City nets $500,000 in grant funds to revamp Margaret Kirner Park

New playground will be for kids of all abilities

By Kathy Cruz Sequim Gazette • July 23, 2025 1:30 am

Sequim city officials and staff are “pretty stoked,” according to Parks and Events Manager Hannah Merrill, that a project to improve and redesign Margaret Kirner Park was chosen to receive $500,000 in grant funding from the state’s Recreation and Conservation Funding Board.

The Board recently awarded more than $148 million to projects across the state to improve parks and trails, conserve wildlife habitat and maintain land for farming and forestry. Clallam County was awarded more than $3 million and Jefferson County received almost $2 million.

“We were number 5 out of 54 applicants, just in the parks category,” said Resource Analyst Meggan Uecker. She added that the city had a “great team” that worked together to apply for the funds.

The city also applied for funding for Centennial Place Park, but that project was not chosen.

“These grants are critical to keeping Washington a premiere destination for outdoor adventure as well as a great place for Washingtonians to live,” said Megan Duffy, director of the Recreation and Conservation Office, in a press release when the awards were announced earlier this month. “These grants are key to building great communities. The grants help communities light ball fields, make parks accessible to people with disabilities, connect gaps in trail systems, refurbish pools and resurface pickleball courts.”

The City of Sequim will use the money to design and build an inclusive playground at Margaret Kirner Park, which Merrill said was deeded to the city in February 1968. New play equipment will include a spinner, inclusive swings, a net climber and an interactive sound wall.

Other improvements will be made by the city as well, including a paved walking loop, parking for people with disabilities, a sidewalk along the parking area, upgraded restrooms, and an entry gate, picnic tables and benches.

The upgrades to Margaret Kirner Park are part of the city’s parks master plan. Community surveys were conducted to determine what Sequim residents wanted for the park.

Merrill said she hopes the project will be “shovel ready” sometime next year and completed within 2026. However, she noted that various city projects have seen delays because of issues involving supply chains, staffing and funding.

“That is our best hope,” she said of the timeline. “(But) that might be a little on the optimistic side.”