Letter: Don't change glacier

Editor:

The Eatonville Lions Club would like to provide some background information on the city council’s proposed changes to Glacier View Park from a city park to a soccer field or other sports venue.  The Lions Club built and donated the kitchen to the city of Eatonville years ago.  The Lions Club Arts Festival has been held at the park for many years; the 2019 Arts Festival is the 48th edition. Over the years, the Lions Club has generated hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Arts Festival and related activities. By charter, the club is mandated to return any revenue back to the community in the form of monetary donations to the Eatonville Food Bank, Family Agency, scholarships for Eatonville High School students, and eyeglasses for those in need, to name a few.  The Arts Festival is the Lions Club’s largest fundraiser for the year, and to convert Glacier View into a sports field will deprive the Lions of this prime location and kitchen, greatly impacting the Club’s ability to fund community needs.

Eliminating Glacier View as a city park may also have the following effects:

1.  Eliminate usage of the park except to a narrow demographic, that is, only to those physically able to participate in sports and remove picnic/play space to a broader population.

2.  Impact funerals scheduled at the adjacent cemetery during a sports/soccer game.

3.  Proposed removal of the large trees will detract from the lovely, shaded appearance of the park. Artists at the Arts Festival desire booth space in the shade.

4.  There are other suitable locations already present/in use for sporting events.

5.  The cost to remove trees and convert the park into a sports field has yet to be determined or a source of funding identified.

For these and other reasons, the Eatonville Lions Club goes on record to vigorously oppose the city council’s shortsighted proposed conversion of Glacier View Park into a sports field along with tree removal.

Lynn M Butler, President

Eatonville Lions Club