Parkways Seattle Parks and Recreation

Seattle Parks and Recreation(SPR) will begin working on repaving 39 sections on the Burke-Gilman Trail in northeast in early June 2019. The work will take place between 30th Ave. NE and the King County/Seattle border near NE 145th St. SPR awarded the construction contract to Northwest Asphalt, Inc. Work is scheduled to be completed by late summer 2019.

This project will repair sections of the trail, remove areas of asphalt in disrepair, remove invasive roots that are causing upheaval, and replace those sections with new asphalt. Additionally, with funding from the Seattle Department of Transportation(SDOT) bollards at 24 intersections along the trail will be removed and sections impacted by bollard removal will be paved. The contractor will work on one section at a time, from southwest to northeast to reduce the impact to trail users.

Trail sections were determined by 2015 condition-assessment work done in collaboration with SDOT and reconfirmed in spring 2017.

Cyclists and pedestrians will be detoured around the construction area onto side streets. SPR and SDOT worked together on detour routes and we recommend trail users visit www.seattle.gov/parks/about-us/current-projects/burke-gilman-trail-repairs for detailed detour routes. Thank you in advance for your cooperation and patience during construction.

The Seattle Park District provides $250,000 in funding for this Burke-Gilman Trail improvement project. Approved by voters in 2014, the Seattle Park District provides more than $47 million a year in long-term funding for Seattle Parks and Recreation including maintenance of parklands and facilities, operation of community centers and recreation programs, and development of new neighborhood parks on previously acquired sites.

For more information, please visit www.seattle.gov/parks/about-us/current-projects/burke-gilman-trail-repairs or contact Sandi Albertsen, Project Manager, at sandra.albertsen@seattle.gov or 206-684-8938.

Seattle Parks and Recreation invites the community to participate in the renovation of the south play area at Fairmount Playground. Please join us for a Public Meeting on Thursday, May 30, 2019 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Fairmount Park Elementary cafeteria, 3800 S.W. Findlay St. This is an opportunity to learn about the project and provide input to the design team. Prior to the meeting we encourage the community to participate in a quick survey ( https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/FairmountPG ) to help inform design options.

Your input on this project is valuable. Light refreshments will be served, and we encourage the whole family to participate in helping us pick out play equipment that reflects your neighborhood and will enhance the park.

Fairmount Playground is located at 5400 Fauntleroy Way S.W. This project is funded by the Seattle Park District. The renovation project will provide play area access in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and play equipment that will include play structures and seating accessible to children from 2 to 12 years old.

For more information about the project please visit http://www.seattle.gov/parks/about-us/current-projects/fairmount-playground-play-area-renovation. For additional questions or if you need an interpreter or accommodations please contact Colin Campbell at colin.campbell@seattle.gov or 206-256-5604.

Seattle (May 6, 2019) – Following unanimous confirmation votes by the City Council Mayor Jenny A. Durkan today held a swearings-in event for Jesús S. Aguirre as Superintendent of the Department of Parks & Recreation (SPR) and for Dr. Amarah Khan as first-ever Director of the new Office of the Employee Ombud (OEO).

“We are glad to welcome Jesús Aguirre back to the City team as the permanent Superintendent of Seattle Parks and Recreation,” said Mayor Durkan. “Jesús has a track record of working collaboratively and with community to help make Seattle a more inclusive, just, and beautiful place. Under his leadership, Seattle Parks and Recreation will continue to promote healthy people, a healthy environment, and strong communities.”

“Our city is at the crux of many changes, and parks and recreation play an enormous role in keeping our city livable as it grows. I am honored to be working alongside Mayor Durkan and the dedicated cabinet she has assembled as we help make Seattle a great city for everyone,” said Aguirre.

“Today’s vote of confidence from the City Council only solidifies my conviction that our City is ready for elevating the voices of those who have long awaited a chance to be heard. To be associated with that effort is humbling and exciting at the same time. I will make every effort to honor the faith placed in me with earnest energy and dedication,” said Dr. Khan.

“I join City of Seattle employees in welcoming Dr. Amarah Khan to the City as the first-ever Director of the Office of the Employee Ombud. Dr. Khan is an inspirational woman who is deeply dedicated to creating a safe and inclusive work environment that gives City employees the support they need to be the best productive workforce,” said Mayor Durkan. “Dr. Khan’s leadership will be instrumental to advancing the strong progress we’ve made over the past year to ensure all our workers are valued and respected.”

Seattle Parks and Recreation (SPR) and the King County Noxious Weed Program invite the community to an informational Open House to learn about an aquatic noxious weed treatment project in South Portage Bay. Please join us on Thursday, May 23, 2019 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Montlake Community Center’s Tudor House, 1618 E Calhoun St. SPR will provide an overview of the steps involved in treating noxious weeds along shorelines in South Portage Bay and provide information on aquatic herbicide treatments. Additionally, this Open House is an opportunity to learn about the City’s updated pest management program.

This current project addresses noxious weed management in South Portage Bay in the summer of 2019 and 2020. Between July and September 2019, treatments with non-glyphosate aquatic herbicides that have been approved by Washington Department of Ecology will occur along the shore of South Portage Bay. The main park area that will be treated is the Montlake Community Center park area and West Montlake Park. There will be one to two treatments on four different noxious weeds that are present at the sites. Informational signs will be posted near the treatment locations prior to treating the plants and appropriate safety precautions will be taken to ensure that there will be no exposure to park visitors, pets, and wildlife.

SPR is working with several community partners to implement the project, and the Washington State Department of Ecology is funding this work.

For more information about this Open House or to submit comments please contact Barbara DeCaro at Barbara.decaro@seattle.gov or Patti Bakker at Patricia.Bakker@seattle.gov.

