Bellingham’s beloved Boulevard Park is undergoing a restoration project to protect and enhance its shoreline against rising tides and storms.
Through the city’s restoration effort, they plan to create a natural beach habitat, improve public access to the shoreline, protect infrastructure from erosion and support local marine life.
The project is currently underway with the major construction planning to be done by December 2025, while some restoration work will continue through spring 2026. During the construction, there will be reduced or no access to parking and portions of the park.
The city explained on their website how the construction will focus mostly on the eastern and western beaches of the park.
For the eastern beach, the city plans on removing old rock revetments (retaining walls) and riprap (loose stone walls) from the intertidal zone, install a new rock revetment further inland to reduce erosion and relocate an eroding trail, utilities and a storm drain trench to safer areas within the park.
As for the western beach, the city plans to add a small rock revetment and rockery (rock garden) for shoreline stability, as well as remove invasive blackberry bushes to support native vegetation.
The benefits for this construction include increased habitat for surf smelt, the planting of native, noninvasive species that will help buffer against sea level rise and coastal erosion, better beach access for the public with safer, more stable walkways and new educational signage to share the story of the restoration and local ecology, according to the city’s website.
“Signage and outreach material that is readable and understandable to the general public will have a tremendously positive impact for getting the word out about restoration,” said Caleb Barville, the co-founder of the ecological restoration club at Western Washington University.
Barville hopes that adding educational signage will help garner public support for these restoration efforts, as well as create more opportunities for the public to be able to volunteer as well as create more opportunities for funding for other restoration projects.
“When you're building a resilient ecosystem,” Barville said, “you're also building a resilient community alongside it.”
Bodey Mitchell (he/him) is a campus life reporter for The Front this quarter. He is a second-year Journalism pre-major. In his spare time, Bodey can be found snowboarding or playing guitar. You can reach him at bodeymitchell.thefront@gmail.com.
