| Westside Park | |
| Map: | Washington |
| Type: | Playground, picnic area |
| Coordinates: | 46.6664°N -122.9783°W |
| Area: | 1-acre (0.40 ha) |
| Established: | approx. 1949 |
| Status: | Open |
| Terrain: | Flat |
| Plants: | Cherry trees |
| Parking: | Street |
| Facilities: | None |
Westside Park is located in Chehalis, Washington in the city's Pennsylvania Avenue-West Side Historic District which was catalogued on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1991.[1]
The park contains basketball courts, a playground, and picnic areas. It is known locally for its blossoming cherry trees, first planted in 1932,[2] and towering conifers.[3] [4]
The park began in 1894[5] and the area became a playground and recreation area for the West Side School.[6] An initial motion to beautify the park and keep the area kept as a playground for the school were begun in 1905,[7] and upgrades were begun in 1906;[8] preparations to regrade the grounds took place in 1908.[9] Due to extensive damages to the school during the 1949 Olympia earthquake, the building was razed and the park became public.[10] [11] [12]
A memorial bench in the park was dedicated in 2007 to Gavin Crandell, a sixteen year-old who died the prior year after being struck by a train at a crossing away. Westside Park was a popular gathering spot for the teenager.[13]
In 2021, a volunteer neighborhood group, the Friends of Westside Park, organized as a non-profit 501(c)(3)[5] and began to oversee improvements to the park.[14] That same year, the group, in collaboration with the Chehalis Foundation, were able to receive a $20,000 earmark for the park from the Chehalis City Council as a beginning funding effort for future renovations.[15] An additional $95,000 in capital was added in 2023. Considered the first of potentially three phases of renovations, the $115,000 total funding is to aid in the purchase of new playground equipment, the construction of a perimeter fence, and to upgrade the sidewalks and parking areas to be in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).[16]
The welcome sign to the neighborhood, located in a traffic calming roundabout directly east of the park at the intersection of West and Pennsylvania, was destroyed in a hit-and-run incident in December 2023.[17]
Westside Park is unable to qualify for listing with the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) due to a loss of records during a 1910 fire at the defunct West Side School.[5]