The county’s Skyway Park is a green jewel right in the middle of Skyway.

But it’s also one of Skyway’s best-kept secrets, even at 23 acres and the home to some of the best baseball around.

“It’s not easy to find,” said longtime Skyway resident Ginny Rabago, who’s a member of the Friends of Skyway Park.

Or as a county parks official says, “it’s centrally hidden.”

The Friends of Skyway Park, King County and the Pomegranate Center of Issaquah are trying to change that lack of exposure.

Under way is a drive to raise about $70,000 to turn somewhat obscure entrances to the park into hard-to-miss gateways using 20-foot towers topped with cattails made of metal, in keeping with the park’s natural setting.

But that’s not all the county and residents have in mind to make their park more user-friendly, the kind of place that will promote good behavior.

King County gave $100,000 to the Skyway Boys and Girls Club to restore wetlands at the park and build a new “green” shelter at the park, in cooperation with a landscape architecture design/build class at the University of

Washington.

The central wetlands were restored and the plan is to open the new shelter in June.

A brightly colored mural adorns the park’s restrooms, a painting project of the Pomegranate Center and the Friends of Skyway Park.

Larger plans for the park include a pea patch, synthetic turf for the athletic fields and even a dog park.

That dog park is on Rabago’s wish list, too. Regularly, her dog Chief walks her at the park. A resident of Skyway for more than 40 years, Rabago watched her kids play softball there.

But Rabago and others see the park’s dark side as well, including drug and gang activity.

The park isn’t always used the way it’s intended as a family place.

“I won’t come down here at night,” Rabago said. She has never been “hassled,” she said.

However, she said, “There is a perception that people who hang out here are up to no good.”

For the county, one of the big reasons to burnish the park is to replace any bad behavior with good behavior, according to Butch Lovelace, a program manager for the county’s Parks and Recreation Division.

Skyway and West Hill are in unincorporated King County, although there have been efforts over the years to either incorporate or annex to Renton. Either option is still a possibility.

But the Skyway Park project is a sign from the county that it’s not walking away from Skyway, according to Lovelace, and it certainly gives Skyway and the park some “street appeal” as its future is debated.

The county has worked with the Skyway community for about two years to develop plans for Skyway Park, according to Lovelace, including working with the West Hill Community Council, the Friends of Skyway Park and the Skyway Boys and Girls Club.

As a result, the community – and the county – rallied around the park, he said. Lovelace said the county’s interest stems from former county Executive Ron Sims’ initiative to reach out to communities that have been “neglected.”

The key player in the design and construction of the “gateways” is the Pomegranate Center, founded in 1986 and whose mission is help communities build and improve their neighborhoods.

The Pomegranate Center is designing the gateways and has raised about $10,000 toward the cost of construction. The Lucky Seven Foundation a family foundation, has contributed $5,000 to the project.

Bree Delgadillo, project coordinator for the Pomegranate Center, said the four gateways will go at the three walking entrances to the park and the main vehicle entrance. The goal is to start artwork on the gateways in June and hopefully finish the project by summer’s end.

The gateway columns can stand either alone or in groups. Each one costs about $6,000.

Delgadillo said the center picked the Skyway Park project for funding from its 2009 Dig Fund because of the community’s commitment to improve the park and their neighborhood.

“This is what happens when you work with community members,” she said.

HOW TO DONATE

To donate to the fundraising efforts to build the gateways at Skyway Park, go to Skyway Park and click on the “Get Involved” tab.