Northside Bellingham park expands, offering more recreation and a community center

A $5 million expansion of Cordata Park opened Friday, featuring a community center for Northside neighborhood meetings, a covered picnic area, basketball and pickleball courts, and 50 more parking spaces.

“It’s looking beautiful. We’re very excited. I think that the pavilion will be the new favorite place to have an event,” Parks and Recreation Department Director Nicole Oliver told The Bellingham Herald.

The enclosed pavilion creates a gathering place for 78 people with a kitchen, restrooms and a patio with an overhead trellis. It can be rented for special events, Oliver said.

City department heads met Friday at the new pavilion, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony afterward.

“This is not just a park. It’s a gem. This is why we build intentional places that bring people together,” Mayor Kim Lund tol about 50 community members under sunny skies as temperatures hovered in the mid-50s.

Forest Bracht, who lives nearby, played basketball with his father on the new court.

“We’re super-stoked. It’s a really wonderful place to come every day,” he said.

Randy Elliott, who was walking his dogs on the network of trails, said he appreciated having a park on the north side.

“I don’t know any city I’ve ever been to that has parks as nice as this,” Elliott said.

Cordata Park opened in September 2020 with 25 acres that include a playground, a parkour layout, a bicycle pump track and restrooms.

“Phase 2” of the park, which started last year, also includes a covered stage and new trail connections linking neighborhoods north and south of the park.

Funding, at a total cost of about $13 million, came from park fees paid by developers and the Greenways IV tax levy.