The newly opened Challenge Course at West Seattle’s Camp Long is not only a new park feature, it’s also an example of the new type of partnership that Seattle Parks hopes will help it keep and operate its facilities, even in times of budget misery.
The first phase of the course was officially dedicated and opened with a celebration this afternoon – including the distinctively decorated cake shown above. It’s been a year and a half since the project was first mentioned publicly (at the March 2010 Delridge Neighborhoods District Council meeting; WSB coverage here). As explained then, and along the way, 4-H partnered with Seattle Parks to make it happen, but they aren’t the only organization that will be using it:
That’s Aparna Rae from Neighborhood House, who said she’ll be using it as part of a youth program that includes mentoring and environmental education. West Seattle-based Safe Futures is another program that expects to use the challenge course. As Parks’ Robb Courtney put it, Camp Long was originally known as an “out of the way place,” and while it’s not so out of the way any more, he called it “the premier place for youth to come to learn about themselves, learn about nature, learn about being part of a team.” (There’s more about ropes courses on the 4-H website.)
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