Islanders can help shape the future of Deane’s Children’s Park

Published 7:00 pm Tuesday, July 29, 2025

Will it be The Quest or Woodsy Wonders?

Those are the two preliminary design concepts that Mercer Island residents can weigh in on while taking the city’s survey regarding updates and a re-imagining of Deane’s Children’s Park at 5500 Island Crest Way.

Islanders can help choose their preferred design and play features for what’s also known as “Dragon Park” — which houses the mythical play creature, Kenton — by participating in the brief online questionnaire from now through its extended conclusion of Aug. 11. To join in the community engagement, visit www.mercerisland.gov/dcpg.

“We had our first touch point with the concepts at Summer Celebration (July 12) and got some really good feedback. So we asked for preferences on the concept as well as preferences on the look, feel and character of the play equipment,” said the city’s Capital Parks Manager Shelby Perrault, who added that city staffers will get the word out and receive input about the site plan at the July 31 Mostly Music in the Park at Mercerdale Park and National Night Out on Aug. 5 at the city hall parking lot.

The city said that community feedback will help shape the final design, which will definitely feature Island “gem” Kenton the Dragon, Perrault noted.

City documents state that the site plan “is necessary to address aging playground equipment and will focus on inclusive play, which is a play for all approach to ensure that children with all abilities have the opportunity to play and recreate together.”

With vital input from more than 1,200 Island elementary students during Deane’s Children’s Park presentations last school year — along with residents at community events — the city was able to identify priorities for park improvements and design concepts.

Of the four different themes that city staffers presented to the students for input, they listed their top two priorities as the Woodsy Wonders treehouse adventure and The Quest fairytale kingdom that took the lead in developing the two design concepts.

According to Perrault, the students’ clear winners in the playground equipment realm within the design concepts were swings, climbers, slides and spinners. The Quest would feature a drawbridge-inspired gateway, whimsical playhouses that inspire creative storytelling, castle-themed play structures and more. Woodsy Wonders would offer a forest-inspired and treehouse-themed experience, nature-inspired climbing structures, a rocking “river raft” and more.

Perrault said that it’s, “just so cool for students at that young age to be able to have a voice in a project in their own backyard and to see how important it is to have a voice and to participate.”

Overall, Perrault said the city eyed a cohesive integration of a new play space with the adjacent Bike Skills Area and the restrooms and the picnic shelter to create a central gathering domain.

Presently, the project timeline sits in the second of four stages, which previously included early idea sharing and will advance to preferred and final site plans in the fall and early next year, respectively.

Project funding comes from the city’s 2022 parks levy and capital improvement fund along with the utilization of funds from the King County parks levy. The city has an approved budget of $1.5 million, which includes planning and design along with construction of the first phase of improvements, Perrault said.