King County Executive Kurt Triplett said he will give away 39 parks, worth about $57 million dollars, in order to help close a $56 million budget shortfall next year.

Two of the parks on the list include the 5.6- acre White Center Heights Park (Southwest 102nd and 7th Avenue Southwest) and the 9.4- acre White Center Pond Natural Area (102nd Southwest and 12th Avenue Southwest).

The parks would close Jan. 1

The county is targeting school districts, cities other public or private agencies as likely to take over the parks, of which several lie in unincorporated areas of King County. Triplett said the county is "out of money."

The land must remain park land. Triplett said if takers are not found, maintenance would be severely reduced for those 39 parks, and fences put up around playgrounds and parking lots.

Thirteen jobs would be lost by closing the parks, and it's expected to save the county $4.6 million, said Triplett.

The park reduction is part of Triplett's 2010 budget plan, still under development. Triplett has also made proposals to trim another $38.5 million from the budget through reducing overhead in executive and budget offices, cutting funding for mental health and drug dependency programs and negotiating an unpaid 10-day furlough.

Dow Constantine, chair of the King County Council, called Triplett’s idea to cut funding for parks in the urban unincorporated areas "short-sighted."

"Parks are important to the health and quality of life of everyone in the communities in which King County provides basic services—especially to our young people," said Constantine in a statement. "To eliminate these parks with the stroke of a pen when economic times get tough would be short-sighted.

Constantine said the county should explore other options, including reductions to administrative staff.

"I have laid out a set of ideas to serve as a starting point for substantive discussions by the King County Council to create a balanced 2010 budget without raising taxes or cutting funding for urban unincorporated parks.

Starbucks was a major donor in 2007 for a $500,000 makeover of Whiter Center Heights Park. Volunteers worked for a week to transform the land into a workable park for the neighborhood.

The parks on the closure list are in unincorporated urban areas adjacent to Seattle, Burien, Kent, Renton, Kirkland, Issaquah, Renton and Federal Way.

King County parks proposed for closure

132nd Square
Arbor Lake
Bingamon Pond
Boulevard Lane Park
Bridle Crest Trail
Bryn Mawr Park
Camelot Park
East Norway Hill
Edith Moulton Park
Evergreen Athletic Fields
Five Mile Lake Park
Green Tree Park
Hamm Creek Natural Area
Hazel Valley Park
Hilltop Park
Juanita Heights Park
Kingsgate
Klahanie Park
Lake Geneva Park
Lakewood Park
Maplewood Heights
Maplewood ParkMay Creek Park
North Green River Park
North Meridian Park
North Shorewood Park
Park Orchard Park
Puget Sound Junior High Park
Renton Park
Salmon Creek Park
Sierra Heights/Honey Dew
Site Number 1 Duwamish
Skyway Park
South County Ballfields
Southern Heights
Sunset Playfields
Windsor Vista