2026 WASLA Walking Tour Descriptions

Please see below for the current list of walking tours to be presented at the WASLA Conference. Schedule is subject to change.

The below tours have been approved for LA CES accreditation, with credits listed below. (Pending approval)

Location of meetups for walking tours will be announced soon.

 

Thursday Afternoon Tour Title: The Prairie Line: Catalyst to a Burgeoning UW Tacoma Campus
Presenters: Phoebe Bogert PLA, ASLA; Kristine Kenney, ASLA, LEED A; Julie Blakeslee, AICP, University Environmental and Land Use Planner, UW
LA CES Credits: 1

The Prairie Line Trail (PLT) reimagines a former rail corridor as a dynamic linear park; an evolving public realm where placemaking becomes cultural memory and living infrastructure. Completed in 2014, the PLT reshapes the urban and academic fabric of Tacoma, establishing a vibrant spine informing new development, activating historic spaces, and revealing how design can catalyze civic life and environmental stewardship.

As UW Tacoma grows to meet future demand, the 2025 Campus Master Plan advances a bold uphill vision reinforcing the historic campus heart while amplifying open space, circulation, and regional identity. The emerging landscape bridges heritage and aspiration, weaving together the sensibilities of the original campus with new forms of learning and belonging.

Join design professionals and university leaders on a walking tour of the PLT and UW Tacoma to experience the campus as a work in progress where the public realm becomes a catalyst for identity, community pride, and a resilient future.

Saturday Morning Walking Tour Title: Balancing History, Habitat, and Public Access at Dickman Mill Park
Session Presenters: Anna Spooner and Cresha Wee, Anchor QEA; Ron Wright, Ron Wright Associates/Architects; Mary Coss, Artist; Marty Stump, Parks Tacoma
LA CES Credits: 1

Dickman Mill Park reconnects Tacoma’s working waterfront history with a restored shoreline landscape along Ruston Way. This session explores the design and implementation of the park expansion, the return of the historic head saw and carriage to their original location, and the installation of the Ghost Log sculpture. Through archival research, artifact restoration, and careful site placement, the project interprets the industrial processes that once defined Tacoma as the “Lumber Capital of America.” 

The design balances historic preservation with ecological restoration, enhancing nearshore habitat while elevating public access above a dynamic coastal edge. Native plantings, pile-supported structures, and grated decking minimize environmental impacts and address sea level rise. The Ghost Log sculpture weaves together timber industry heritage and Puyallup cultural history, creating a layered narrative of place. 

Participants will learn how integrating artifacts, habitat restoration, coastal resilience strategies, inclusive access, and public art can transform a former industrial site into an engaging public landscape that honors history while supporting ecological function and community connection.

Saturday Morning Walking Tour Title: Dune Peninsula and Owen Beach
Presenters: Aimee Rozier, Site Workshop; Ryan Storkman, Site Workshop
LA CES Credits: 1

Trace the reclamation of Dune Peninsula from its industrial past and the evolution of Owen Beach for a resilient future. 

From Tacoma's most dramatic waterfront park to one of its oldest picnic beaches, Dune Peninsula and Owen Beach bookend the marina district of Point Defiance and represent two of the most beloved places in the Parks Tacoma system.  Explore these parks, linked by the Promenade, a bulkhead walk along Commencement Bay, and discover how a Superfund site was reclaimed as a public park and how century-old infrastructure was upgraded for the next 100 years of beachfront joy.  Dune Peninsula, completed in 2019, was a brownfield site with lead and arsenic contamination that has been built into an 11-acre park and concert venue with panoramic views of Tacoma and Mount Rainier.  The entire peninsula landform was created when molten rock, or slag, was dumped into the bay during the 100-year operation of the Asarco smelter, a process that inspired accretion references across the site.  Dune also resolved the 'missing link' by bridging the busy boat launch and ferry landing area and connecting the Ruston waterfront and Ruston neighborhood to Point Defiance.  Re-developed in 2021-2022, the fundamental goal of the Owen Beach Improvements Project was to preserve and enhance its greatest asset, the beach.  The team used strategies to mitigate sea level rise, minimize disturbance of known Salish tribal history, and provide universal access to this quintessential Puget Sound beach.  The design pulls the built infrastructure back from the shoreline while creating points of access and prospect for all users.  This loop walk will begin and end at the west landing of the Wilson Way Pedestrian Bridge.

Saturday Afternoon Walking Tour Title: Adapting and Activating Main Street Open Spaces
Session Presenters: Todd Bronk, JETT LA; Derek Barry, Community Services Manager; Carmen Palmer, Communications Director/Grant Writer; Ryan Windish, Community and Economic Development Director
LA CES Credits: 1

Discuss the adaptive re-use of Sumner, Washington’s historic downtown park and main street, modernizing the public realm, creating event and gathering places. Established in the late 1800’s with predominantly 1920’s main street architecture, the City reimagined the town center from 2021-2024 in collaboration with the University of Washington-Tacoma Urban Studies program and the JETT team. The vision for the Town Center was to expand the walkable atmosphere, incorporating woonerf streets, activated alleys, and reimagining the central park as an event center in the heart of downtown. Master Plan – Discuss the placemaking process shaping the vision into flexible spaces, circulation corridors, all activated by retail, events, and tourism. Walk through the interactive outreach/design process that shaped places through modern interpretations of history and culture. Discuss activation and event planning strategies to monetize public spaces while scaling them to everyday use. Walk through the sustainable framework that redefines Sumner’s public realm far into the future. Discuss the implementation and funding strategies that led to over 95% of the project obtaining grant funding over a five-year period.

Saturday Afternoon Walking Tour Title: Tacoma Walking Tour
Session Presenters: Stuart Johnson, LA, AHBL; Holli Smith, TCF, AIA, Principa;
LA CES Credits: 1

Join us for a guided walking tour that will explore several of Tacoma's iconic sites and newly reimagined spaces. Get set for a delightful experience that will highlight fascinating stories behind innovative renovations, opportunities lost, and properties under actualization. Sprinkled with personal observations and local lore, our journey will include the Prairie Line Trail, Foss Waterway, and Theater District.  For the latter portion, a quick ride on the light rail will arrive at the nearby Stadium District to look across Stadium Bowl, silent star of the classic movie "Ten Things I Hate About You."

 

Register Here!