Waypoint Park finding its way in BI

The Bainbridge Island Parks Foundation and Seattle land-use firm AHBL are leading a planning effort to put Waypoint Woods on the map.

A Community Conversation event March 6 will unveil park concepts and designs, followed by walking tours of the woods from 2-4 p.m. The event begins with a presentation at the BI Rowing Stan Pocock Legacy Boathouse, 301 Shannon Drive in Waterfront Park.

The 3-acre property – bounded by Olympic and Harborview drives to the north and east, the Winslow Waterfront Trail and ravine to the south and west – may appear little more than a roadside buffer. Thousands walk past it daily to and from the ferry terminal, and maybe a few venture in. Most probably don’t even think of it as a “place,” even though it’s said to hold Winslow’s tallest tree.

Enhancements could include improved trails, benches with views of Eagle Harbor and a new park entrance at the Waterfront Trail footbridge.

“Neighbors know and love Waypoint Woods as a quiet place, just off from the busy ferry zone but a world apart,” said Barb Trafton, parks foundation projects manager. “This is a terrific opportunity to make this park setting more welcoming, while restoring its natural woodland character.”

The foundation is also forming a citizen Waypoint Woods Advisory Committee, and plans to submit permits and start fundraising later this year. Interested volunteers can email barb@biparksfoundation.org for details.

“We have a wonderful opportunity to create a new park here that welcomes visitors and serves neighbors from around Winslow,” Trafton said. “There really is a sense of calm here, a serenity that we can preserve even as we make the woods more inviting and rich.”

“Waypoint Woods” is a natural extension of the adjacent, city-owned Waypoint plaza at Winslow Way and Highway 305. Washington State Ferries owns the woods, and the BI Metro Park & Recreation District holds a use agreement to manage it for public enjoyment.

Planning began several years ago with concept drawings by Jones & Jones Architects and informational signs for passersby. The project eased back into motion last summer as AHBL signed on to complete planning and assist the parks foundation with public process and permitting.

Perspective drawings by islander Craig Skipton, an AHBL principal, and Maria De Jesus Arevalo-Martinez, a University of Washington landscape architecture student intern, suggest a park that is more accessible and clearly defined.

At the east entrance off Harborview Drive, features could include a small plaza with rockery, benches, landscaping and interpretive signage. A chainlink fence would be removed, and part of the slope regraded to blend more harmoniously with the Waterfront Trail.

The west end, near the Waterfront Park footbridge, could see an improved plaza and stairway up into the woods. The looping trails through the trees would be brought up to standard, and selective limbing of low-hanging firs could open up views across the ferry yard to the harbor.

An emergent icon for Waypoint Woods: the ship’s anchor. Two enormous anchors now rest at both ends, artifacts of the old Eagle Harbor shipyard and evocative of the island’s maritime past.

The anchors feature prominently in the concept plans.

“Young children love those anchors, both of them,” said Karl Petersen, a neighbor who has been tramping the woods for a decade. “They probably don’t know what they are, but they’re enchanted by them. They try to lift them, they climb on them everywhere they can climb. It’s something new and interesting to them, and it’s kind of an interesting asset.”

For details, go to: www.biparksfoundation.org/waypoint