The first phase of Northern Lights Park in the Cordata neighborhood of Bellingham is now complete and open to the public.
The park, located at 1350 Talus Way north of Mahogany Avenue, was built by RJ Group as part of the Aurora Court Phase 3 development. The first 36 two-story townhomes of the development are complete, with another 54 units under construction.
“[RJ Group] built the amenity for us, which is really great because it saves us a lot of time,” Bellingham Parks Director Nicole Oliver said during the ribbon cutting Wednesday, March 5.
The linear park extends between the townhomes and includes two play structures, grass picnic areas, landscaping, an enormous rock, benches and a dog waste station. With future phases of development, the park will be extended north another block, and the city will establish a greenway from the neighborhood through wetland mitigation properties to Northwest Drive.
The city put out the call for park name ideas in 2023 and received more than 730 submissions, with Northern Lights winning the support of the parks and rec advisory board and the city council. Other suggestions that received votes included Mochi Park, Tokitae Memorial Park and the tongue-in-cheek Kirkland Signature Recreational Area.
“This park was in the conception phase the first year I got on the council,” said Bellingham City Council member Skip Williams, who chairs the council’s parks and recreation committee and attended the ribbon cutting. “I drove out here when construction started and I was looking and wondering, ‘where is this park going to be?’ But as it has developed, it’s wonderful. That’s one of our city’s strengths, doing this kind of thing.”
Julia Tellman writes about civic issues and anything else that happens to cross her desk; contact her at juliatellman@cascadiadaily.com.
