Seattle Parks and Recreation (SPR) and our community partner Friends of Little Saigon broke ground for the Little Saigon Landbank park today, July 6 at the future park site, 1224 S King Street in the Little Saigon neighborhood.
“Access to parks and open spaces are essential for healthy, thriving neighborhoods,” said Mayor Bruce Harrell. “The Chinatown-International District is a cultural gem of our city, and its residents deserve accessible, clean, and beautiful spaces to come together as a community. I am excited to see how the Little Saigon park adds new vibrancy to this cherished neighborhood.”
SPR purchased the .27-acre site in 2013 to provide the neighborhood access to more open space in this urban area. The new community inspired park will offer spaces for recreation, play and community events.
“We are happy to launch this project and to provide a gathering space for this historic, cultural neighborhood as we work with the Friend of Little Saigon to create a vibrant community reflective of the rich, cultural heritage of this City and park” said SPR Superintendent AP Diaz. “We also look forward to celebrating Lunar New Year with the neighborhood in 2024!”
The new park will include a plaza overlook, a multi-functional accessible ramp at the Jackson entrance, a play area, a program and event lawn near the King St. side, and amphitheater seating stairs with an event plaza. Plantings will have bold textures and bright color to reflect pan-Asian design. The park will offer a new pedestrian connection between King and Jackson streets with an accessible path navigating over 20’ of grade change that offers clear site lines, and night lighting. Seattle-based artist Kalina Chung created an original gateway for the park that will welcome people to the park from S. Jackson.
“The transformative power of the arts allows us to connect artists to their communities with artistic equity that celebrates the diverse neighborhoods across Seattle. Seattle Parks and Recreation’s 1% for Art funds have allowed ARTS to reshape our city’s cultural landscape and artist Kalina Chung’s park gateway artwork is a prime example,” said royal alley-barnes, interim director of the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture. “For generations to come, both the young and the young at heart will be inspired and uplifted by the beauty of Little Saigon park and Chung’s artwork.”
“The Little Saigon park was one of the first projects that the Friends of Little Saigon organized around over 10 years ago,” said Quynh Pham, Executive Director of Friends of Little Saigon. “We are excited to see it come to life and want to actively engage with our City and community partners to steward this park for the best community use. We’re looking forward to the special events, but mainly to have a public space for our families, elders, and employees to hang out and gather.”
The Friends of Little Saigon is a nonprofit organization with a mission to preserve and enhance Little Saigon’s cultural, economic and historic vitality. To learn more and to get involved in the future park visit www.flsseattle.org
Funding for this new park is provided by the Seattle Park District.
For more information or to participate in the future naming process for the park please visit http://www.seattle.gov/parks/about-us/current-projects/little-saigon-park-development. For questions about the project please contact Sai Fang at Sai.Fang@seattle.gov.
