Final Nail in the Coffin for Clark Park Gazebo

Clark Park Gazebo to be removed.

The Everett City Council voted unanimously to approve the new off-leash dog park plans for Clark Park, which was bundled with taking down the Clark Park Gazebo and putting it in storage for a possible rebuild at a different park.

The Everett Historical Commission was upset with the way the process went, as they believe existing code made it clear the process should have gone through them. Some claimed the city was violating its own code. Many also felt the historical Gazebo was never the problem. Drug use and loitering were the real problems.

The council was ultimately swayed by the Bayside Neighborhood Association and the residents who lived closest to the gazebo. Many of them wished good riddance to the Gazebo and welcomed a dog park with the thought that the drug use and homeless presence would move elsewhere. In several testimonies, including that of Councilmember Fosse, the residents were tired of Clark Park becoming an outdoor bathroom.

In a sense, local residents are welcoming dog feces over human feces. It’s a sad state of the times that a park with 130 years of vibrant history has turned into a cesspool.

Let’s hope the dog park changes the equation and the Historical Commission and Everett City Council continue their efforts to move the Gazebo out of storage and into a park where it will be respected.