northwest’s executive director. “We originally built this more as a classroom space, but as the space evolved, I think this is going to be used a lot more for other community events, in addition to environmental education.”
Project History
The outdoor classroom is just the latest addition to a flourishing natural space of the Hundred Acre Wood area of Fairhaven Park. The site’s 82 acres were purchased by the City of Bellingham in 2011, with the Chuckanut Community Forest District formed two years later to help protect the property.
In 2014, Recreation Northwest became park stewards to help offset their impact from the annual Bellingham Traverse, a multi-sport relay race that runs through local parks, trails, and waterways. The following year, phase one of the Trail & Wetland Boardwalk project began with the building of an ADA-accessible gravel trail.
In 2017, phase two began: a new 400-foot gravel trail and 40-foot wetland boardwalk were built to improve access and project habitat, and volunteers installed over 400 native trees and shrubs over 11,000 square feet of mitigation area.
A “recognition rock bench” — a seating area featuring the names of project partners and donors — was added in 2019, with a native plant garden opened the following year. Community work parties followed, clearing space for an outdoor classroom.
Volunteer work parties included members from Phillips 66 and Wild Whatcom, which will be using the space as an outdoor classroom. Participants removed invasive blackberry bushes, ivy, and problem areas of vegetation, planting additional native plants while also constructing public seating and a stone stage. Later this year, a covered pavilion complete with wooden beams will be added.
The outdoor classroom will be used for formal and informal public events, to be managed by the city’s parks department.
Donations
Lisa J. Lindsey, director of government and community relations for Phillips 66 Ferndale Refinery, was at the June 15th opening. Just several months prior, she’d seen the area covered in dirt, mud, and weeds. Now, live music and friendly conversation was emanating from the same space.
“It looks fabulous out here,” she says. “We truly, truly enjoy coming out here and giving back to the community.”
As Recreation Northwest continues its commitment towards making Hundred Acre Wood a pristine and tranquil part of our community, they’re also working to ensure they have all the funding to do so. The organization has a $10,000 matching grant to get started on constructing the outdoor classroom’s covered pavilion, but donations are always welcome.
Those who become monthly donors gain access to fun incentives, including hats and equipment bags. For more information on Recreation Northwest’s work and mission, see their website.
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