New park and the ferries

The in basket: I got down to the new Bremerton Harborside Park next to the city ferry terminal on Mother’s Day after missing the opening festivities the weekend before. It seems to have generated some controversy on this newspaper’s opinion page. Mark me down as wowed.
Most of the development on the city waterfront the past few years has struck me as catch-up, Bremerton trying to offer what other cities can, so visitors don’t leave disappointed.
This new park, though, takes it to the next level. It is a stunning blend of artistry, creativity, relevance and technology that goes beyond what I have seen in other cities.

The in basket: I got down to the new Bremerton Harborside Park next to the city ferry terminal on Mother’s Day after missing the opening festivities the weekend before. It seems to have generated some controversy on this newspaper’s opinion page. Mark me down as wowed.
Most of the development on the city waterfront the past few years has struck me as catch-up, Bremerton trying to offer what other cities can, so visitors don’t leave disappointed.
This new park, though, takes it to the next level. It is a stunning blend of artistry, creativity, relevance and technology that goes beyond what I have seen in other cities. It will create a buzz and send visitors home likely to tell their friends about it. The landscaping is grand and varied (and labeled) and the stone sculptures utilitarian as well as beautiful. The five water features shaped like the tops of submarines and their intermittent vertical blasts of water will make the park a genuine tourist attraction and treat for children, I think.
But for the park to be the lure it could be, I thought as I watched the water show, it should be timed to greet incoming ferries, which land right next door, especially on weekends. I asked if that is planned.
The out basket: Gary Sexton, who is called the father of the park on a plaque on its pump house, tells me I didn’t even see the whole show. The water feature closest to Sinclair Inlet can fire its watery blast 110 feet into the air, he says, while the ones that impressed me manage only about 15 feet. Timing of the “super shooter,” as he called it, is being configured and it wasn’t working Sunday.
He hopes to have the super shooter greet ferries sometime in the future, he said, but the fact the ferries don’t always arrive when they are supposed to complicates the plan. A transmitter aboard each ferry to activate the water features would be needed to ensure coordination of everything.
I hope they figure out a way to do it. If not, departing visitors waiting for the ferry to arrive certainly will get the park’s message.