Local kids got a new park today when Burien opened Dottie Harper Park Playground on 146th and 6th S.W.

Included in the work was a new roof on the Burien Community Center .The two projects came about through a partnership between the City of Burien and King County Community Development Block Grant Program and was funded through the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and the City of Burien.
Burien’s Parks, Recreation and Open Space Plan adopted in February 2012 had identified this playground as being in need of replacement. Safety and accessibility standards for playgrounds have evolved over the years, and the PaRCS Department has sought to update the City’s various playgrounds as resources become available. In 2013, the Burien City Council authorized the upgrades to this playground and added it to the City’s Park & General Government Capital Improvement Program. At the same time, PaRCS staff began exploring the potential for grant funding, and focused on a traditional, competitive source for such projects: the federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG).
 
Administered by King County, the CDBG grant program provides funding for areas that meet certain income characteristics. The project was selected and the City was awarded a $195,000 grant. The City also allocated $10,000 of City funds for the improvements. The new playground was designed by a local firm, LA Studio, LLC and constructed by Sundstrom, Inc.
 
The new playground provides several climbing rocks, spinner, slide and swings.

Kids from a nearby daycare center waited for the speechifying that preceded the re-opening of Dottie Harper Park Playground on 6th Avenue and 146th Street.

Attending the ribbon-cutting ceremony Michael LaFreniere, Parks Director, City of Burien, Mayor Lucy Krakowiak, Jack Peters, Director, Region 10 U.S. Dept. of Housing and rban Development, Mark Ellerbrook, Manager, King County Regional Housing and Community Development and Steve Roemer, Parks Development and Operations Manager and Project Manager, City of Burien.

Burien City Manager Kamuron Gurol gives kids a spin on a new playground toy at the re-opening of Dottie Harper Park Wednesday.