Seattle Parks and Recreation (SPR) is happy to announce the Pratt Park Spraypark Renovation is complete and welcomes the community to enjoy the new spraypark at a celebration from 4 – 6 p.m. on Friday, June 10, 2022! As part of the celebration, SPR encourages the community to come run through the spraypark, listen to great DJ music, enjoy food from The Barbeque Pit and learn some low impact exercises from members of Seattle’s own Northwest Calisthenics Collective who will be onsite to engage community and demonstrate fun low impact routines on the fitness equipment.
Pratt Park is located at 1800 S Main St. in the Central District. The spraypark is located near the play area at the corner of 20th Ave. S and S Washington St.
To renovate the park, SPR hired Site Workshop Landscape Architects and Hoshide Wanzer Architects to work with the community and design the park improvements. The original project scope included installing a re-circulation water system and new play features at the existing spraypark and grew to include a new restroom building, adult fitness equipment, site furnishings, pathway improvements and upgrading the irrigation system. The re-circulation system greatly improves water conservation, and increases safety and play-value, making for a better user experience. The custom-designed restroom building features a butterfly roof and vegetated wall trellis systems, as well as a gender-neutral single stall restroom.
The spraypark surfacing features a map of Africa etched into the concrete and retains bronze sculptures that were created by artist Monad Elohim; the sculptures represent the spirits of African American ancestors. The spraypark also retains bronze plaques, created by artists Monad Elohim and Daniel Minter, reflecting the African American community’s identity, culture and places of origins. These plaques will be re-installed at a later date. The pathway between the spraypark and the play area will have painted lines for hopscotch, two square, and jumping rope.
The renovation is a great example of public and private funding coming together to make improvements. The Parks & Green Spaces Levy and Seattle Park District provided the initial funding for the park with Vulcan Real Estate and Seattle Seahawks Charitable Foundation contributing a total of $50,000 toward the park renovation and pathway improvements. A partnership with Kaiser Permanente provided $80,000 for the adult fitness equipment.
Multimedia Resources and Training Institute (MMRTI) is participating in the event. They will be documenting this new project and celebration. MMRTI is a community-based nonprofit providing effective technology-driven programs, education, multi-media training, and community-development services for historically under-represented and underserved children and families-especially East Africans living in King County and Puget Sound area.
The park is located in the Central District and named after Edwin T. Pratt. Pratt was a community leader, Executive Director of Seattle Urban League, and a founder of the Central Area Motivation Program and the Seattle Opportunities Industrialization Center. He was slain by unknown assailants at his home in 1969.
For more information about the project visit http://www.seattle.gov/parks/projects/pratt_park/. For questions concerning the project please contact Shannon Glass at Shannon.glass@seattle.gov. To see a list of other sprayparks in Seattle, visit https://www.seattle.gov/parks/find/sprayparks-and-wading-pools.