Tag Archives: parks

On a weekend to ponder covering I-5, a call to support Seattle’s original ‘lid,’ Freeway Park

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The roar of I-5 was a little more subdued this weekend with northbound lanes through the city shut for Washington State Department of Transportation maintenance.

The community group advocating for permanently quieting the freeway — and adding a cap covered with parkland, housing, and development — gathered nearby to illustrate the opportunity.

The Lid I-5 group is also asking the public to support needed work in the original I-5 lid between First Hill, Capitol Hill, and downtown — Freeway Park.

Saturday, the group gathered off Boren in Pillars Park above I-5 to mark the weekend’s northbound closure and spread the word about progress being made in plans likely to stretch out for decades to cover the freeway through Seattle. Continue reading →

Denny Blaine Park’s new ‘nude zone’ is in effect (Though somebody tried to tear the nude zone fence down)

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Seattle Parks quietly moved ahead this week with a plan to create a “nude zone” In Denny Blaine Park with new signs and fencing. Thursday night, somebody tried to rip that nude zone fence down.

Seattle Police were called to the park on the shores of Lake Washington just before 10 PM to a report from a nearby resident that someone was trying to rip down the just-installed fencing. Cops were looking for the suspect described as a male wearing a green shirt, black shorts, and a backpack last seen leaving the area on foot but it is not clear if they ever tracked the suspect down.

The surprisingly fast turnaround on the project to install the new signs and fencing happened quickly this week as the city responds to a court order to address sex and drug crime around the park reported by neighboring property and area residents while, city officials say, also attempting to respect the beach’s place in Seattle’s queer and nudist communities. Continue reading →

‘Revive in 25’ — Christian groups reportedly set for return to Cal Anderson for August 30th rally

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Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office is relying on technicalities as it explains the status of city permits for an August 30th anti-LGBTQ fundamentalist Christian rally in Capitol Hill’s Cal Anderson Park.

“Park Use Permits aren’t issued for about two weeks (~15-30 days) prior to an event. See full permit process here. So at this time, a permit has not been issued for this event,” the mayor’s press secretary Callie Craighead told CHS Wednesday.

CHS asked Craighead what the Harrell administration is doing to protect the neighborhood and prevent the issues that occurred in May as Seattle Police moved on crowds of counter-demonstrators gathered in the park.

The mayor’s office has not responded.

Now, another concert and rally from the church groups is planned to return to the Capitol Hill park despite previous vows from city officials. Continue reading →

In court-embattled Denny Blaine Park, a show of defiance, nudity… and puppets

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While the battle to keep Denny Blaine nude is playing out in court, members of the queer and nudist communities that love and utilize the park have continued to visit the popular beach this summer.

In a city where developers and wealthy NIMBYs seem to be nearly constantly scheming to carve up public space for private gain, revolutionary energy is also bubbling up at Denny Blaine in the form of puppets, nudity, and unapologetic queer defiance.

This weekend, guerrilla performances transformed the lakeside park into a stage for radical satire, bodily liberation, and a middle finger to privatization. The shows were part absurdist comedy, part scathing political critique, and directed their ire at figures like Stuart Sloan, the wealthy neighbor who has spent years trying to sanitize Denny Blaine, and Mayor Bruce Harrell’s laughably inept attempts to placate the NIMBYs.

One performance swung between nostalgia for freer times and biting commentary on whose bodies get to take up space. “These are my boobies!” declared an actor, fully nude except for a top hat. It was cheeky but the message hit home. Freedom has some rough edges — and the battle isn’t done. Continue reading →

Cal Anderson Park hosting this weekend’s Vegan Street Fair visit to Seattle

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It has been a sad year for Capitol Hill vegans. 2025 began with the closure of 12th Ave’s Plum Bistro after 20 years of vegan good eats.

Want to cheer up your favorite Capitol Hill non-animal eater?

An annual celebration of vegan cuisine is returning to Seattle this weekend. Sunday, the Vegan Street Fair will take place in Cal Anderson Park:

Vegan Street Fair is a free entry annual all ages vegan food celebration where local vegan and vegan-friendly restaurants and vendors come together to serve you bite-size portions of vegan eats and sell you vegan wares all in one place. Attendees can nosh on as many small portions ($5 or less) as they wish without getting full on 1 large item OR they can purchase larger items too.

Continue reading →

City, community groups creating ‘Memorial Garden’ in MLK Way’s Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park

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“The park features Robert Kelly’s 30-foot-tall sculpture inspired by King’s “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech, which was gifted to the city by the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Committee in 1991″ (Image: Another Believer/Wikipedia)

While the public process around a planned art installation honoring the Black LIves Matter movement at Capitol Hill’s Cal Anderson Park has gone quiet, an effort to create a new memorial garden in MLK Way’s Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park is busy.

