With construction of Jolene Unsoeld Community Park set to begin this fall, the Olympia community is raising concerns about what the development means to a longstanding berry stand on the property.
Spooner Berry Farms has had a stand on Yelm Highway for the last 43 years. The City of Olympia purchased the property the stand is housed on in 2018, and since then has leased a portion of the property to the Spooner family to use for the berry stand.
That contract expires on Oct. 1, and the city does not plan to renew it for the stand in its current location.
Spooner Berry Farms raised the alarm about their expiring contract on Sept. 15, ahead of the Olympia City Council’s regular meeting that evening.
“The City of Olympia has asked us to remove our main berry stand on Yelm Highway, where we have been for the past 43 years. As sometime in the future, they are planning to put in a community park,” Sue Spooner of Spooner Berry Farms said in a social media post. “What says ‘community park’ more than a staple of the community, the iconic Spooner Berry Farms stand.”
The Spooner family asked the community to give public comment at the Olympia City Council’s meeting that evening “to let the City Council know how you feel about the city telling us to leave.”
The Olympia City Council received over 300 emails supporting Spooners in the last week, and several community members turned out to share public comment on what the Spooner Berry Farms stand means to them, and to advocate for incorporating the stand into Jolene Unsoeld Community Park.
Addressing the public outcry, Olympia Parks, Arts and Recreation Director Sylvana Niehuser confirmed Tuesday evening that the city was doing everything in its power to work with Spooner Berry Farms.
The city last met with the Spooners on April 29 to share a construction timeline, which had them staying in place until their current contract expired on Oct. 1.
While the city could not offer Spooner’s the opportunity to stay in its current location, it offered them other options, Niehauser said. Those options include space for the stand inside the new Jolene Unsoeld Community Park plaza once it’s finished.
“What’s really nice about the design at the park is that there is a spot in the center … for a stand, for a food truck, a couple other things,” said Councilmember Roberty Vanderpool.
Spooner’s was also offered several alternative locations that were identified by a relocation firm the City of Olympia specifically hired to help Spooner Berry Farms.
One of those locations is less than half a mile away from the current site and has access to Yelm Highway, according to Niehauser.
The City of Olympia additionally offered to cover all of Spooner’s relocation costs.
“We know how much this berry stand means to many people in our community, and our true sincere hope is that we can continue working with the Spooners on a path forward,” Niehauser said.
Despite the city’s insistence that it is willing and able to work with Spooner Berry Farms, Spooner stated on social media that, if the current berry stand closes, there is “a good possibility we will be done, as this is the main hub to our existence.”
She told attendees of Tuesday’s Olympia City Council meeting that, if the stand is going, she wants to go down with a fight.
“I want the public to know we didn't just disappear,” Spooner said.
She said online Tuesday afternoon that she and her husband Tim “don’t ‘need’ to farm, we do it after all of these years, as a sense of commitment to our longtime employees and our much loved community.”
She reiterated that commitment during her public comment Tuesday evening, saying that she and her husband could take this struggle with the city as a sign that it’s time to retire.
“That would be easy to do. But that isn't who we are,” Spooner said.
She added that she didn’t understand why the existing stand and the park couldn’t coexist, pointing to original plans for the park development that left Spooner’s stand in its original spot.
The City of Olympia confirmed that those plans were amended before they were finalized into the park’s updated master plan in 2024.
The reason the stand can’t stay where it is now is because of permitting requirements, according to Niehauser.
To comply with those requirements, Niehauser said, the city must close direct highway access to the park and route traffic through a signalized intersection at Wiggins Road.
“That's a permitting requirement, not a choice that staff made,” Niehauser said.
Councilmember Paul Berendt also expressed safety concerns about the current location of the stand due to its proximity to Yelm Highway. Building a park that adds more vehicles and pedestrians to that area exacerbates that risk.
“It's really important, too, that people know that the front of that property is not going to look the way it does (now) because of safety requirements,” Berendt said. “But that having been said, I love Spooner’s, and like many other people here, I consider it an important part of the community, and look forward to the ongoing discussion.”
The City of Olympia purchased the Yelm Highway property in 2018 for the express purpose of building a park. Initially called Yelm Highway Community Park but later renamed in honor of a local congresswoman who died in 2021, Jolene Unsoeld Community Park will be the first community park built in Olympia since the 1980s.
The City of Olympia is partnering with Olympia School District on park planning and construction
The first phase of construction, set to begin later this fall, includes installing a full size soccer field, 13 pickleball courts, a soccer mini pitch, a large playground, basketball courts, a dog park and a satellite park maintenance facility.
