Many years ago before Burien became an incorporated city, I contacted the King County Parks department and met with the official in charge of the Dotty Harper park.
He came out and we traipsed the tree covered terrain.
I was a good friend of Dotty and respected her lifetime efforts on behalf of the Highline community.
But I had an idea that I thought might help Burien compete against the attraction of Southcenter's enormous shopping community and help offset the ravages of expansion of the airport.
And that was to create something attractive enough to attract the tourist dollar. Something Seattle has done, Kent has done, and Leavenworth has really done.
When tourists come to Seattle from all over the world they want see Pike Place market, the Space Needle, the waterfront, you name it.
They land in our front yard on the third runway and never even glance our way to look at our attractive downtown Burien plaza, Olde Burien, Seahurst Park, the Des Moines marina, the Redondo aquarium or even the funky row of houses sitting cheek by jowl along the south beach at Three Three Tree Point in a glimpse reminiscent of the Algarve in Portugal.
Where do YOU take visiting guests?
Since I married Elsbeth, the Really Attractive hostess at the once famous White Center Epicure restaurant 42 years ago, we are hard pressed to brag about awesome sights.
We will have a Highline HIstorical museum you will be proud to show off but that is a bunch of months away.
My idea is simply to thin the skinny, sun starved Dotty Harper park trees and do what the city of Port Orchard has done: Build a mini railroad around the perimeter for our kids and fun-seeking tourists.
What did my parks department guy say?
He said, "I will help you if the tree huggers don't run you out of town if you cut down one tree. I don't care if the place is used mainly for a place where teenagers can go to smoke grass."
I am not talking about all the trees. Every jungle has trees.
We have the inventor and builder of the electric train engines living right here in Gregory Heights.
We even have some talented wood carvers living here.
We could dazzle the visitors with sights and sounds with a mini Disney park populated with chain saw animals of every description behind a hundred bushes, build a Kenya Koffee Haus selling stuffed stuff.
We have a plethora of great eating places now. We just have to attract the visitors.
