Building construction has begun on the City of Bellingham’s new storage facility in the wedge of land between Woburn Street and Old Woburn Street near Bayview Cemetery.
The site was formerly home to Parks & Recreation Operations and included an old horse barn and caretaker house. Over the past 15 years, the city has worked to streamline its parks and public works operations so the two departments can share resources, explained then-public works director Eric Johnston during a city council meeting in May.
The parks department has relocated to the newly renovated Pacific Street Operations Center, leaving the Woburn Street site to serve as seasonal equipment and bulk materials storage for both departments. The property will also provide a larger, more functional area for the parks’ nursery program.
In May, the city awarded Faber Construction a $6.9 million contract to improve the property with new secure indoor and outdoor storage areas. The funding comes from the city’s street fund, transportation fund and real estate excise tax. This summer, the contractor removed vegetation and buildings, graded the site and installed stormwater facilities. Now construction on the new storage buildings has begun.
The project includes pedestrian improvements on both flanks of the facility, with sidewalks on the east side of Old Woburn, improved sidewalk ramps on the west side of Old Woburn, an improved pedestrian crossing at Wildflower Way and a pedestrian-triggered flashing light crossing on Woburn.
The project is eligible for Bellingham’s 1% for the Arts, in which 1% of eligible costs of capital improvement projects exceeding $2 million will go to public art. Artwork hasn’t been chosen yet for the Woburn project but will likely be on one of the large blank walls facing the heavily traveled adjacent streets.
The city anticipates construction will wrap up by March 2025. Updates are available at cob.org/project/woburn-site.
Julia Tellman writes about civic issues and anything else that happens to cross her desk; contact her at juliatellman@cascadiadaily.com.
