If you want to get something done, speak up.

A grand opening of the new pool at People’s Community Center is set for 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 24, but take a moment to consider what led to this moment.

A little more than a year ago, Fletcher Jenkins, one of the People’s Community Center steering committee co-chairs, stood up at a groundbreaking ceremony for the center’s new pool and reflected on what it took to make that pool real.

You might know the history: A pool was part of the center from the beginning, back in the 1970s. Then in 2008, the pool closed due to structural problems. That could have been the end of indoor swimming on the Hilltop, but …

People spoke up.

“’We’ll have bake sales,’” Jenkins recalled children saying at a community meeting years ago to discuss a way forward. “And that was the spark.”

Pools are expensive. But because of that spark, and the community’s engagement with local governments, the City of Tacoma and Metro Parks committed to the effort, with the city contributing $5.3 million and leading the project, Metro Parks adding another $1.7 million, and the state provided a $485,000 grant through the Department of Commerce. (The city owns the building, while Metro Parks manages it. It’s one of many instances of cooperation between the two governments.)

Construction took about a year, with related projects to upgrade locker rooms and the gym roof following.

Public meetings this fall to discuss parking, access

Metro Parks will host a series of public meetings to discuss ways to improve safety, streamline traffic flow and improve access to favorite Point Defiance Park attractions such as the Pagoda, Owen Beach, Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium and Fort Nisqually Living History Museum. Times, dates and locations for those meetings will be announced later this month.

Every year, about 3.1 million people visit Point Defiance Park. And because that number is likely to increase, the 2015 master plan update highlighted the need for improved traffic circulation and several hundred additional parking spaces. The update highlighted several ideas for additional study and exploration:

• A parking structure in the existing zoo parking lot
• Two-way traffic on portions of Five Mile Drive
• Reversing the one-way traffic direction in some places.

The park district has been working with a consultant to devise a series of options that address parking and circulation. Their work will be presented in the first public meeting, and citizens will be asked to weigh in on the ideas. The consultants will take the public input, refine the plans into one preferred option, and present to the public again for additional comment. The project is funded through the park district’s $198 million capital improvement bond and is part of the broader Destination Point Defiance initiative.

Traffic improvements underway

Some pieces of the parking and traffic puzzle already are moving into place. The City of Tacoma has secured state taxpayer funding to complete a roundabout at the Pearl Street entrance in 2017. Also in 2017, improved parking to the right of the Pearl Street entrance will be welcomed by boaters and other park visitors as part of waterfront improvements.

Pedestrian-bike trail

Metro Parks also has embarked on plans for a $6.5 million pedestrian-bike trail around the park that will better separate walkers and cyclists along Five Mile Drive, funded in part by state taxpayers through a Recreation and Conservation Office grant and through the district’s 2014 capital bond. The trail is scheduled for completion in 2019.

– Metro Parks Tacoma