Washougal receives $30K donation for parks

The city of Washougal has received an unexpected, but much-appreciated gift.

Doug Danielson and William Danielson, the sons of former Portland-area grocery store magnate Norman Danielson, have donated $30,000 to the City, which will use the funds to improve two of its parks.

Norman Danielson, who passed away in 2015 at the age of 99, owned and operated four Thriftway grocery stores in Clark County, including one in Washougal, and launched the Norman C. Danielson Foundation, a nonprofit organization that benefits Camas, Washougal and east Vancouver, in 2012.

“(I felt a sense of) gratitude that there are people out there wanting to give back. It’s just like, ‘Wow, there’s such good people out there,’” Washougal Mayor David Stuebe told the Post-Record. “They’re providing things that our (future) generations are going to enjoy and make our parks safer and nicer and more friendly to people. They did really well (in their business ventures), and now they want to give back to the community. When (I first met them), I was just humbled and honored. It’s like, ‘Wow, this is really nice of you guys to be able to do this.’”

The City will use a portion of the donated funds to repair and replace a fence at Hathaway Park.

“The fence (borders) the road transitioning from Upper Hathaway Park to Lower Hathaway Park on 25th Street. It was installed many years ago and is falling apart in several sections,” said Trevor Evers, the City’s director of public works. “The goal of this project is to cut the post out of the curb and put the fence behind the curb so it is moved away from the edge of the roadway.”

The City awarded the construction project to Camas-based Hero Fencing, which bid $9,160 and will provide a donation to fix another 100 feet of fencing, valued at $9,000, according to Evers.

The City will use the additional $20,840 donated by the Danielson brothers on its Hamllik Park Basketball Court and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) improvements project, Evers said.

“(The fence project) came in $20,000 less than what (the Danielson brothers) gave us. That’s a first, right? Usually it’s like, ‘(The project is going to cost us more than we thought), so where are we going to come up with the rest?’” Steube said. “They were cool enough to go, ‘Well then, what other projects do you have? (We gave you) $30,000, and you fixed it with $10,000 so now you have $20,000, so talk to us.’”

The City conducted a parks community survey “within the last couple of years that provided a significant amount of feedback from the community,” according to Evers.

“It was found that while many young children and adults have enjoyed Hamllik Park and its facilities, our community is lacking recreational areas that would engage teens and young adults,” Evers said. “After receiving these survey results, the City applied for a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) for a basketball court at Hamllik Park aimed at addressing that issue.”