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What's Happening at the Park?
Closed Loop Park Receives Special Recognition for Outstanding Achievement Award (excerpted from Spirit, June 1998, news and notes for county employees, Keith Eisner, Susan Thompson editors) Last month the county's Closed Loop Park received a Special Recognition for Outstanding Achievement award from the state Department of Ecology, which selected the program from 40 applications statewide. "You may not know it," claims the sign that greets visitors to Closed Loop Park, "but you're standing on garbage." Yes, a site holding years of throwaways is now an educational and recreational facility. The 15-acre park, adjacent to Thurston County's Hazohouse, is not just pleasing to the eye, but--critical to a former landfill - pleasing to the nose. "The largest challenge," explains Michelle Arnold, of Water and Waste Management "is overcoming the perception that the park would be dirty or stink because it's on the landfill. This perception is overcome during anyone's first visit." At the park's entrance is a demonstration garden, planted and maintained by the volunteers of the WSU Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners and Composters. A path winds past shrubs and flowers including pink panda strawberries, bee balm and lavender. The garden, using no chemical fertilizers or pesticides, emphatically demonstrates that earth-friendly methods work. Closed Loop Park, which opened in 1995, is so named because much of the construction materials are reclaimed and recycled products, and because the closure of the landfill and its return to the community as a park "closes the loop." Visitors learn how they can close the loop in their homes and businesses through onsite educational handouts, and demonstrations and workshops on composting, plant selection, recycling and waste reduction. A wheelchair-accessible path, popular with joggers and walkers circles the park, which includes a large, grassy field, ideal for kite flying. Future plans include a children's play area and volleyball courts. Closed Loop Park is open during landfill hours. Check it out!
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