The future public green space at Federal and Republican has an official name. Let’s go play at Broadway Hill Park.
This fall, we reported on the latest updates on the new park space and the naming process. The selection of the new name falls in line with recent dull but straightforward monikers attached to Capitol Hill green spaces including Summit Slope and Seven Hills parks. The park’s community steering committee meets Monday night at the Capitol Hill library if you’re interested in getting involved. A busy Monday night for parks-related meetings also features a session to discuss an overhaul of E Madison’s McGilvra Place triangle park.
More from Seattle Parks on Broadway Hill Park below.
Federal and Republican. Parks purchased the property at the corner of Federal Ave. E and E Republican St. in March 2010. This acquisition helped fill a need for open space in the Capitol Hill Urban Village area. In 2011, the Friends of Federal and Republican Park received a Neighborhood Matching Fund award and hired SiteWorkshop to work with the community in preparing a schematic design. Parks held three public meetings to plan, design and build a new, welcoming neighborhood park.
The preferred schematic features a large lawn area and seating at a “front porch” area at the top of the site and on a seat wall alongside the sidewalk. The park will include a community garden (as part of the P-Patch program) and opportunities for natural play and artwork. Friends of Federal and Republican Park also won a $10,000 Build Your Block Challenge Award from Umpqua Bank that will help with initial landscaping needs. The community is applying for other grants and doing private fundraising with the hope of beginning construction in 2013.
The Park Naming Committee is unanimous it its recommendation of the name Broadway Hill Park for this site, and the Acting Parks Superintendent concurs. The name provides a strong link to the history of the neighborhood and has community support. Both Cal Anderson Park and Bobby Morris Playfield used to have “Broadway” as a part of their names, but when they were renamed the historical references to the “Broadway Hill” neighborhood were removed.
Just wondering, how have I missed this hill? Ref. to Broadway is cool, but the word HILL seems mis placed.
What will be the slang term for the park?
but I’ve only lived here since 1983. Maybe it’s an oldtime name.
Before Capitol Hill there was Broadway. And since it’s a hill, people called it Broadway Hill. We’re talking 1890s here.
Check out Jacqueline William’s Hill With a Future for a bit more info. If you’re nerding out on history, you can meet her at most meetings of the Pacific Northwest Historians Guild. Fun and interesting presentations, pnwhistorians.org
Link – it is historical ref. Old name going way back.
http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&
I like that they picked an historical reference. It will be a fun piece of trivia to tell people walking by the park.
I meant WHEN walking by the park.
Given the size and location of the park, it seems a lot like if Cal Anderson Park were called Seattle Park instead.
For a historical angle, Pontius Park would have been an obvious name, considering the park is in the Lincoln Pontius Addition of Seattle: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B4qiVUOr-Cu7NDkyOWU1MzEtYTY
and original. Sike. There must be 534895247u Linkin Parks in the U.S. but people tend to like it. Cap Hill Park would be too generic by the way.
I’ve never heard of if either, and have lived in Seattle since birth (1945) and on Capitol Hill since 1976. I guess the name is OK, but I think the naming committee could have done better.
Since the name is apparently an historic reference I think it’s good. Keep history alive.
Just don’t call it “Collect”.