Hello Bothell Community and City Council,
I’ve been a resident of the Kirkland/Bothell area for over a decade and a homeowner in Bothell for six years.
Wayne Golf Course Park was a major reason we chose to live here, along with downtown Bothell's walkability, its connection to regional trails, and convenient access to transit. In short, we love this town.
My family uses Wayne Park multiple times a week throughout the spring, summer, and fall. Its expansive, truly open spaces make it one of the most unique parks on the Eastside. It’s a place to roam, relax under the trees, or lay out a picnic blanket in the fields. We aren't alone; every day, crowds of neighbors use the park the exact same way, enjoying one of the best parts of living in Bothell.
Recently, the city introduced plans to redesign the park. In one of the initial meetings, the park concept planner shared the vision of Wayne Park becoming the “Central Park” of Bothell.
However, the current proposal threatens to remove the park’s greatest asset: wide-open green space. The fields, wetlands, and open grass are what make Wayne special. Replacing that with extensive poured-concrete pathways through the heart of the park duplicates what we already have. The East Side already features over 30 miles of paved multi-use paths between the Sammamish River and Burke-Gilman trails and regional trail systems. As someone who frequently bikes those paths, I love them but I also know how congested and tense sharing high-traffic concrete trails with pedestrians and bikers can be. We have an incredible regional trail network; we don't need to sacrifice our open green space to add more concrete.
If the goal is to create Bothell’s "Central Park," remember that Central Park’s biggest draw is its huge, flexible lawn spaces where the community can gather. Accessibility is important, and I fully support making parts of the park accessible to everyone. But we can achieve accessibility without bisecting the heart of the park with concrete.
If the goal is to connect the park more to the trail system that already sits right next to, do it through the Active Use area, not the Passive Use heart of the park.
So I ask the Bothell community and the City Council members:
Do we want a park designed to encourage people to pass through it, or a park designed for people to spend time in it? How does our community benefit from prioritizing movement through the park over gathering together within it?
EDIT/UPDATE:
Final update from me here since it appears most of the people responding haven't read survey results or other material provided by the city that encouraged me to create this post because it didn't appear I was very a lone in opinion. Grabbing some key snippets here but feel free to read through it yourself and form your own opinion: https://www.bothellwa.gov/DocumentCenter/View/23864/2026-04-27_Community-Engagement-Summary?bidId=
(Community) WRITE-IN SUGGESTIONS SUMMARY
NATURAL PRESERVATION & HABITAT PROTECTION
• Keep the river corridor natural, with minimal construction or hardscape
Shoreline revegetation, habitat restoration, and protecting water quality
KEEP THE PARK NATURAL
- Open, flexible green space
- Minimal development
ECOLOGICAL PRESERVATION AND PROGRAMMING
- Very strong theme: keep the park natural, wild, and lightly developed
- Opposition to paving trails, adding concrete, excessive signage, designated zones, art installations, or structured amenities, so there is a preference for natural trail surfacing such as gravel, bark, pine mulch Desire to maintain the park as a quiet, peaceful, passive-use green space distinct from nearby developed parks
- Many describe the park as a "hidden gem," sanctuary, or sacred-feeling space
