Garrison Creek Park Improvement Project

Garrison Creek Park was originally built in 1973 and then renovated in 1997. Did you know that the sport courts at this park are built on top of a water reservoir? That’s right! This improvement project seeks to achieve an enduring solution to long-standing court surfacing issues that are unique to this Parks-Public Works joint facility. In addition, we are optimizing the area so that it supports how you want to play and enjoy the beautiful natural environment of Garrison Creek. To do that, we've asked for your feedback: Thank you to all that have participated in the Pop Up Events and the public engagement survey for the Garrison Creek Park Improvement Project!

We're currently analyzing the data we've received from the survey and we are working with an interdepartmental project team to ensure our solution meets all of the necessary criteria for this joint use facility. Following this collaboration process, we'll publicize the results and how we're anticipating the public feedback received will inform project design --- if you haven't already had the chance to, please register and subscribe to these project updates on Engage Kent Parks!

Survey Results

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Garrison Creek Community Engagement Survey Results:
Kent Parks Planning and Development conducted community engagement for the Garrison Creek Park Improvement Project between July 1 and August 30, 2023. We held 3 events during that time and received 258 responses to the survey. We spoke to 111 people at the pop-up events and in the park during this time. All responses and comments received were compiled and the results are as follows.
Summary of Activities:
Garrison Creek Park is a neighborhood park on the east hill of Kent which means most people using the park will be getting there without using a car. To ensure that we heard from the community we help 2 pop-up events and engaged with a Kent Meridian High School civics class. The pop-up events were held at the park and at the Panther Lake Safeway. During these two events we talked to 103 people. Kent Parks also wants to help our community get more involved in public engagement as well as civic activities and were given the opportunity to talk to a class of students for just that purpose. All three of these events created wonderful opportunities to learn what the community wanted to see in the park.
Summary of Survey:
We received 258 survey responses, here are some of those findings.
As see here in Question 1, 72.9% of people who responded to the survey live 1 or more miles away. But in Question 2, 66% of respondents say they have visited Garrison Creek either occasionally (41%) or Never (25%). This shoes that those do not live within walking distance of this neighborhood park. Of those that responded the ages that are most represented in were 26-65 with 56-65 being the highest and 46-55 being the second highest.
In the survey we asked respondents to help up prioritize which active and passive uses in the park that are most important to them. The top 3 active uses were pickleball, children’s play, and tennis. As seen in the chart below the weighted averages were highly in favor of pickleball with all other activities ranking lower by a moderate margin.

The top 3 passive uses were walking trails, shade, and picnic and seating area, however most of the passive activities were in close association with all others.
When asked “What stops your from using the park today?” respondents answered that there was “not enough to do” at a significantly higher rate thank all other responses.
Kent Parks holds environmental education and volunteer events and we wanted to know if Garrison Creek was a location we should add to those events throughout the year. Respondents indicated at 68.7% that they would not be interested in these such events at the park.
Roadway Construction Project Notification - Pedestrian-Only Access to Park

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Due to the construction project of the adjacent roadway, Garrison Creek Park will be open for pedestrian-only access beginning Tuesday, September 17th. Please contact Public Works Engineering at 253.856.5500 with any questions related to the roadway construction project. There will be periods of time when construction activities will require complete closure of the park for public safety. Check back here and our social accounts for updates.