Vietnamese Translation – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Traditional Chinese Translation
Seattle Parks and Recreation is working with our community partner, The Friends of Little Saigon, to produce a community ribbon cutting celebration for the new park in the Little Saigon neighborhood in June 2024. The new park located at 1224 S. King Street, will provide flexible urban open space for residents, workers and visitors to the neighborhood.
Over the past six months the contractor, Harkness Construction, has experienced delays due to unexpected poor soil conditions on the site, requiring 50% more excavation of the existing soil on the property. This added time to the park construction schedule with extra structural support needed for the existing site features and extra steps in disposal and hauling of the soil. Additionally, the northwest corner of the future park required a redesign due to unexpected site conditions and placement of a guide wire.
The park is designed to provide different size spaces for accessible community gatherings and events. The new park will have good sight lines and night lighting. The park will feature a play area with a resilient rubber surface and concrete seat walls with colorful and supportive play structures for small children. The Friends of Little Saigon are working with the community on a mural for the park.
The Office of Arts & Culture (ARTS) is a partner at the park and selected Seattle artist, Kalina Chung to create an art piece for the new Little Saigon Park. Chung’s artwork is a free-standing piece that will serve as an entryway to the park from S Jackson St. It is inspired by Vietnamese Tube Houses – narrow multi-story homes – she encountered during her travels to Saigon and the buildings adjacent to the park. The art piece is installed and will be painted prior to the park opening.
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.
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
For more information on the park development and construction updates please visit http://www.seattle.gov/parks/about-us/current-projects/little-saigon-park-development or contact Sai Fang at Sai.Fang@seattle.gov.