Van Doren’s Landing Park in Kent to close until August 2022

Published 4:14 pm Thursday, July 2, 2020

Say goodbye by the end of this weekend to Van Doren’s Landing Park in Kent along the Green River.

City officials will close the park and the Green River Trail from South 212th Street to the Puget Sound Energy Trail from Monday, July 6 to approximately August 2022. Detours will be in place for trail users.

The popular park will be relocated as part of the estimated $52 million Lower Russell Setback Levee project by the King County Flood Control District, funded by a countywide property tax. The levee work will take a few years to complete as crews install a flood wall, create new fish habitat areas as well as relocate and reconstruct the city’s Van Doren’s Landing Park. Work started last August by the King County Flood Control District to install the flood walls. The 1.4-mile levee runs between South 212th Street and Veterans Drive (South 231st Way).

The former park location will become a fish habitat with a back channel area to be planted with native plants and trees, according to city staff. The levee work is along the east side or right bank of the river.

Crews will move the park to the east into the Green River Natural Resources Area, also owned by the city.

The new park will feature a Mount Rainier-themed playground, picnic shelters, pathways and an improved Green River Trail between Veteran’s Drive and South 212th Street.

In addition to funding from the county property tax, the Lower Russell Setback Levee received about $7 million from the state and $1 million from the city of Kent.

For more information, visit KingCounty.Gov/LowerRussellSetback.