Parks seek sponsors, but walk a fine line

Visitors to King County's Marymoor Park in Redmond can walk past the Group Health Velodrome, order food at the Subway sandwich shop, surf online in Microsoft-sponsored Wi-Fi areas and read a trail map bearing the Starbucks mermaid logo.

For the past two weeks, they also could hunt for 30 two-foot, foil-covered fake burritos hidden in the park as part of a dual promotion for Chipotle Mexican Grill and the county's redesigned parks Web site.

The burrito promotion and other corporate partnerships are the brainchild of King County Parks' three-member Strategic Partnership and Enterprise Initiatives team. Its job: Come up with ideas to make money and increase the visibility of county parks.

That often means teaming with a company for sponsorship — everything from big-tent performances by Cirque du Soleil to selling naming rights for parks facilities.

But is the push for revenue bringing the private sector too close to an area that traditionally has been commercial-free — the local park?

"My feeling is that this is not appropriate stuff for parks," said Michael Hobbs, a board member of the nonprofit Friends of Marymoor Park. "The park should be a place to get away from commercialism and not be an extension of the mall."

There is a fine line to the county's approach, said Tom Teigen, enterprise team manager.

2005 King County Parks budget

Total revenues: $20.4 million

Parks levy: 58 percent

Business revenue: 23 percent (includes user fees and the entrepreneurial projects)

Funds from general taxes: 13 percent

Funds from real-estate excise taxes: 6 percent

Enterprise and entrepreneurial revenue

2002: $1 million

2003: $1.9 million

2004: $1.9 million

2005: $2.3 million

"It's something you have to be very, very careful with," he said. "Parks in this region are truly sacred land to people."

The partnership push has paid off in terms of revenue. Corporate sponsorships brought in $2.3 million last year, up from $1.9 million the previous year.

But this month's burrito promotion is aimed at creating "buzz" rather than revenue, and pushes the entrepreneurial envelope even further.

The county approached Chipotle after researching the company's environmentally friendly background and pitched the idea of "finding Chip" — foam burritos randomly placed in King County parks. The wrapper asked finders to send their stories and photos about finding Chip to the parks' Web site.

It worked, Teigen said. Finders won a year's supply of burritos, Chipotle received hype for its new Redmond restaurant, and the county got buzz for its parks and new hits on its Web site.

Teigen, fluent in corporate-speak, said the county moved away from a traditional top-down parks model after a 2002 budget crisis. Now, he said, staff is encouraged to be "parks entrepreneurs" seeking "win-win-win" solutions with a "triple and quadruple bottom line."

The directive is to find innovative ways to generate sources of revenue, build amenities, increase the visibility of county parks and find partners in the community, he said.

The more visibility and use for the parks, the more likely people are to support levies every four years, which represent more than half of the budget. "Our business plan is the lifeblood of the parks system. It's critical to the sustainability of the parks," Teigen said.

There are some lines the county won't cross, he said — such as big billboards. And most corporate signage stays in active areas of the parks — you'd never see such signs on top of Cougar Mountain, for example, program manager Jessie Israel said.

"It really depends on the sport and the facility. Little League ballfields are used to being plastered with advertising; it makes them feel supported," Israel said. "At the Velodrome, Marymoor's competitive bicycle track, the culture of bike racing is also used to it."

The county backed away from putting a corporate logo on the bottom of the Aquatic Center pool after swimmers opposed it.

"It's not the culture of the sport," Israel said. "We got a strong negative reaction. They didn't want anything affecting the sight lines of the swimmers."

But it was OK with swimmers to have advertising around the perimeter of the pool, she said.

Whatever the restraints, some still believe the commercial push goes too far.

Hobbs, of the Friends of Marymoor Park, said he has opposed such pitches as reader boards in the park visible from Highway 520 and signage along the fence of the concert series. And he doesn't like the many small signs advertising Subway. Hearing about the Chipotle promotion was surprising, he said.

"I get out there at 6:30 in the morning, and we're trying to listen for every little bird and observe them," he said. "To suddenly stumble across a fake burrito, that would be just a little off-putting."

Others may not like the commercial links but say they are resigned to the new reality.

"I find it disappointing that the parks have to raise their own money to be self-sustaining; it goes against what a park is intended for. But that's the case we're in now," said Christina Merten, another Friends of Marymoor Park board member. "I understand the position that the park is in."

Diane Johnson, the first person to report finding a Chipotle burrito, said the corporate promotion is OK with her if it's done tastefully.

"Money is tight, so if they have to come up with some new creative ways to improve funding, I am all for it, as long as it is done in a tasteful, appropriate way for a trail or park," she said. "I wouldn't want to see Starbucks set up stands along the trail."

Lisa Chiu: 206-464-3347 or lchiu@seattletimes.com