Seattle Parks and Recreation is acquiring a 12,000 square foot property on Capitol Hill—at Federal Avenue East and E Republican Street—to be used as a park.

“We’re set to close on the deal around the end of the month,” says Dewey Potter, a spokeswoman for the parks department. Money to buy the site is coming from the 2008 Parks and Green Spaces Levy. Potter says the department doesn’t currently have the funding to add benches, playground equipment, bathrooms—normal park stuff—however, “we plan on consulting with the community on fund-raising possibilities and in the meantime, we’ll be using the land as-is.”

The now-vacant site has been eyed as a potential park for several years but was slated for townhouse development until the market took a turn for the worse. That’s when the parks department stepped in with an offer to buy the land. If the deal goes smoothly, the site, which is comparable in size to the dog park at Third Avenue and Bell Street in Belltown, should be park property by July.

Former Stranger news writer Cienna Madrid has been a writer in residence for Richard Hugo House, a local literary nonprofit. There, she taught fiction classes and wrote 4/5 of a book about a death-row...

13 replies on “Capitol Hill Acquires a New Park”

  1. wait … I thought we were closing wading pools for kids due to a budget crisis … and we’re buying new parks?

    Whose name is going to be on this one? Some millionaire that retired here to avoid paying taxes?

  2. The parking lot I used to always park in on the hill (by B&O) is apparently being turned into a park as well. Can the city please put any new parks on Capital Hill on the roof of multi story parking garages? It could be a revenue source. And people visiting friends on the hill wouldn’t have to drive around for half an hour looking for parking so, even though it has to potential to be seen as encouraging vehivle use, it would really reduce emmissions. I swear, when I win the lottery I’m buying up as much property on Capital Hill as I can and turning it all into parking.

  3. Along with no money for equipment, there is no money for staff to maintain new parks. I work for Parks and my district is going to leave multiple positions unfilled because we can’t afford to replace people who retire or transfer. I’m always happy to see more parks because I believe they are a great resource for the city, but the parks are going to start looking pretty shabby with more area and less staff.

  5. @2: Here’s an idea: Orca card, King County Metro Transit, and maybe a little Sound Transit to get you halfway to a King County Metro transfer station if you happen to live way out in, for instance, Woodinville.

  8. I believe the funds to purchase these came out of the 2008 Parks Levy that was specifically tagged for acquisitions. The funds have already been purposed, so not buying land doesn’t mean we can just use the money for something else.

    Besides, this budget crunch isn’t going to last forever. It might take a few more years, but eventually we’ll be back to a revenue positive situation, and these new purchases will be properly maintained.

    Plus, it’s always better to buy in a depressed market; trying to purchase these parcels three or four years from now would have cost a lot more than purchasing them today.

    Didn’t you people learn ANYTHING from that Dino Rossi seminar?

  9. #2: Gross!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Go to Bellevue!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  10. Oh, and @2: the parking lot on Boylston between Olive & Denny is pretty much always deserted on the evenings & weekends, even though it only costs a mere $3 flat-rate to park there off-hours.

    IME, people coming to the Hill would rather drive around for 30 minutes trying to find a free spot, than pay even a small sum for paid parking, so I would seriously reconsider your investment strategy.

  13. This is actually some good news. I just wish Seattle could afford to buy up more plots of unused land and convert them into small mini-parks

Comments are closed.