AmeriCorps and Federal Way team up for Dumas Bay stair project

By Jacinda Howard • February 1, 2010 11:22 pm
AmeriCorps members Sarah Swihart and Libby Miles participate in a Martin Luther King Jr. Day service project at Dumas Bay. AmeriCorps members and volunteers revamped a staircase leading from the facility to the Puget Sound. They also landscaped the grounds.
AmeriCorps members Sarah Swihart and Libby Miles participate in a Martin Luther King Jr. Day service project at Dumas Bay. AmeriCorps members and volunteers revamped a staircase leading from the facility to the Puget Sound. They also landscaped the grounds.

Visitors to Dumas Bay Centre will soon be able to once again access Puget Sound from the retreat facility.

On Jan. 15 and 18, Federal Way AmeriCorps members, volunteers and the city’s parks personnel restored the stairs leading down the steep bank at the back of the Dumas Bay Centre property, 3200 S.W. Dash Point Road.

It was one of the largest and most demanding service projects Federal Way’s AmeriCorps team has completed, AmeriCorps director Monda Holsinger said. The project was done in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The group also put in hours landscaping the grounds.

“Our relationship with AmeriCorps made this project work,” said Cary Roe, Parks and Public Works director. “They had a resource that we didn’t otherwise have, and we made a positive connection for the community.”

When Dumas Bay Centre was purchased by the city in 1993, stairs led from its sprawling grounds to the waterfront. But they were closed to the public in January 2006, following a large storm that impacted their structure, spokeswoman Linda Farmer said.

Repairing the stairs has been on the city’s to-do list. But there was no budget to hire a company to fix the attraction, Farmer said. The large number of AmeriCorps volunteers helped finish the project in a rapid and affordable manner.

“In a time of tight budgets and a never-ending shortage of workload, volunteers always make a difference,” said Jason Gerwen, parks and facilities maintenance supervisor.

AmeriCorps members and volunteers hauled gravel, rock, sand and beauty bark in an effort to repair the stairs. The project was no small feat. Volunteers put in a combined 740 service hours. They moved 51,500 pounds of gravel, 33,740 pounds of sand and 32,140 pounds of rock across the 12-acre park. Materials were moved with the assistance of a nearly 50-person bucket brigade. Additionally, other equipment needed to restore the stairs was fixed or installed.

“It was intense,” Holsinger said.

The stairs are not yet open to the public. City staff must finish installing a railing and inspecting the stairs’ safety, Farmer said.

Above and beyond

Along with the stair restoration, AmeriCorps members and volunteers landscaped the grounds. They pruned foliage, gathering approximately 90 yards of green waste. They also spread 65 yards of bark.

AmeriCorps is dedicated to completing service projects that make a difference in the community, Holsinger said. The labor is accompanied by positive attitudes, AmeriCorps supervisor Jackie Jamison said.

“You have never seen anything like AmeriCorps teamwork,” she said.

Years from now, AmeriCorps members and volunteers will be able to come back to Dumas Bay Centre and see a physical contribution to Federal Way, said AmeriCorps supervisor Danielle Bonner. The stairs are a visual reminder of what Dr. King represents, Holsinger said.

“There was something really personal about doing that work that day and connecting with (Dr. King),” she said.

Check it out

To become an AmeriCorps volunteer, contact Danielle Bonner at (253) 945-2281 or dbonner@fwps.org. To learn more about becoming an AmeriCorps member, call Elise Bales at (253) 945-2271. AmeriCorps will partner with the City of Federal Way parks department for four more scheduled parks projects this year.