Fred V. Habenicht Rotary Park’s shelter finally has its “green roof”

Finishing a project that has been 9 years in the making, Fred V. Habenicht Rotary Park’s shelter finally has its “green roof” installed and growing. Maple Valley Rotary and King County Parks are joint stewards and caretakers of the park. Over $115,000 worth of King County grants were made available for the project, through the County’s Parks and Recreation Levy. King County citizens have benefited greatly over the years from these levy funds, which are made accessible to various community projects. Meanwhile, Maple Valley Rotary’s commitment in the project not only included funding, but also in-kind donations and equipment bringing their funding contribution close to $35,000. The crowning jewel of the project is the new “green roof” shelter. The shelter was designed by the DRL Group, who also designed the new high school. Trays were lifted to the roof with the help of Jim Flynn, who donated his time and heavy duty forklift. Once spread over the protective roof membranes, the trays were then hooked together. Being fed by rainwater collected in the trays, the plants will eventually knit themselves together and look like one big green roof. Come springtime, the “green roof” will give way to color from the little flowering plants. Element Smart Roofing out of Bellevue put the green roof together with the help of Green Feathers modular green roof system of Oregon, who supplied the planting trays. As is required by Grant guidelines, as much local community participation as possible was encouraged. Many local businesses were involved in the project such as All Purpose Structures, whose owner, Troy Hanson, is a graduate of Tahoma High School. Hansen’s part of the project was the major structural building of the shelter itself. Another local Maple Valley company, Play Systems, installed the steel and composite picnic tables – one of which was generously donated by the company. Yet another local company helping with the project was McClaffy Painting, who donated material/labor in order to paint and stain the interior as well as the support structure of the shelter. According to Gary Habenicht, speaking for The Rotary Club of Maple Valley, “We were elated by the involvement of local businesses.” He went on to add, “Rotary will be seeking more partnership opportunities with King County going forward.”