Politics & Government
Storm Further Wrecks Haines Wharf in Meadowdale
Edmonds to decide what to do with the dilapidated structure, which dates to 1939.
It looks like Mother Nature may have settled the question about the fate of Haines Wharf.
The recent strong wind and pelting rain took aim at the crumbling Meadowdale landmark over the weekend, tearing a shed to pieces and leaving only crumbled wood in its wake. Although the actual pier and boathouse remain intact, the wharf is even more of an eyesore and takes the sheen off the newly built , which has a front-row seat of the damage.
The Edmonds Parks and Recreation department, which has scheduled a grand opening next month for the city’s newest park, is drafting a report for the city with its recommendations as to the wharf’s future. Representatives of the Snohomish County Fire District No. 1, which serves Edmonds, and Edmonds’ Code Enforcement department have already conducted a preliminary inspection of the damage.
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Because Haines Wharf is privately owned, the City of Edmonds will contact the property owner about the site's status, said Carrie Hite, the new director for Edmonds Parks and Recreation. And the city, in conjunction with the state's departments of Ecology and Natural Resources, will be making recommendations on the wharf's future, said Leonard Yarberry, a city building official.
Dating to 1939, Haines Fishing Wharf, located in Brown’s Bay, was opened and operated by Herbert Haines through 1969. At the time, according to Edmonds parks manager Rich Lindsay, it was the only wharf dotting the coast between Mukilteo and Seattle. In addition to providing world-class fishing, the wharf — which would much later become known as Laebugton Wharf — featured a former-barn-turned-boathouse that was floated across Puget Sound from the Kitsap Peninsula. The barn remains intact, if not wobbly. It stored 100, 16-foot plywood rental boats that an elevator-like device lowered to the water.
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The shed was used as a bait shop and for selling food and drink, Lindsay said. There were also large tables where anglers could gut and clean their fish.
As recently as the past decade, Haines Wharf owners had floated the idea of renovating the site to include a hotel, said Lindsay. That idea included building a raised roadway over the railroad operated by Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway.
Haines Wharf Park is at 75th Place West and 162nd Street Southwest.