
(Image: Friends of Madison Park)
By Cormac Wolf, CHS Intern
Friends of Madison Park, the areaโs nascent community council, has been hard at work since its founding in April. In their first months, the group has focused on filling the communityโs event calendar and their fledgling committees have proven a great alliance between local businesses and Seattle Police.
Vice-chair Mary Beth McAteer says Friends of Madison Park has revived community events such as the childrenโs bike parade and weekly live music in the park. Other events include a wine fundraiser and weekly TED talks; their website has events scheduled as far out as next spring.
โWe think of ourselves as a start-up,โ says McAteer, describing the fervor the board brings to event planning and neighborhood organization. McAteer works as a Virginia Mason medical librarian when not working on the board. Her husband owns the Hillside bar on E Olive Way.
The success of this group in one of the wealthiest areas of the city and an area mostly dominated by single family-style homes is a contrast with E Olive Way and Capitol Hill where community councils have faded away and neighborhood chambers of commerce, disintegrated. It also is taking shape after Seattle’s big push away from neighborhood councils over concerns about representation and equity at City Hall.
The Madison Park group was founded after the pandemic decimated the area’s existing community groups. Erik Wicklund, the groupโs communications director, describes them as a merger of two pre-existing Madison Park institutions: the business association, which organized events, and the community council, which handled administrative matters. Wicklund owns a real estate firm headquartered in Madison Parkโs central retail strip. Continue reading →