A citizen activist group, Concerned Citizens for Mercer Island Parks (CCMIP), announced that it will hold a rally from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sept. 9 to “Save Mercerdale Park.”

In a press release, the group said that the park is “being threatened by the Mercer Island City Council, which sees the park as a vacant lot and intends to give away almost one acre to a massive private development.”

The development is the Mercer Island Center for the Arts (MICA), a nonprofit that is planning to raise $25 million to build a performing and visual arts center in the corner of the park, at the current location of Bicentennial Park and the old recycling center. MICA is currently in lease negotiations with the city, and is undergoing an environmental review process.

According to its website, MICA is “a strong proponent of Mercerdale Park, and is committed to designing a building that fits into the park setting and provides active uses for the park.”

“The current development plan will clear-cut 112 trees, imperil the fragile wetland and hillside, destroy Bicentennial Park and the NW Native Garden, and cut short the city’s own effort to re-purpose rather than demolish the solidly built and award-winning Recycle Center,” according to CCMIP.

At the rally, CCMIP members and supporters will wear red “to show how massive the proposed development is, and hopefully preserve, once again, a public park on Mercer Island.”

There will also be live music, a “red parade” at 10 a.m. for kids, aerial (drone) and group photos at 11 a.m. and Native Garden tours at noon.

CCMIP is an “alliance of Islanders that was formed from the Concerned Citizens who successfully protected the Mercer Island Library in 2015.” Islanders have previously fought development in Mercerdale Park, including City Hall and a fire station in the 1980s and 90s.

CCMIP is also concerned about the city’s financial liability with the MICA project.

“This ill-conceived plan provides no parking and places the city at financial risk,” according to the press release. “The development pays only $1 a year in ‘rent,’ pays no property taxes, and the city is ultimately financially liable since development is on city land, all at a time that the city claims it needs two additional levies to cover multi-million-dollar deficits starting in 2018.”

For more, see www.protectmiparks.org.

For frequently asked questions about MICA, see www.mercerislandarts.org/faq.