This summer, the MLK Memorial Garden Development Project is beginning with an effort to create a garden and “enhanced park space” that promotes “healing, solidarity, and sustainable living.”

“By centering community voices throughout the design process, SPR seeks to co-create a garden that honors Seattle’s Black diaspora, celebrates Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s enduring legacy, and provides a dedicated space for reflection and remembrance of those lost too soon to gun violence,” Seattle Parks and Recreation said about the project as it kicked off earlier this summer. Continue reading →

‘Your Voice Matters’ — Police Commission seeks ‘community members impacted’ by Seattle Police crackdown on Cal Anderson May 24 protest

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The Seattle Community Police Commission is seeking accounts of the experiences of demonstrators and park-goers caught up in the SPD response to protests against an anti-trans and reproductive rights Christian rally in Cal Anderson in May.

“Your experience can help inform our work and ensure community perspectives are part of upcoming reviews and policy recommendations,” the flyer being sent to LGBTQ community groups reads.

The Saturday, May 24th Christian rally ended with police moving on demonstrators protesting the event from On Fire Ministries, a Spokane-based religious group that has grown under Christian fundamentalist pastor and former state representative Matt Shea and is supported by anti-LGBTQ religious activist Sean Feucht. There were multiple arrests but no significant charges made against demonstrators. Continue reading →

City dusts off plan for nude zone in Denny Blaine in court battle to keep park open

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The city’s Denny Blaine Park “nude zone” proposal

(Image: Denny Blaine Park for All)

The City of Seattle has dusted off its old proposal to create a nude zone at Denny Blaine Park as it filed a court-ordered “plan of abatement” for addressing complaints of illegal sexual activity in the ongoing lawsuit brought by a group of neighbors and property owners over the popular nude beach.

The plan filed Monday in King County Superior Court includes five elements including 1) “Limiting the portion of the Park that is clothing optional to the area of the Park least visible from residences” 2) “Establishing visual barriers to separate the clothing optional area of the Park” 3) “Installing clearly marked signage throughout the Park and at its entrances stating Park rules” and 4) “Implementing a substantial increase in staffing of Park Rangers and/or Seattle Parks and Recreation staff at the Park.”

As for 5), final element would focus on how best to police the new rules “using a progressive discretionary enforcement approach, which may include educating, warning, and citing individuals who do not comply with Park rules and, where necessary, requesting assistance from law enforcement to address criminal activity such as sexual criminal lewd conduct.” Continue reading →

‘Let the people have rat’ — Work party restores Cal Anderson Park mural

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A symbol of Capitol HIll’s “Hot Rat Summer” has been restored — partially — on the historic Cal Anderson Gatehouse.

Dedicated neighbors, artists, and two members of the Seattle City Council gathered on the hottest day of the year so far to restore the surprisingly radiant rat mosaic after the city painted over it in what some are calling a bureaucratic blunder and others see as an act of erasure.

“It’s such a beautiful mural that’s taken so many hours,” said Bug, a Vegas transplant new to the city, who showed up solo to help uncover the piece. “Just to cover it up, like, out of spite? It didn’t make sense to me. Especially in a city that’s so filled with art.”

Bug, who said they first saw the mural on Instagram and later learned it had been painted over through Reddit, wasn’t the only one moved to act. Other dedicated mural appreciators were there. “I just came and did it on my own,” Bug said. “This is the second time I showed up to uncover it.”

The mosaic mural was painted on the side of the landmarked Seattle Public Utilities Gatehouse building above Cal Anderson’s reflecting pool. It has became a source of neighborhood pride in the spunky expression of a neighborhood dedicated to having a good time despite any hard times and challenges. That made it all the more surprising when city crews painted over it.

Seattle City Councilmembers Joy Hollingsworth and Alexis Mercedes Rinck joined residents Wednesday to help gently scrub the white paint off the rat. Continue reading →

2025 sit in a park watching free music, dancing, and movies season is underway around Capitol Hill

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This weekend brings the 2025 edition of the now two-day Capitol Hill Block Party music festival to the streets of Pike/Pine. Its arrival marks a different sort of fun in the sun milestone on Capitol Hill. Free music and movies season is in full swing. Plus, if you want a free block party, you can head up the Hill for the 15th Ave E Patio Party Saturday noon to 5 PM:

Enjoy the summer weather with a DJ, local food, lawn games, a patio lounge, and a beer/wine garden. Meet our neighborhood merchants, and enjoy all that 15th has to offer!

Here is the rest of the summer freebie schedule around Capitol Hill.

Center City Cinema at Cal Anderson Park
Movies start at 6:30 PM

  • July 18: “Shrek”

  • July 25: “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”

Continue reading →