Post navigation

Prev: (09/26/16) | Next: (09/26/16)

Finally giving up on the grass, Tashkent Park celebrated as international symbol of goodwill

(Image: Tim Durkan with permission to CHS)

(Image: Tim Durkan with permission to CHS)

An international symbol of goodwill and a formerly worn down public space connecting some of the most densely populated blocks on the West Coast, Tashkent Park’s makeover was marked with a rededication celebration on Saturday featuring remarks from representatives of Seattle and its sister city, the park’s namesake, Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

The sister city relationship between Tashkent and Seattle was formed in 1973 and was the first Soviet and U.S. sister city agreement in the nation. Of Seattle’s 21 sister cities, Tashkent is one of the few to have a park dedicated to it.

Secretary Abdufarrukh Khavirov of the Uzbekistan Embassy in the U.S., said the park is a piece of his country in Seattle.

“It (is) a symbol of our friendship of our nations,” he said.

Renovations to the park located on Boylston between Mercer and Republican included landscaping, tables and chairs, a new plaque and plaza upgrades making it ADA accessible. “Our main goal for this project is to improve the landscaping with more shade tolerant plants and make the park plaza ADA accessible,” a Seattle Parks rep told CHS in 2015. Grass never really worked out well in the shady park. Funding for the upgrades came from the Community Development Block Grant, a federal program designed to provide “resources to address a wide range of unique community development needs.”

Upgrades planned for Capitol Hill’s densely packed Tashkent Park

The 43-year-old relationship between the cities is a good example of cooperation, Khavirov said.

Former Seattle mayor Wes Uhlman, who served from 1969 to 1978, worked with University of Washington professor Ilse Cirtautas and Tashkent officials to make the sister city relationship a reality. Governments may not always get along, he said at the ceremony, but people do.

“I felt very strongly that we ought to get the people together and forget the government,” Uhlman said.

It has developed into a successful relationship, he said.

Tashkent Park is located at 511 Boylston. You can learn more at seattle.gov.

Subscribe and support CHS Contributors -- $1/$5/$10 per month

1 Comment
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments