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| | Address: 5002 Marine View Drive, Tacoma Hours: Open dawn to dusk Amenities: Street parking for four vehicles, ADA accessible |
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Located on the east side of Commencement Bay, the Richard C. "Dick" Gilmur Shoreline Restoration and Kayak Launch offers another access point to appreciate the beauty of our region and the jobs that help sustain it.
A wide ADA-accessible gravel path leads from the planted bluff to the rocky beach, allowing car-top boats to launch from the shore.
The site is named for the Port's former environmental director, who worked for the Port from 1990 until his death in 2006. Gilmur recognized and embraced a holistic approach, finding creative ways to enhance habitat beyond the obligations, to leverage partnerships, and create something better than what was being replaced.
The site's restored shoreline provides habitat for the hundreds of birds and other wildlife that live along the storm-scoured shore. Native plants help anchor soil and provide shade, food and refuge.
The site includes a "feeder" bluff that erodes like the natural shoreline and deposits sediments to beaches down current. Large woody material along the shoreline softens wave impacts to reduce erosion and provide hiding and resting places for young fish.
The parking area features pervious pavement that allows stormwater to filter into the ground rather than carry pollutants into the bay.
Neighbors, some of whom rent the property beneath their homes from the Port, are working to form a stewardship group to help care for the site.
Learn more about the 17 acres of shoreline along Marine View Drive owned by the Port.