Fundraising underway for Washougal park Sasquatch

The future addition of a Sasquatch sculpture in Washougal Waterfront Park needs funding and a name.

The artwork — with an estimated cost of $27,000 — is expected to debut in a children’s natural play area of the park located at 335 S. “A” St., Washougal, in the fall or winter 2018.

The Sasquatch — designed by ID Sculpture, of Gunnison, Colorado — would be situated near “Erric the Erratic,” a boulder that traveled on a glacier from Canada to the Camas-Washougal area in the Missoula Floods. The figure would be made of reinforced steel, GeoFoam and glass-fiber-reinforced concrete.

Port of Camas-Washougal Community Relations Specialist Angelina Anderson said the natural play area will be “a magical place for Sasquatch to share with guests.”

“It will include a hillside slide, log steppers, xylophone, drums, willow tree tunnels, a boulder maze, log balancing beams and a fun climbing rope (that) Sasquatch will use to play tug-a-war with Erric the Erratic,” she said.

“There is no deadline currently for fundraising, but we hope to have a majority of funds raised prior to starting the project early next year,” Anderson added. “We are trying to raise as much as possible to contribute to the Sasquatch cost, and if there is additional we would put those contributions towards the rest of the natural play area.”

GreenWorks, P.C., a Portland landscape architecture and environmental design firm, developed concept plans for the children’s play area. Port Finance Director Kim Noah has said the cost estimate for the natural play area is $270,000.

In March 2017, Noah and Anderson surveyed students in kindergarten through fifth grade at Cape Horn-Skye and Hathaway elementary schools in Washougal, and the majority of children favored a rock sculpture more than a rope climb, in Washougal Waterfront Park.

The park, located at the former Hambleton Lumber Company property, opened in September 2016.

To donate money or to suggest a name for the Sasquatch, visit www.portwaterfrontparks.com/sasquatch. Questions can be directed to Anderson at angelina@portcw.com or 360-335-3676.

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