We are currently UNDER CONSTRUCTION.
No, not the webpage. The actual outdoor space.
Check out our Outdoor Classroom Site Plans!
Outdoor Classroom Construction Timeline
we will (do our best to) update as we progress.
Week One
Week Two
Week Three
Week Four
Week Five
Week Six
Week Seven
(don’t know why this is like this.te)
Week Eight
Week Nine
Weeks 10 – 13 – Waiting for building permits. Office Work!
Week 14 – Spring Break
Outdoor Classroom Background
This project is a partnership with Recreation Northwest and the city to create an Outdoor Classroom at the entrance to the Hundred Acre Wood. Amenities will include Native Plant & Invasive Species identification signs displayed in the existing Native Plant Garden. On the north side of the trail, an Amphitheater with public benches, a stone stage, and covered pavilion are in the process of being built during winter of 2023.
There are many formal groups that use Fairhaven Park trails and 100 Acre Wood urban forest for their outdoor activities and environmental education programs, including Recreation Northwest. There are also informal groups and individuals who utilize the available spaces to be outside. Having dedicated places for people to connect with one another and with nature is core to an outdoor education program approach. The use of our Rock Bench & Native Plant Garden area as meeting spaces demonstrate the community need and interest in dedicated space for small groups to gather in our parks.
The most recent blackberry clearing will be used to host an Outdoor Amphitheater with public benches, a stone stage, and covered pavilion with access trails from both sides of the open space.
The primary purpose of the project is to transform our trail and boardwalk mitigation planting site into a public outdoor classroom for active and passive use for our community. The primary goal is to create an outdoor classroom learning environment with dedicated spaces and interpretive signage to connect the community to nature that is open to the public.
Our secondary goal is to reflect our Parkscriptions philosophy of the public-health benefit of spending time in nature to help serve as a pilot model for creating similar Outdoor Classroom projects in Bellingham Parks and our region.
Recreation Northwest Outdoor Classroom Project Overview-Fairhaven Park (PDF)
Check out the Native Plant & Invasive Species Identification signs in our Native Plant Garden area.
Read the complete Outdoor Classroom Project Overview (PDF)
There are many formal groups that use Fairhaven Park trails and 100 Acre Wood urban forest for their outdoor activities and environmental education programs, including Recreation Northwest. There are also informal groups and individuals who utilize the available spaces to be outside. Having dedicated places for people to connect with one another and with nature is core to an outdoor education program approach. The use of our Rock Bench & Native Plant Garden area as meeting spaces demonstrate the community need and interest in dedicated space for small groups to gather in our parks.
Above is our first conceptual drawing from our volunteer Landscape Architect, Coreen Schmidt to bring these visions to life.
Background.
In December 2021, we hosted a Focus Group with fellow members of the Whatcom Coalition for Environmental Education (WCEE) who use Fairhaven Park. Led by Hannah Newell, WCEE, we received community input from representatives of Bellingham Parks, North Cascades Institute, and Wild Whatcom to help provide direction with planning for the needs of our outdoor education community.
