The Crown Jewel of the Point Defiance Rose Arbor

After months of in-house fabrication, a gate fit for the queen of flowers now crowns the historic rose arbor at Point Defiance Park.

Tacoma, WA: It’s a gate fit for a queen – the queen of flowers, that is. After months of fabrication and planning, a massive gate hand-made by Parks Tacoma staff has been installed at the renovated historic rose arbor in Point Defiance Park to create a grand entrance that welcomes visitors (while deterring hungry deer).

“Careful!” called Parks Tacoma carpenter Josh Byrd, as a concrete truck backed up to the gate. “Okay, then.”

For Byrd and all the Point Defiance Park crew, it was the final chapter in an eight-month story: pruning and restoring the vintage roses; installing a new, wider and stronger arbor; tying on the 15-foot canes; rebuilding lush planting beds and building a 15×20-foot metal gate completely by hand, including a sculpted double rose in the center.

A few weeks ago, the gate – weighing nearly 1,000 pounds and made of 248 ft of steel bar and pipe – was carefully crane-lifted out of the nearby fabrication shop onto a truck and carried like a monarch down to the park’s famous rose gardens.

Now the concrete was here, and that wet churning gurgle was the most satisfying sound the team could hear.

“We’re so thrilled we can put this into place for park visitors to enjoy,” said Ross Wilton, horticultural services manager for Parks Tacoma. “The crew have worked so hard to renovate the arbor, and we’re incredibly lucky to have someone as talented as our welder Koyi Clay to have designed and created this gate. Now it’s here for everyone to enjoy.”

The arbor is at least 50 years old, the last remaining of three arbors in the park that date back at least to 1910. In fact, it’s so old that nobody quite knows the exact varieties of the four arbor roses, three pink and one white, that soar gracefully over the arbor, blooming lushly every summer to the delight of local photographers.

Now there’s a double red rose at the gate, made of overlapping “petal” sections of three and six-inch pipe. Trailing green stems and leaves complete the central sculpture, while two hinged doors allow visitors to enter and exit while keeping hungry deer safely outside.

“We’ve got three deer in particular that just hang around the nearby lodge,” explains Wilton. “And once they get inside the arbor, it takes half a day to get them out again.”

The doors will be added once the concrete has taken time to fully cure, maximizing its strength. Meanwhile, the new gate is fenced off to keep out those pesky deer. Visitors are encouraged to use the gate at the other end to enter the arbor, where the roses are blooming profusely over vibrant red annuals – the perfect romantic stroll or photo opportunity.

Wilton’s future plans include setting a semicircular stone entryway with paths leading to each gate.

“People just love the gardens in Point Defiance Park, and the rose arbor is a really special place of peace and beauty,” says Joe Brady, deputy director of regional parks. “We’re so proud of our park and shop staff who work hard to keep them beautiful for future generations.”

“Visitors have been admiring the Point Defiance rose gardens for decades,” adds Park Board President Andrea Smith, who loves to visit with her grandchildren. “This gate is the crown jewel, and I’m in awe of the talented Parks Tacoma staff who created it.”

LEARN MORE: At metroparkstacoma.org/rose-garden.