Designed to create an outdoor haven for children and parents alike, Cordata Park has become one of the most notable parks in Bellingham, Washington. With trails, places for children to play and plenty of green space, the park is the culmination of an effort to connect different parts of the city. However, it’s the monuments that have come to define it that have allowed it to fulfill a vision associated with creating a true community hub that attracts attention and activity from across the region and beyond.
Meeting Community Needs
In the 1990s, levy proponents identified the inequity of park and open space between the newer north and established south parts of Bellingham. In 2015, the city purchased the property for Cordata Park and planning was begun. The site planning was approached in an especially thoughtful manner to ensure the amenities identified in the master plan could fit on the site with minimal environmental impacts. Phase 1 construction began in June of 2019, and the park opened in 2020.
Phase One amenities include age-separated playgrounds, picnic areas, a large rentable picnic shelter, parkour, bike pump track, restroom, parking, trails, landscape planting, utility extension, security lighting, and irrigation. Additional amenities at the south end of the park will be added in Phase 2, including a park pavilion, amphitheater, picnic shelter, basketball and pickleball courts and additional parking.
These features make Cordata Park distinct, but it’s the three lighted “gateway” sculptures by Andersen Studios that make the space especially unique and fulfill the vision associated with serving over 8,000 residents within a one-mile radius. These distinctive gateway monuments have provided the space with an identity that attracts attention from all over. This interest exposes audiences of all types to the various other amenities that the park possesses.
Cordata Park contains a large covered picnic shelter, restrooms and literal room for growth to further support the community, but these features are directly enabled by the distinctive sculptures that anchor the space. They have been a powerful means to ensure the vision associated with Cordata Park continues to be developed on multiple levels.
A Point of Connection Becomes the Pride of Bellingham
Designed to draw viewers’ attention and guide them into Cordata Park, the sculpture gateways bring visitors into the area in a memorable way. Cordata Park is a notable attraction on account of the many activities it contains, but by creating such distinct monuments for audiences to engage with, the space has come to represent a vision for the future of the area. It’s one that continues to grow and evolve as a direct result of the interest and activity these pieces have cultivated.
