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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