Tag Archives: parks

‘South Capitol Hill Parks Activation’ — Surveys, community meeting this week gathering feedback on permanent fence proposal as city extends Seven Hills closure

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The city has extended the closures of three city parks including Capitol Hill’s Seven Hills through the end of the year as it prepares to hear from neighbors and parks users about proposed changes including possible new permanent fencing to address concerns about encampments and crime.

With Wednesday night bringing a planned community meeting with city officials to discuss the possible changes to two Capitol Hill parks facing complaints over homelessness and drugs, Seattle Parks and Recreation has also launched surveys to gather feedback.

CHS reported here on the planned Wednesday night session “to discuss priorities and identify “community activation partners and new potential users” for Broadway Hill Park and Seven Hills Park which has been fenced-off since September. Broadway Hill Park remains open but has been a center of complaints and Seattle Police Department activity, officials say. Continue reading →

After complaints about homelessness and drugs, city planning changes at Capitol Hill parks including ‘potential permanent fencing’

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Fenced-off a decade later, Seven Hills Park debuted in 2015 (Image: Mithun)

Banners mocking the Seven Hills closure briefly went up behind the fences in October

The city will begin a public planning process next week to reshape two Capitol Hill parks where officials say concerns over homeless encampments, drug use, and “bouts of negative park activity” call for new approaches to Seattle public space.

Seattle Parks and Recreation is holding meetings next week to discuss priorities and identify “community activation partners and new potential users” for three District 3 parks where complaints over camping and crime have sparked the planned overhauls. One of the parks — Capitol Hill’s Seven Hills Park — has been fenced-off and closed since September over the issues. The other — Broadway Hill Park — remains open but has been a center of complaints and Seattle Police Department activity, officials say.

“This community-centered initiative invites residents, businesses, and organizations on Capitol Hill to come together to enhance the safety, vitality, and inclusivity of these neighborhood parks,” the parks department announced about Wednesday’s planned session. “This activation strategy seeks to address ongoing challenges such as safety concerns, accessibility barriers, and park misuse by fostering open dialogue and transparent partnerships.”

Thursday night, parks officials will hold a separate meeting to discuss similar issues at the Central District’s Dr. Blanche Lavizzo Park.

CHS reported in September on the surprise closure of Seven Hills after District 3 representative Joy Hollingsworth reportedly met with neighbors and the city made an attempt to sweep the park of campers in August.

The city said the shutdown was needed “in order for Seattle Parks and Recreation to assess possible amenity changes and/or upgrades.” Continue reading →

Medgar Evers Pool — the public swimming pool serving the Central District and Capitol Hill — set for 8-week, $1.4M overhaul

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(Image: City of Seattle)

The only public swimming pool serving the neighborhoods around the Central District and Capitol Hill will close for a round of upgrades and overhauls to end 2025.

Seattle Parks says the $1.4 million Medgar Evers Pool project will include accessibility improvements, HVAC replacement, and renovation of the men’s and women’s locker rooms.

A study is being conducted to help determine potential structural upgrades for the 1969-built brutalist-style pool building part of the Garfield Community Center campus along 23rd Ave next to Garfield High School. Continue reading →

‘Reasonable efforts in abatement’ — Judge rules against immediate closure of Denny Blaine Park — UPDATE

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A King County Superior Court judge has ruled that the City of Seattle efforts to improve conditions around Denny Blaine Park including new fences and signs added late this summer are adequate to keep the space open to the public while a lawsuit from neighbors over the nude beach moves toward a spring trial.

Judge Samuel Chung heard an update Friday on the city’s “abatement” plan for Denny Blaine and ruled against lawyers representing a group of anonymous neighbors seeking to shut the park down. Continue reading →

‘Things are getting worse out there not better’ — In re-election tussle, Nelson touts progress at a Capitol Hill park

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As another Capitol Hill green space remains fenced-off by the city due to “bouts of negative park activity,” City Council president Sara Nelson is taking credit for the approach she says saved Capitol Hill’s Miller Park in her campaign to retain her seat at Seattle City Hall.

In a story reported by the KING 5 television station, Nelson credits her approach to addressing addiction treatment and homelessness leading to the clean-up the park and community center next to the Meany Middle School along Capitol Hill’s 19th Ave E.

“This is a microcosm of what you would see across the city is actually the restoration of our parks and playfields for their intended use,” Nelson says in the interview. “We did make progress and we have to keep going.”

