Seattle Parks and Recreation announced the addition to Greenwood Park is open and substantially complete. Jesús Aguirre, SPR Superintendent, cut a celebratory ribbon at the park on Friday. “It is important to open this additional park space. Together with community input we have created a great addition to Greenwood Park,” said Aguirre. “Although the park can’t be used to its fullest, we hope people will visit, walk through, and participate in the community tag project.” Blank manilla tags have been placed on the fencing around the grass and the community is encouraged to draw on the tags or write a message about what the new park space means to them.
“I am excited for the Greenwood community to acquire additional park space. Greenwood is home to many families, so the park expansion and all of its amenities will serve this growing neighborhood well,” said Debora Juarez, District 5 Councilmember and Chair of Public Assets and Native Communities, which works with SPR to support residents across the city.
The new park offers so many activities and although some will be closed off, SPR wanted to open the walking paths and additional park space. SPR reminds us when you visit the new park area please respect the minimum of 6 feet of separation between people, do not congregate in the park and please stay home if you are feeling sick. The lawn areas are temporarily fenced to allow the grass to established.
The new addition to Greenwood Park reflects the “game” theme input received from the community and offers a ping pong tables, corn hole, 4-square, hopscotch, and tether ball. The sport court striping for pickle ball will occur in the coming week. The project also features a wood arbor connection to the pea patch, a hillside slide into the play area, picnic area with BBQ, ping pong tables, corn hole, tether ball, and skate elements. It incorporates accessibility features in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and is seamlessly incorporated into the existing Greenwood Park.
SPR is waiting on the delivery of the site furnishings and will install them as soon as they arrive. The tetherball, ping pong paddles, and beanbags for cornhole will be available when the slide and play area opens in the park.
SPR purchased the 0.1-acre site at 8805 Fremont Ave. N in 2013 to provide more open space for the growing neighborhood and expand the existing Greenwood Park. King County Conservation Future grant provided funding for the acquisition. The acquisition of the property was identified in the Greenwood neighborhood plan and the 2009 Greenwood Park Master Plan.
Funding for this park project is provided by the Seattle Park District. Approved by voters in 2014, the Seattle Park District provides more than $47 million a year in long-term funding to tackle the $267-million major maintenance backlog for Seattle Parks and Recreation as well as other facilities including the Aquarium and Zoo. In addition, it provides funding to improve and rehabilitate community centers, preserve the urban forest, perform day-to-day maintenance of parks and facilities, provide more recreation opportunities for people from underserved communities, provide programs for people of all ages and abilities, and acquire and develop new park land.
For more information or for meeting notification translations please visit
http://www.seattle.gov/parks/about-us/current-projects/greenwood-park-addition