Seattle Parks and Recreation (SPR) and our partners invite the community to celebrate the new trails and forest at the Capehart site in Discovery Park, 3801 Discovery Park Blvd., Seattle, WA 98199. Please join us on May 11, 2019 at 11:00 a.m. This is an opportunity to celebrate the partners involved in this project and all the volunteers who have invested over 6,000 hours of volunteer time and have planted tens of thousands of plants, including native ground-cover, shrubs and trees throughout the site. The community is invited to come walk the new trails, mingle in the new forest and help us cut the ribbon. Light refreshments will be served. The celebration will be in the northeast corner of the park, just off the new crosswalk across Discovery Park Blvd. This is approximately a 20-minute walk from most parking lots.

In 1958, the military housing known as Capehart was constructed on the 27-acre site. Named after Senator Homer Capehart of Indiana, who championed better housing for military families, the property was retained by the military after Discovery Park was established in 1974. In 2007, after extensive negotiations and community advocacy, the City purchased the parcel for $11.1 million. By 2010, all buildings on the site had been removed and only paved surfaces remained. With funding from the 2008 Parks and Green Spaces Levy and the Westpoint Treatment Plant mitigation funding, SPR removed the housing foundations, the road network, and other infrastructure, and regraded the property. SPR converted the property to a meadow consistent with the Discovery Park Master Plan.

Volunteers, SPR staff, non-profit and private partners, in collaboration with the Green Seattle Partnership pursued an intensive reforestation plan. Public access was restricted by the pre-existing permanent fence around the Capehart site during this work which allowed for the early establishment of a diverse forest ecosystem and wildlife sanctuary.

In 2017, The Friends of Discovery Park saw the need for official trails through the Capehart site to protect the restoration efforts and to mitigate social trails. They received a Department of Neighborhoods Neighborhood Matching Fund award for $100,000. This funding allowed for the installation of two permanent trails and zero or low maintenance, naturally appearing, barriers that will be impediments to off-trail activities. Additionally, a new cross walk was installed at the end of one trail across Discovery Park Blvd. The Seattle Parks Foundation provided an additional $155,000 in funding for this phase of work.

Work began on building two new trails through the site in the fall of 2018, followed by the construction of a new sidewalk and crosswalk at Discovery Park Blvd. The last of the fencing was removed in early April 2018 and the trails were unofficially opened to the public.

For more information about the event contact Karen O’Connor at karen.o’connor@seattle.gov or 206-233-7929.

This park transformation could not have occurred without the involvement of many partners to find out more about the partners that helped with this project visit:

• Friends of Discovery Park http://friendsofdiscoverypark.org/capehart/ 
• Seattle Parks Foundationhttps://www.seattleparksfoundation.org/about-us/
• Green Seattle Partnership visit https://www.greenseattle.org/

Seattle Parks and Recreation (SPR) would like to thank everyone who has participated in the process for the new park in West Seattle at 48th Ave. SW and SW Charlestown St. The design team gathered formative input from the community on three design concepts at the meeting held on April 30, 2019. For those community members who were unable to attend, we created an on-line survey, https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NQMLDZ2, to allow for greater community input. The survey is an opportunity to view the three concept designs presented at the meeting and provide feedback. The West Seattle community is encouraged to participate. The survey will close on Friday, May 24, 2019.

The information gathered from the survey will be included with previous community feedback and used by the design team to prepare a preferred design concept. SPR will host a final meeting for the project and present the preferred design concept this summer.

SPR purchased the .33-acre site at 48th Ave. SW and SW Charlestown St. in 2014 to provide the community more open space. The design of the park will incorporate accessibility features in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and low-impact, passive recreation features with impervious surface of the park site limited to 15% or less to minimize the effect of water run-off.

This park project is made possible by the voter-approved Seattle Park District, which provides more than $47 million a year in long-term funding for SPR, including maintenance of parklands and facilities, operation of community centers and recreation programs, and development of new neighborhood parks on previously acquired sites. For more information please visit http://www.seattle.gov/parks/about-us/current-projects/48th-and-charlestown-landbanked-site-park-development. For questions about the project please contact Ed Pottharst at 206-386-4232 or Ed.pottharst@seattle.gov.

Seattle Parks and Recreation is happy to announce five Olmsted sites have been selected to receive funding for improvement projects from the current Seattle Park District funding cycle.

The five sites are:

1. Lake Washington Boulevard parks  – Colman Park
2. Magnolia Boulevard
3. Queen Anne Boulevard
4. Schmitz Boulevard
5. Hiawatha Park – North Parking

These five out of the ten historical Olmsted parks and boulevards were prioritized based on community feedback received in early 2019 as well as a set of criteria that included feasibility, equity, recent improvements, and fundraising potential.

Thank you to the over 1,300 people who participated in the online survey and helped us prioritize the ten sites (Magnolia Blvd., Queen Anne Blvd, Lake Washington Blvd. parks (Lakeview Park, Colman Park, Mount Baker Park), Hiawatha Park, Volunteer Park, Schmitz Park, Woodland Park, and Washington Park Arboretum) for funding allocation.

Seattle’s Olmsted Parks and Boulevards began as a dream the City of Seattle had in the late 1800’s for a beautiful system of landscapes among urban growth. This vision was implemented in the form of parks throughout the city designed by the Olmsted Brothers landscape architecture firm. The basis of design for these parks was to allow access to attractive open spaces to provide peace and respite for people from all walks of life.

To review the survey results and stay up to date on the projects please visit please visit http://www.seattle.gov/parks/about-us/current-projects/olmsted-parks-and-boulevards-restoration-project