CHS reported here in 2021 as encampments were cleared from Miller Park following months of complaints as pandemic restrictions on clearances slowed the process.

Nelson took office in 2022 but tells KING 5 Miller Park is representative of her efforts at City Hall. Continue reading →

City planning $627K upgrade to Roanoke Park play area

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Seattle Parks is hosting an “open house” and conducting an online survey to shape the planned $627,173 parks-levy powered renovation of the play area in Capitol HIll’s Roanoke Park.

The upgrades will “replace the existing play equipment with new structures compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for ages 2 to 5 and 5 to 12, improve safety surfacing, repair drainage, restore surrounding lawn and mulch areas and upgrade site furnishings and accessible paving,” the city says.

The parks department says it is looking forward to “working closely with the community to develop a design that enhances the park experience for neighborhood families and visitors.”

An open house on the upgrade project is scheduled for Saturday, October 25, from 2:30 – 4:30 PM at the park at 950 E Roanoke.

You can also share your feedback via this online survey.

Parks says the project is slated to complete design this winter with construction taking place in early 2027.

The Roanoke Park neighborhood is currently busy with work with what will be years of construction to build the new 520 Portage Bay Bridge and Roanoke Lid. Work on the entirety of that $1.4 billion project is hoped to be wrapped up by 2031.

 

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‘MISSION ACCOMPLISHED’ — Banner mocks fenced-off closure of Capitol Hill park

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Thanks CHS reader!

Halfway through a “60-day rest” that closed the Capitol Hill green space over complaints of encampments and crime, the Seattle Parks Department and City Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth haven’t said much about any progress and plans to improve the fenced-off Seven Hills Park.

Friday, someone jumped the fence to make a statement.

Thanks to a CHS reader and tipster for this image from 16th Ave and Howell. “I saw someone had jumped the fence into Seven Hills park to hang this Mission Accomplished sign within the fenced off area,” they write. “A truck pulled up at 7:40a this morning, maybe to remove it?” Continue reading →

Christian rally leaders sue Seattle over city’s Cal Anderson Park debacle

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Organizers of the Christian rally that led to a police crackdown on counter-protesters in Cal Anderson Park are suing the city.

The federal civil rights case filed last week in the U.S. District Court for Western Washington alleges the city and Mayor Bruce Harrell violated the group’s rights and created a dangerous, hostile situation when officials denied a permit for a downtown event and pushed the rally up to the Capitol Hill park instead. Continue reading →

Friends of Denny Blaine: Park and nude beach added to Washington Heritage Register

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The park in 1903 (Image: Seattle Municipal Archives)

The Friends of Denny Blaine group is celebrating what they say was a symbolically important recognition this week of the lakeside park and nude beach:

Today, September 23, the Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation (DAHP) voted unanimously to add Denny Blaine Park to the State’s Heritage Register of historic places. This decision marks two historic firsts: the first nude beach ever nominated in Washington, and the first nomination to explicitly include a direct connection to LGBTQ+ heritage.

The state register is intended to form an “official listing of historically significant sites and properties found throughout the state” but does not have an administrative component at this time to oversee preservation and protection of the sites. Continue reading →

New Cal Anderson Emergency Hub launches teaching ‘Urban Survival Skills’ including water sterilization and Narcan administration to help Capitol Hill’s core neighborhoods

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(Image: Seattle Parks Foundation)

A group is coming together to make sure Capitol Hill’s neighborhoods of densely packed apartment dwellers can build resources they need to be resilient during emergencies and natural disasters.

Already having an interest in personal emergency preparedness, Heather Currey attended an emergency hub drill after she learned of the event through Central Seattle Greenways. And while North Capitol Hill has its own emergency hub, Currey felt the need for stronger support in the central part of the neighborhood. Now, Currey is the captain of the Cal Anderson Emergency Hub, which is preparing for its September 7th Urban Survival Skills Fair in the park’s shelterhouse and sunbowl.

“Seattle has a fairly wide hub network, so these are places where under disaster conditions, when we’ve lost electricity and it’s harder for people to communicate with each other, hubs stand up to connect neighbors with neighbors, and neighbors with information,” Currey told CHS.

Currey said these emergency hubs are always needed.

The Cal Anderson Emergency Hub already has over a dozen volunteers who have been meeting for about six months and have worked to obtain grants and jump through bureaucratic hoops with the city, including Parks and Rec and the Department of Neighborhoods.

Those volunteer numbers are only expected to grow, Currey said. Continue reading →