Seattle Press on Line - Nine Acres of Wetland Art

Meadowbrook

Nine Acres of Wetland Art

By Carol Marsh

Jun 19, 1998 -- Land which once held the Lake City Sewage Treatment Plant has been transformed into a nine-acre, interactive work of art, with a wetland wildlife refuge as just one of its many attractions.

Meadowbrook Pond, at 10750 35th Ave. NE, across from Nathan Hale High School and the Meadowbrook Community Center, was officially opened to the public on June 13.

The acreage functions as a storm water detention pond for Thornton Creek, a horticulture classroom for Nathan Hale students, and a spawning ground for salmon.

From 35th Avenue, a winding path, textured to suggest a brook, flows between landscaped hillocks to a short bridge over a wetland stream.
Beyond the bridge, ducks glide over a broad pond. A 400-foot pedestrian bridge, constructed of plastic made from recycled milk jugs, crosses the water and reconnects to a path which circles the area.

Water flows over a short dam, while above the dam, a copper-finished ?sound mirror? reflects the sound of flowing water across the pond to a ?sound reflector wall,? inviting visitors to sit and enjoy.

A ?magical geoduck? fountain spouts water for 30 seconds at the touch of a student?s foot.
Local artists Peggy Gaynor and Kate Wade and architect Lydia Aldredge , invited to design art work for the project, came up with the plan which made the entire nine acres a work of art, according to Pamela Miller, project manager for the work through Seattle Public Utilities. They even showed how the work could be financed, Miller said.

What the artists proposed was to save the money which was budgeted to haul away the dredged dirt as the holding pond was dug, use the dredged material to build small hills and islands as part of the project design, and put the money thus saved into site development.

?Not having to haul the dirt away and dump it saved about $150,000,? Miller said. The city?s ?One Percent for Art? fund contributed $75,000.
The State Department of Ecology contributed a $200,000 grant to create a wetlands horticulture curriculum for Nathan Hale.

The first stage of the work improved the stream bed, and brought salmon back onto the site.
?It?s like, ?If you build it they will come,?? Miller said. ?We have videotapes of salmon spawning here!?

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