REVIEW BAINBRIDGE ISLAND
Friday, October 31, 2014 | Vol. 114, No. 43 | WWW.BAINBRIDGEREVIEW.COM | 75¢
INSIDE: Blowout! Sports, A28
Park district wants to buy Sakai property VOTERS TO BE ASKED TO APPROVE BOND MEASURE PAY FOR NEW PARK BY BRIAN KELLY
Bainbridge Island Review
Bainbridge park commissioners decided at a special meeting Wednesday to put forward a bond measure to buy the 22.87-acre Sakai property on Madison Avenue. Park commissioners discussed the property acquisition after a short, closed-door executive session. The property is located across from Ordway Elementary. It includes two parcels — one at 9.51 acres and one at 13.26 acres — that stretch from Madison Avenue to Highway 305. The park district and the Sakai family have been negotiating the purchase since the summer. The property has been appraised at $6 million. The bond measure would be put before the voters in February. Parks Commissioner Lee Cross
Photo courtesy of the Bainbridge Island Park & Recreation District
The Sakai property. said the land was centrally located and an essential piece of property that would provide critical trail connections, plus areas for passive and active recreation. It’s also close to schools, the library and the aquatic center. “This is the last big piece of land inside of Winslow,” Cross said. “I
think it’s really critical for us to move ahead with this. If we’re not able to get this, I think it’s gone. There won’t be another opportunity like this.” Commissioner Ken DeWitt said the property was the last large undeveloped holding in Winslow. The exact bond amount may fall in the $6 million to $7 million range, said Parks Commissioner Kirk Robinson, because it would need to include acquisition costs, planning and some park development costs. The vote was unanimous. Parks Director Terry Lande also noted the bond vote would be held during the park district’s 50th anniversary. Commissioner Jay Kinney said the purchase would be a gift to future generations, and it was an opportunity TURN TO SAKAI | A31
Park, community garden donated to parks district New park offers more public green space in downtown
HOW TO SAVE A LIFE:
A lot of training, a little luck, kept one islander alive BY LUCIANO MARANO Bainbridge Island Review
BY CECILIA GARZA Bainbridge Island Review
When the Harui family sold their land on the corner of Parfitt Way and Wood Avenue to Sue Cooley, they gave with it a map of the plants and trees that spotted the property. The founder of Bainbridge Gardens, Junkoh Harui, had planted a fenced-in garden, an orchard and several unique trees to landscape his home. The skeleton to a peaceful and beautiful public space was already there, and the seed to what would become a public park, not far off from a Japanese garden, was planted. “It’s for the people in the community,” said Bruce Woolever of Toilsome Construction. “It’s something that the whole community can enjoy.” The property — which was donated last week to the Bainbridge Island
Luciano Marano | Bainbridge Island Review
Bainbridge Island Fire Department Assistant Chief Luke Carpenter talks with heart-attack survivor Alan Lindstrum before the start of a recent CPR class.
Cecilia Garza | Bainbridge Island Review
Red Pine Park was donated to the Bainbridge parks district late last week. A community garden and passive park, it is the newest addition to downtown Winslow’s short list of public green space. Metropolitan Park & Recreation District — was previously planned to house a condominium and hotel not unlike many of the buildings along Parfitt Way. Resistance from the neighborhood, though, brought Cooley to action. After neighboring resi-
dents were unsuccessful in raising enough money to purchase the land and stop the construction, Cooley decided to purchase it herself and make it one of the few public green spaces in downtown Winslow. Over the next three years, Cooley enlisted the
help of Woolever, Brig Morgan for his expertise in gardening and a myriad of other crew to bring her vision to life. “There were no challenges because the layout was already here and TURN TO GARDEN | A31
What will perhaps be the luckiest day of Alan Lindstrum’s life started with a heart attack. It only got better from there. Lindstrum had been hiking in the Grand Forest earlier this month with the Bainbridge Striders walking group when he suddenly went into cardiac arrest. Not being in the proximity of any markers, the walkers were unsure of exactly which trail they were on, and they initially specified the wrong path entrance to the 911 operator. While trying to getter a better read on their real position, two members of the group came upon Parks Department employee Travis Lande who was out doing some routine trail maintenance. Luckily for them — and Lindstrum — Lande is also a volunteer firefighter. “I happened across a guy waving at me asking where we were at,” Lande remembered. “He said someone
had tripped and fell, and that’s all I really got so I figured I’d walk down, see what’s going on and make sure everything’s OK.” Lindstrum’s luck, it would seem, was holding strong that day because by the time Lande got to the scene, two of his fellow walkers, having realized he didn’t just trip and fall, had already started CPR. Lande joined in the life-saving efforts while the responders from the Bainbridge Island Fire Department hiked in to the group, lugging all of their gear and equipment along the trail. “They were definitely doing a great job of CPR,” Lande said of the quick-thinking Striders. “When I showed up, they had him down pushing on his chest, he was very kind of in-and-out of being coherent. We held up, took a look at him. He took a couple of breathes and stopped again. [We] went right back in and started CPR and just kept TURN TO LIFE | A31