Magnuson Park

Early history The area has been inhabited since the end of the last glacial period (c. 8,000 BCE—10,000 years ago). Prairie or tall grassland areas (anthropogenic grasslands) were maintained along what is now Sand Point Way NE (map ), among numerous locations in what is now Seattle. ''BEbqwa'bEks'' ("small prairie"—anthropogenic grassland) was near what is now Windermere. One or three sizable longhouses have been documented. Villages were diffuse. Naval use The first park at Sand Point was established in 1900 as Carkeek Park, a gift from developers Mr. and Mrs. Morgan J. Carkeek. After World War I, a movement was begun to build Naval Air Station (NAS) Seattle at Sand Point, and King County began acquiring surrounding parcels. In 1922 the U.S. Navy began construction on the site, which it was leasing from the county, and in 1926 the Navy was deeded the field outright. The name Carkeek Park was subsequently given to a new park on the west side of the city, north of Ballard on Puget Sound. This deed amounted to a public gift of $500,000 from the county to the Navy, in 1926 dollars; this would be $5,283,000 in 2005 dollars, not including significant real estate appreciation. Naval Air Station Seattle was deactivated in 1970 and the airfield was shut down; the reduced base was renamed "Naval Support Activity Seattle." Negotiations began as to who would receive the surplus property. City park In 1975 a large portion of the Navy's land was given to the City of Seattle and to the NOAA. The city's land was largely developed as a park and named Sand Point Park. In 1977, it was renamed Magnuson Park in honor of longtime U.S. Senator Warren Magnuson, a former naval officer from Seattle. Both names for the park are commonly used. The airfield runways were demolished in the late 1970s and new construction on the north end for the NOAA was completed in 1982. ==Geography==

The Sand Point peninsula on which Magnuson Park is located juts into Lake Washington between Wolf Bay and Pontiac Bay. As well as the park, the peninsula is occupied by parts of View Ridge and Windermere, and gives its name to the Sand Point neighborhood to the west. and by city housing. ==Amenities==

s Magnuson Park today features several sports fields, a picnic area, a swimming beach, public sailboating, Wildlife diversity has been improved in part by a wetlands restoration project that radically transformed the park's landscape and hydrology. Sand Point was substantially regraded during construction of the naval air station. Existing marshlands were eliminated with fill or paved over and the point's natural slope was flattened. Runoff was channeled into storm drains, and around 20% of the park's surface was rendered impervious with concrete and asphalt. As the storm drains aged, they became less effective at channeling water to the lake, leading to an increase in sheet flow runoff and over-saturation of the park's sports fields. The irregular runoff patterns also resulted in substantial volume of untreated water draining into Lake Washington. The Wetlands Restoration project created a set of mounds, plateaus, valleys, and ponds to channel water more effectively and improve drainage of over-saturated areas. This constructed wetland provides natural filtration of urban drainage water and reduces pollution in Lake Washington. Part of the wetlands project included the removal of the parking lot at the south end of the Sports Meadow and the demolition of Building 193 at the south end of the park. Built in 1943 as a hangar for transport aircraft, it was later the base's commissary and exchange; it was removed in December 2006. ==See also==