The Friends of Fort Worden State Park will begin removing an old garbage dump next week along Mule Barn Road and turn the area into a natural meadow with a view of the nearby Chinese Gardens.

Washington State Parks approved the Friends project after reviewing a recently completed archaeological study of the 0.35-acre site. The U.S. Army started dumping refuse there in the 1950s, and it continued to be a garbage dump until the 1980s.

“We now have permission to continue the project we began earlier this year,” said Mitch Freeman, a Friends board member and one of the project leaders. “We can remove ugly debris sticking out of the ground, level the berms, and replant the area with native grasses and wildflowers.”

Because the project will include heavy equipment, the adjacent Mule Barn trail will be closed during the work.

Earlier this year, a Friends contractor removed decades of invasive, non-native English blackberry bushes and other noxious weeds from the area. That work revealed a scenic view of the Chinese Gardens lagoon to the west.

But also visible were chunks of concrete, asphalt and rusted steel protruding from the artificial berms. over the dump site.

The Friends could not restore the area until Washington State Parks determined if historic artifacts were buried there.

State Parks workers and a separate contractor evaluated the site over the summer and submitted a report for approval. Local tribes also reviewed the report. The report concluded that there is just garbage in the berms and nothing of historical significance.

The resulting Washington State Parks document stipulates steps the Friends must take if there are “inadvertent discoveries” of anything significant after the digging starts.

Thanks to the support of donors, the nonprofit Friends was able to contract with a private equipment operator to remove tons of overgrown bushes in the dump area -- and around the old cistern on Artillery Hill. Friends volunteers removed additional weeds.

This project will complete the second phase of the Friends’ habitat restoration program. Board members Terry LeLievre and Will Barrett are co-leaders on the project with Freeman.

“By spring, we will have replaced an ugly eyesore in the park and brought that area back to its native state—a nice view meadow along a popular park trail,” said Friends president Gary Larson.

The Friends funded the archeological study with the support of a generous donor. The group is seeking $15,000 for Phase 3 of habitat restoration, additional native grasses and plants, and rebuilding its budget for future projects.