Published December 2005

Stream project to create
regional attraction

Illustration courtesy of the Northwest Stream Center Development of this headquarters for the Northwest Stream Center in Everett includes a trout habitat stream education exhibit for the Adopt-A-Stream Foundation. The education facility close to I-5 is expected to become a significant tourism site.

By John Wolcott
SCBJ Editor

Construction could begin by January on a new education and fisheries exhibit being developed in south Snohomish County by the Adopt-A-Stream Foundation.

The outdoor trout habitat stream exhibit is expected to become a new regional tourism destination. It’s part of the $4.5 million Northwest Stream Center headquarters being developed adjacent to Washington State University’s Cooperative Extension Service offices at McCollum Park on 128th Street SE in Everett.

“Several years ago, we leased 20 acres south of McCollum Park to develop our Northwest Stream Center as a regional education attraction. The latest addition is a trout stream exhibit to help people understand how streams function and how to protect salmon habitat,” said Tom Murdock, executive director of the nonprofit conservation foundation.

When it’s finished, the 6,000-square-foot visitors’ building at the center will have offices, displays and a resource library filled with books, journals, maps, videotapes and other materials, sponsored by the GTE Foundation.

The center already has a classroom, auditorium and conference space. Later, theater-style seating will be added, along with audio-visual equipment, Murdock said.

All around the building, the natural growth area is home to waterfowl, raptors, songbirds and a resident muskrat, he said. There also is a 1.3-acre freshwater marsh on the site, recovered from a former gravel parking lot. A “Streamwalk” plaza made of bricks donated by supporters of the center will be part of the project.

North Creek, a salmon-bearing lowland stream, flows through the site from near the Everett Mall, through Mill Creek and south Snohomish County and eventually into the Sammamish River in King County.

The 200-foot-long trout stream exhibit, with three pools, a cascading stream and viewing windows, is being designed and built pro bono by area businesses with the support of the Seattle district of the Associated General Contractors.

Snohomish County firms involved include Wilder Construction in Everett as the general contractor, Rinker Materials Northwest and the Tulalip Tribes, donor of $150,000 toward the project.

“We still need help from plumbing and electrical firms, area businesses and various donors,” Murdock said, adding that other businesses that have stepped up to the project include Rebar International, Thomas & Associates, Harmsen & Associates, Cadman Gravel, Matheus Lumber, University Mechanical and Gray & Osborne, Seattle-based civil engineers and land surveyors.

He’s also looking for sponsorships to create a mile-long, raised interpretative area boardwalk with viewing platforms and an observation tower. The completed site will feature an exhibit room with interactive displays to teach people about human impacts on watersheds, wetland ecosystems and stream restoration.

“As a major Northwest environmental education facility, we’ll be creating a regional outdoor tourism attraction that could draw 45,000 to 60,000 visitors a year,” he said. Already, the center has had visitors from Vancouver, British Columbia, from Nisqually-area Indian tribes and other groups who have stayed overnight in local hotels during their visits.

The purpose of the Northwest Stream Center, being financed by a three-year fund-raising campaign, is to be a regional environmental learning facility to provide the public with information and training in stream and wetland ecology, as well as fish and wildlife habitat restoration.

“It’s a very slow process,” said Murdock, “but it’s an ideal site. It’s going to be a great place to teach people about a variety of ecological things, including what happens when so much of the area’s wetlands are paved over, and the impact that paving has on important, but very complex, environments.”

Also, the Adopt-A-Stream Foundation is a licensed, bonded contractor that does stream and wetland restoration work, he said, providing revenue for the nonprofit organization as well as being able to practice what it preaches in its education exhibits.

“We do stream surveys, fish mitigation and related projects, including water typing that involves determining stream conditions and fish presence. Our profits underwrite our stream-keeper classes,” he said.

Further information is available on the Internet at www.streamkeeper.org.

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