By Abby Spegman

The Olympian

In a nod to Olympia Brewing Company and its founding family, the owner of Tumwater Falls Park has announced it is changing the park’s name to Brewery Park at Tumwater Falls.

“It all ties in with the history of that area,” said John Freedman, executive director of the Olympia Tumwater Foundation, which owns and manages the park. “And frankly it was to distinguish us from the city’s park.”

Brewery Park — not to be confused with the city-owned Tumwater Historical Park just to the north along the Deschutes River — attracts more than 250,000 visitors annually, according to the foundation.

Freedman noted the name change coincides with work by the city of Tumwater to develop a craft brewing district near the former brewery complex and renovate the original brewery.

The foundation is gearing up for a capital campaign to fund maintenance and improvements at the park, perhaps a visitor center or museum, Freedman said. Meanwhile, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife is upgrading salmon facilities at the park to include an extended fish ladder with observation windows for the public.

“It’s sometimes hard to run a capital campaign for maintenance, but that’s something we need,” Freedman said. “We anticipate a lot more visitors to the park and we need to prepare for that.”

Olympia Tumwater Foundation was started by Peter G. Schmidt Sr., longtime president of Olympia Brewing Company and son of its founder, Leopold Schmidt. Along with the park, the foundation owns the historic Schmidt House near the former brewery, which closed in 2003.