Recreation and improving life is a high priority

By DON CARTER
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

The newly renovated Julius Boehm pool and new community center next door, like Issaquah's new retail shopping center, seem much larger than a city of Issaquah's population could support.

That's because the community center and pool serve an area that's much larger than the city itself. While only 9,255 people of all ages live within the city limits, the Issaquah Parks and Recreation Department figures that about 45,000 live in the area it serves.

The new $4.2 million community center, completed a year ago, is a source of pride. Residents raised $1 million from private donors, King County contributed $500,000 and the city of Issaquah footed the rest of the bill.

The center's largest room -- the size of three basketball courts -- is literally a three-ring circus on most days with combinations of senior exercise, toddler gymnastics, youth basketball, Irish dance and other events going on simultaneously.

There's a weight and exercise room, an indoor track, a drop-in center for teenagers and a computer room for cyberbuffs of various ages. Outside, there's a skateboard park.

Kerry Anderson, the city's parks director, figures that Issaquah's mountain-hugging location attracts people who are active and environmentally concerned.

"The people here are family oriented," he says. "They want things for their kids, and they want to do things themselves." Interest in recreation is so high "that almost every new program we start fills up immediately."

Residents are not only interested in recreation for themselves and their children, Anderson says. They also work to improve things. "The people here volunteer a lot," he says. "Issaquah people really want quality of life. We have a lot of active service clubs."

Among the active organizations is the Chamber of Commerce. Suzanne Suther, its executive director, says she fell in love with the area as a child. In the 1940s, when she was growing up on Queen Anne Hill, Suther went on family outings to Beaver Lake, just beyond Issaquah on the Sammamish Plateau -- then the forested fringe of Seattle's civilization.

She and her husband moved from Seattle to Issaquah to raise their family in 1964 because, says Suther, "it's the best of both worlds, as far as having access to the mountains, and in a half-hour you can be in the Opera House."

Like many residents, Suther sees traffic and the lack of affordable housing as the city's main problems. People moving to cheaper housing in rural areas as far south as Enumclaw contribute to the traffic because they must drive through Issaquah to get to their jobs, Suther says.

Norm Lipkin, owner of Issaquah's XXX Drive-in, says he "lives down in the low-rent Maple Valley" because he can't afford to live in town.

He and his wife, Hermilla, have restored their vintage drive-in to 1950s authenticity, complete with sparkly Naugahyde upholstery, carhops and the Everly Brothers singing "Wake Up, Little Susie" on the jukebox.

On warm Saturday evenings, scores of old-car buffs drive in to show off their treasures in an appropriate setting.

But having the last Washington store of the once-mighty national XXX Root Beer chain isn't a big money-maker, Lipkin says. "It doesn't make any great fortune, but we're struggling along." He blames the low-traffic location for the slow business.

Ironically, Lipkin's drive-in is on one of the few Issaquah streets that isn't clogged with traffic: a stub-end of Gilman Boulevard that carried U.S. Route 10 traffic through Issaquah before Interstate 5 was built.

Continued:

• Friendly folks enjoy rural atmosphere
• Traffic is region's problem, not just town's, says mayor
• Village Theater is cornerstore of growing cultural scene