BEFORE MAKEOVER. The "ultimate makeover" of a park will start Friday and is slated to be finished in just a week thanks to a half million dollars from Starbucks and a group of volunteers. Photo by King County Parks
The $500,000 development of White Center Heights Park will kick off this week as volunteers take up shovels and hammers for a seven day transformation of the undeveloped land.
Hundreds of employees from Starbucks, a major donor of financial support for this project, will join hundreds of community volunteers in creating the new park.
Volunteers and King County Parks employees will gather Friday at 8:30 a.m. to begin the makeover behind a draped fence. One week later, on Friday, June 15, the new park will be unveiled for community residents to see and enjoy.
The White Center Heights Park project is part of a transformation taking place in unincorporated King County where a large immigrant community representing 80 nationalities lives and works.
An elementary school, a Boys and Girls Club and the new Greenbridge residential community are near the park that county officials expect to become a centerpiece of White Center.
Starbucks' financial gift is part of the parks division's entrepreneurial efforts to fund parks services through partnerships and other innovative approaches.
People who want to volunteer should contact Laurie Clinton at 296-1471, or via e-mail, at laurie.clinton@metrokc.gov.
