About 20 people participated in \u201cThe Mayor\u2019s Mile\u201d to help kick off a new community health initiative as part of the Town Square Plaza Park dedication Saturday in downtown Kent.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you feel good, you\u2019ll smile at people and people will smile back,\u201d said Marge Williams, a wellness coach with Northwest Neighborhood Nurtrition, to the crowd at the park before the walk through downtown Kent. \u201cIt\u2019s about having energy at the end of the day and handling stress. It\u2019s about a sense of well-being.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kent Mayor Suzette Cooke is spearheading the Kent4Health campaign. Williams is part of a 30-member citizen coalition with a goal of turning Kent into a healthier community.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith better nutrition and more exercise you\u2019ll have better mental health,\u201d Cooke told the crowd. \u201cYou\u2019ll be better to your family, friends and the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
A couple of hundred people turned out for the grand opening of the 34,500-square foot urban park at the corner of West Smith Street and Second Avenue, just south of Kent Station.<\/p>\n
Linda Hearn, a resident of Alaska visiting her daughter in Kent, came away impressed with the new park designed to connect Kent Station with the historic downtown.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a fabulous way to bring a community together,\u201d Hearn said.<\/p>\n
And nothing impressed Hearn more than the Rotary ball unveiled on Saturday. The granite ball floats on water in a granite base in the middle of the park. The sphere is 5 feet in diameter and weighs 13,000 pounds.<\/p>\n
\u201cIsn\u2019t that amazing?\u201d Hearns said of the ball. \u201cIt\u2019s just kind of sitting there and then you see it moving and the children having fun with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Children rushed up to the Rotary ball to touch it and spin it after a short dedication. Several ground-level spray jets shot up water near the sphere.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy daughter anticipates every sunny day she\u2019ll have the kids (ages 2 and 4) here playing in the water,\u201d Hearn said.<\/p>\n
The Rotary Club of Kent and the Kent Sunrise Rotary Club donated the sphere to the city in celebration of the 100 years of Rotary International. Seattle Solstice artist Stuart Kendell created the water sculpture.<\/p>\n
The park features colored-cement plazas, grass knolls and concrete ledges for sitting. A small building houses a restroom and a mechanical room for running the fountains.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis addition is unique because it\u2019s an urban plaza,\u201d City Parks Director Jeff Watling said to the crowd. \u201cIt will be very flexible in its use.\u201d<\/p>\n
The park hosts the Kent Farmers Market from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. each Saturday through Sept. 27. Second Avenue is blocked off between West Harrison and West Smith Street to give the market even more room and keep vehicles away from events at the park.<\/p>\n
City officials set up a stage on Saturday in the northwest corner of the park that featured Ian Dobson\u2019s Pan Leggo Duo, a Seattle-based steel drum band. Dobson even wrote a local tune for the grand opening of the park.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re havin\u2019 a good time, we\u2019re havin\u2019 a nice time, jammin\u2019 in Kent, Washington,\u201d Dobson sang.<\/p>\n
Dobson even persuaded Cooke and City Council members Deborah Ranniger and Tim Clark to join him on stage to dance and sing the song.<\/p>\n
JV Constructors Inc., of Seattle, received the $3.42 million contract last year from the city to build the plaza.<\/p>\n
For more information on the Kent4Health campaign, go to www.kent4health.com or call 253-856-4968.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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