The shelterhouse (Image: CAPA)
With reporting by Hannah Saunders
As the city is gathering feedback on activation strategies it hopes could help address public safety concerns around three Capitol Hill parks including one the parks department said it needed to fence off to reset after bouts of “negative park activity,” a resource at the center of the neighborhood’s most important park should become a bigger part of the mix of activities at Cal Anderson in the year ahead.
A year ago, the Cal Anderson Park Alliance reactivated the park’s shelterhouse as a means of providing a free space for neighborhood residents to utilize for game nights, meetings, activities, and more. Since this launch, the group says the shelterhouse has been used almost daily, there will be places to sit and hang out in the nearby Capitol Hill Station plaza, and funding coming down the pipeline will allow for additional staffing hours for the shelterhouse and the nearby Cathy Hillenbrand community room, stretching opportunities for the public.
“There are so few spaces that you can reserve that don’t cost a lot of money, that aren’t a pain to get to, and we have tried to make this as accessible as possible,” Brie Gyncild of CAPA told CHS. “Out of both spaces now, we’re seeing more community feed opportunities…it’s just about anything you can think of; there are support groups that meet regularly, there are a lot of community meetings.”
The Cathy Hillenbrand Room along E John (Image: CAPA)
Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth secured $75,000 in budget funding for CAPA to hire an additional staff member to operate the facilities, with its only contractor working about 40 hours per week currently. Gyncild said CAPA is looking to increase community access and provide more opportunities for people to become involved in the spaces.
Gyncild noted how CAPA began reserving the Cathy Hillenbrand community room part of the Station House affordable housing development above Capitol Hill Station for residents in April, and that “somebody will want the community room and it’s not available, so they’ll use the shelterhouse and vice versa.”
The spaces are free to the community unless an event host is charging a fee: if so, they must pay CAPA $20 which goes towards staffing— the primary expense. On-site staff manage reservations and are available during events.
In November, CAPA also unboxed new bistro-style tables, chairs, and umbrellas for the Capitol Hill Station plaza, new resources purchased by the managers of the Connection on Broadway apartments for the public program, according to Gyncild.
The plaza (Image: CAPA)
“Our goal is to promote more of a sense of belonging in the plaza, and a little more active use when there isn’t an event happening there,” Gyncild said.
There will be challenges, naturally. Recently, benches along the sidewalk on the Broadway side of the development had to be removed because they were attracting camping and drug use, employees at local businesses told CHS.
With a managed effort, expect the AIDS Memorial Pathway Plaza above the busy light rail station to be a busier place when drier weather returns in 2026.
The plan for trying to bring similar plans and energy to more Capitol Hill parks is still being formed. CHS reported here on the community meeting to gather feedback as Seven Hills Park remained fenced-off and the city consider changes there and at the Broadway Hill Park and Tashkent Park spaces. CAPA’s work around Cal Anderson shows that fences don’t necessarily need to be part of the answer.
To host an event at the Cal Anderson spaces, visit CalAndersonPark.org/plan-your-event and send in a request, including the date, time, and type of event. CAPA will check to see if the requested date is available and respond within three days. Hosts will then need to sign a user agreement for insurance coverage that states they will take care of the space while they’re in it.
“The shelterhouse and community room are available, and we’re excited about all of the great people who are using them,” Gyncild said.
UPDATE: A parks department spokesperson said there is report on the three parks “to share” yet and did not provide a timeline.
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Almost 2 weeks out from the reopening of Seven Hills, WHERE ARE THE SURVEY RESULTS!?!
Not only where are the results, but where is ANY evidence that they have done ANYTHING for the park since fencing it? The parks department is every bit as worthless at doing their job as the police are at doing theirs….
the general state of cal anderson compared to say 2011 is shocking to me. Everything in the park is worse. The grass by the volcano is a great starting point. 15 years ago was perfectly level, great for playing frisbee or volleyball even with the occasional mole hill.
Now? Unusable for anybody except dogs really. So now it’s a de-facto dog run area.
I guess I should be happy the managed to keep the volcano flowing more than 50% of the time this year.
Budget cuts and a pandemic decimated all of America. I’d love to see it go year around! They really need to replace the pumping system.
Seattle’s city budget is more than double what it was in 2011. This is not a lack of money problem.
Yep, even with no tents the park is filthy, unkempt, and just looks “ragged” and tired. Add a few tents and it starts looking more like a pigsty than a park.
I hate that the plaza is constantly filled with cars and that there is no curb on the south side. Makes it feel like part of the street more than a spot to hang out. Especially when you have ubers constantly parking, picking up and dropping off.
I think if they wanted people to ACTUALLY hang out there, they would have put in shade structures & landscaping. But considering it used to just be a full-on street, and now we have a place for farmer’s markets that isn’t just the sidewalk in fron of Seattle Central, this is def better in my book…
It is a little better for sure. In order to make a more perfect union.
They don’t want people to be hang out there. Nothing designed by the city encourages anyone to hang out. Move along.
That’s what it’s there for. To hang out. It’s sole purpose.
Oh ok that’s why they made it so cars can just drive in
Ya gotta access parking SOMEHOW! For Pete’s sake. It can be both yunno?
Agree! Seattle Neighborhood Greenways is advocating for pedestrianizing Barbara Bailey Way:
https://www.theurbanist.org/2025/11/23/how-mayor-elect-wilson-can-hit-the-ground-running-walking-rolling-and-biking/
Buildings full of graffiti, restrooms closed, sometimes tents — give us back our parks!
I think this is never going to happen. Society has broken down to the point that anti social behavior will never be treated as such. Normies will be the ones punished as they are the privileged ones
we need more police, they need hold people accountable, while boosting basic human rights (education, health care, housing, food etc.) and hopefully it will get better.