A casualty of 2012 election. New YMCA plan in Lynden

While there were yes votes for a lot of things in Washington State, a recreation center in the town of Lynden (north of Bellingham) was voted down. Plan was to restore the old Delft Square building that was damaged by fire several years ago. Turn it into a recreation center that would be owned by the Lynden Parks District and then operated by the YMCA.

Lynden voters weren't that generous, but also geography might have played a role. Lynden Parks District has the same boundaries as the Lynden School District and the recreation center would have most likely been a benefit to a much larger region. Maybe the folks around Lynden didn't feel like paying a tax that would have provided something for a larger area even though it would have helped downtown Lynden as people would be drawn to the downtown.

Below picture from my files taken in 2009. Old Lynden Department Store building, later named Delft Square.

I don't get to Lynden that often, myself. What's there to do out there? I know, there's the Lynden Museum with a lot of antiques. I'm sure there's some stuff to do, but there's more to do in Bellingham, of course. Bellingham is a lot bigger.

At least there's a nice bike path to Ferndale. It goes along the Nooksack River Dike into Hovander Homestead County Park. Sometimes I ride out to Ferndale and then turn around and come back. I pick up that bike path off of Slater Road.

As an armchair "Wednesday morning" after the election analyst, I got to thinking. Seems like if the parks district was bigger, the idea might have gotten farther. That thinking brought me (web surfing) to a map of Washington State school districts. Here's the northwest Washington area excerpted from the school district map.

Remember, Lynden Parks and Lynden School District have the same borders, but maybe Lynden could view itself as sort of a hub for Nooksack Valley, Meridian, the north part of Ferndale and possibly even Blaine districts.

A county park rather than a city park?

Interesting looking map I discovered. I've never looked at the state from the perspective of it's many varied school districts.

Map source: www.k12.wa.us/Maps/default.aspx.

Update 2016. Building has been restored as hotel and retail. See description and photo essay here.