Gee: Wait, what?! Olympia wants to tear down a 47-year-old berry stand to build a ‘community’ park?
Sep 17, 2026, 6:03 AM
Cases of strawberries are for sale. (Photo: Finnbarr Webster, Getty Images)
(Photo: Finnbarr Webster, Getty Images)
An Olympia berry stand could be forced to close after 47 YEARS, so the city can build a community park. A family-run berry stand in Olympia that has operated for 47 years may have to close because the city plans to acquire the property for a new community park.
Wait, what?! We’re trying to build community by potentially getting rid of something that’s been part of the community for almost half a century?
I understand parks, and I understand growth, but somebody has some explaining to do. If a family has served a community for 47 years, generations of people know that place, then why does the idea of improving the community require removing them?
Umm, are we sure we’re improving it? It seems that sometimes government gets so focused on what it wants to BUILD that it forgets to ask what it’s about to DESTROY.
Maybe there’s a good reason for this, and respectfully, I can acknowledge that. However, show me there was absolutely no way for the park and this business to coexist, and then I’d be ready to concede.
Otherwise, WAIT, WHAT?!
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