Cromwell Park dedication and concert, Monday August 30 6 pm

Cromwell Park to be dedicated August 30.  Photo courtesy City of SL

Come celebrate the park opening and check out the features of the newly renovated Cromwell Park at a dedication ceremony and free concert featuring the group Miles From Chicago on Monday, August 30, at 6 pm.

January 2010.  Photo S.H. Robinson

Cromwell Park, 18030 Meridian Avenue N, boasts one of the most dramatic visual changes of all the recently completed Shoreline park improvements, going from a completely flat, featureless lot to sculpted natural showpiece.

Additions to the park include a new stage and grass amphitheatre, stormwater detention area with a bridge crossing, baseball and soccer field, basketball court, play area and swings. Other improvements include paved pathways, benches and picnic tables, open lawn and landscape beds, and storm water and wetland areas planted with native vegetation.

February 2010. Photo S.H. Robinson

The 1% for the Arts Program public art piece, Raintree by Kristin Tollefson, was installed in the center of Cromwell Park in the storm water detention area. According to the artist, Raintree honors the setting and history of the site and takes its inspiration from the storm water and bog characteristics of the environment, while addressing rain as the source of the water.

Raintree is fabricated out of metal highlighted with blue glass beads – durable materials that will respond to many kinds of ambient light.

In May 2006, Shoreline voters approved a bond issue to acquire park property and improve parks throughout the community, including Cromwell Park. The City also wanted to improve water quality and detention in the headwaters of the Thornton Creek Basin, which begins upstream of Cromwell Park.

The Cromwell project was jointly funded by the Park Bond and Shoreline’s Surface Water Utility to create much-needed recreational and storm water improvements.