Seahurst Park in Burien is set to reopen August 25 following completion of the Seahurst Park Ecosystem Restoration Project, Phase II. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned to follow.

The project, which began Oct. 28, 2013, removed 1,800 feet of shoreline concrete armoring in the northern section of the park replacing it with more natural habitat for forage fish and salmon rearing.

Improved habitat aids recovery of species, such as bull trout, steelhead and Chinook salmon, listed under the Endangered Species Act.

Along the park shoreline 25,000 tons of sand and gravel were added, as well at 17,000 plants. The public will be able to enjoy the new stretch of natural beach with several stairway access points, and new park features including a fish ladder, picnic shelter, playground, lawn areas and parking lot.

“We’re very excited about the completion of the project and the reopening of Seahurst Park,” said Burien Mayor Lucy Krakowiak. “With nearly a mile of natural beach, this park has become the crown jewel of urban Puget Sound waterfront parks.”

The Seahurst Phase II Shoreline Ecosystem Restoration Project is a joint City of Burien and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project. Partners include Puget Sound Partnership, Washington Department of Fish &

Wildlife, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Green/Duwamish Watershed Forum, King Conservation District, Salmon Recovery Funding Board, and Washington Recreation & Conservation Office.

The project’s overall purpose is to improve marine habitat for salmon, restore natural sediment processes, and restore the beach to pre-seawall conditions. The project construction contractor was CKY Inc., a civil and environmental construction company headquartered in California with a Seattle office.

Phase I, completed in 2005, removed more than 1,000 feet of seawall restoring Seahurst Park’s south end beach.

A local and regional priority, the project used state and federal funding. A priority for the Green/Duwamish/Central Puget Sound Watershed’s Chinook salmon recovery plan, the project ranked high on the Puget Sound Partnership’s large capital projects list for Puget Sound Acquisition and Restoration funding.

The Corps managed construction and provided the maximum $5 million federal funding limit for this type of project. City partners provided $3 million state capital dollars allocated by PSP through the Puget Sound Acquisition & Restoration fund; $647,000 from the Environmental Protection Agency and

Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife’s Estuary & Salmon Restoration Program; and $510,000 from the Green/Duwamish Watershed Forum through the King Conservation District.