Kent Designates Historic Earthworks Park and Bereiter House
July 29, 2008 — The City of Kent's new landmarks commission has acted quickly to preserve two of the community's most important landmarks: Earthworks Park, and the Bereiter House, home to one of the city's prominent early families. Though the park is less than 40 years old, the commission wanted to protect it given its fast-growing neighborhood. "We’re already losing some of our history," says Linda Van Nest, executive director of the Greater Kent Historical Society, which operates the Kent Historical Museum in the Bereiter House. "We're going to work hard to protect the properties we have left."
The Kent Landmarks Commission was formed earlier this year after the city signed an interlocal agreement with King County. The agreement allows the King County Landmarks Commission to temporarily add another member—in this case, from Kent—to the board and act on landmarks nominations as the Kent Landmarks Commission. The decision to landmark Earthworks Park was the Kent panel's first action, followed by the Bereiter decision.
Here's more details on the two Kent landmarks:
 Earthworks Park Built in 1982 after a design by Bauhaus artist Herbert Bayer, Mill Creek Canyon Earthworks, called Earthworks Park for short, is a sculpted landscape that also serves as a stormwater retention and erosion control facility. The park has features similar to other parks, such as green open spaces and pathways. But when heavy rains flood Mill Creek, excess flow fills a two-part basin, which becomes a plane of water with islands, berms and other shapes, changing the visual look and feel of the park.
 Bereiter House Considered one of the area's best-preserved Craftsman Style homes, the Bereiter House was built for Emil and Elizabeth Bereiter in 1907. Emil was a prominent local businessman who owned a lumber mill and built an important commercial block in downtown Kent. He was elected mayor of Kent in 1912. The house was later owned by Ernst K. Saito, a leading Japanese immigrant and businessman who was interned in World War II. In 1996, the City of Kent purchased the house and now leases it to the Greater Kent Historical Society. The Society was recently awarded a 2008 Landmark Rehabilitation grant from 4Culture for work on stabilizing the distinctive carriage barn at Bereiter House.
For more information on Earthworks Park or Bereiter House, contact Linda Van Nest, Greater Kent Historical Society, 253-854-4330.
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