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FRIENDS OF SEATTLE'S OLMSTED PARKS
CELEBRATING OUR OLMSTED LEGACY |
and raising awareness of the Olmsted philosophy of providing open space for all people.
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Coming Soon - New FSOP website Check back in late May to see our newly redesigned website forFriends of Seattle's Olmsted Parks.We are excited to share new resources via the website, including:
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Volunteer Park Restoration Party - September 30th The Volunteer Park Trust will be hosting its first event in the park on Sunday, September 30th, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. (rain or shine!). Come by for all or part of the day to help clean up areas surrounding the reservoir. It will be a great opportunity to meet others interested in preserving Seattle’s Olmsted Legacy and to learn more about the Volunteer Park Trust. Bring your friends! (Kids are welcome, too.) Seattle Parks and Recreation will supply tools and gloves or bring your own. Check in at the Black Sun sculpture across from the Seattle Asian Art Museum for work assgnments, more information about the Trust, and some tasty doughnuts from Top Pot. |
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FSOP Annual Meeting and Potluck - September 15 Join us on Saturday, September 15th at 10:00 a.m. for a walking tour of Green Lake Park, followed by the FSOP Annual Meeting and Potluck. We will meet at the north entrance of the Green Lake Community Center for the tour. The meeting and potluck start at noon in the community center. See the Summer 2012 newsletter (under "Newsletters" tab) for a list of incoming board members.
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2012 Walking Tour SchedulePlease join us for a series of walking tours of Olmsted-designed parks and boulevards
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Volunteer Park Landmark Nomination Wins Award FSOP is pleased to announce that our efforts to gain city landmark designation for Volunteer Park have been recognized by Historic Seattle with a Community Advocacy award. The award was presented to FSOP at the Historic Seattle Preservation Awards Ceremony on May 15th. Our thanks to Historic Seattle for this honor! |
Volunteer Park Designated City of Seattle LandmarkOn November 2, 2011, the City of Seattle's Landmark Preservation Board voted to designate Volunteer Park a city landmark. Friends of Seattle's Olmsted Parks prepared the nomination and we are thrilled to have succeeded in gaining this recognition and protection for the Olmsted-designed park. The nomination, which was roundly praised by the members of the Landmarks Preservation Board, was prepared by Charlie Sundberg, Brooks Kolb, Sue Nicol, and Jennifer Ott. Many thanks to them and the numerous other FSOP members who helped with its preparation. Now that the park has been designated a landmark, Landmark Preservation Board staff will negotiate a Controls and Incentives agreement with Seattle Parks.The nomination can be viewed on this website (use toolbar at left, click on "Volunteer Park") and at the City of Seattle website (http://www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/preservation/documents/LPBCurrentNom_V olunteerPark.pdf). |
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2012 FSOP Tours
Please join us for a series of walking tours of Olmsted-designed parks and boulevards and a bike tour of Lake Washington Boulevard. Schedule Coming Soon!
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2011
Northern State Hospital Tour August 20, 2011 Map of Northern State Hospital Site
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Past Events and Activies
2009
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“The magnificent views of Mt. Rainier and other mountains and of Lake Union will, however, be by far the greatest features of the exposition and will be vividly remembered by most visitors when the best efforts of architects and landscape gardeners have been forgotten.” John Charles Olmsted,Alaska-Yukon Magazine - November 1906
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Olmsted Legacy of the A-Y-P at
University of Washington Campus
Friends of Seattle's Olmsted Parks
Presented Free A-Y-P Walking Tours in 2009
A web-based walking tour,
developed by the University of Washington,
may be viewed by clicking below.
Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition and the evolution of the University of Washington campus as part of the A-Y-P centennial.
The Olmsted Brothers, the renowned landscape architecture firm from Brookline, Mass., prepared
campus plans for the University and designed the layout and landscape for the 1909 A-Y-P Exposition.
The tours started with a slide presentation that gave an overview of the development of this legacy.
The first walking tour started at Cunningham Hall, one of the few remaining structures from the A-Y-P Exposition.
Cunningham Hall closed for moving to an new location on the campus, so tours subsequent tours started at the Burke Museum.
The A-Y-P centennial program of Friends of Seattle’s Olmsted Parks included walking tours, presentations,
and the Olmsted Legacy brochure which are made possible in part by a grant from Humanities Washington,
a state-wide non-profit organization supported by the National Endowments for the
Humanities, the state of Washington, and contributions from individuals and foundations.
The starting locations for the walking tours were provided courtesy of the UW’s
Cunningham Hall Women’s Center and the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture.
Program supported in part by a grant from
Additional Friends of Seattle’s Olmsted Parks
Events for the A-Y-P Centennial
Step Back in Time
Dunn Gardens June 5 & 6, 2009
As part of the Dunn Gardens program, FSOP spoke on the Olmsted design of the A-Y-P grounds
and the tie to private estates and gardens.
Info: dunngardens.org
Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Symposium
Historic Seattle/MOHAI/FSOP June 20 & 21, 2009
This symposium, hosted at MOHAI, set the stage for understanding the A-Y-P Exposition in the context of previous
and subsequent fairs and important nationwide civic and parks movements.
Info: historicseattle.org
The Friends of Seattle's Olmsted Parks produced an interpretive panel focused on the
planning of the A-Y-P grounds and the design of the landscape by the Olmsted firm.
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FSOP also published a 12-page A-Y-P Centennial News with reprints of historic newspaper articles on the development
of the Olmsted plans for Seattle’s park system and the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exhibition. The Centennial News will be
available at various venues throughout the centennial year including the University of Washington Visitors Center.
A PDF of the first two pages may be viewed by clicking the thumbnails.
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Current Issues
Friends of Seattle Olmsted Parks is Recruiting New Board Members
The Board of Friends of Seattle Olmsted Parks (FSOP) is currently looking for new board members.
Candidates should have a strong background in landscape architecture, planning, historic and cultural preservation
or horticulture. For those who are interested in stewardship of Seattle's landscape heritage with a particular
focus on Seattle's park system and in building the awareness of our Olmsted legacy both public and private,
please contact Brooks Kolb at 206-324-0858, brooks@brookskolbllc.com
Upcoming Resources
We are currently working on the FSOP web pages. If there is specific information you would like to see on
our website, please let us know. Click here to send an email to the webmaster.
We plan to develop pages including:
- History- History of our organization and the Olmsted Legacy in Seattle
- Photo Gallery- digital images of Olmsted Legacy Parks and Centennial Events and Projects
- Projects- descriptions of our partners' ongoing and Centennial projects
- Press- links to articles covering Seattle's Olmsted Centennial and Centennial events
- Newsletters- an archive FSOP past newsletter
- ... and more????
Contact FSOP
We would love to hear from you about any ideas for projects in your local neighborhood Olmsted landscapes!
Click Here to contact us about being added to our mailing list or to request specific printed materials.
Recent Projects and Archives
| 2003 Olmsted Centennial Celebration |
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1903-2003 |
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2003 NAOP NATIONAL CONFERENCE |
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Seattle, April 30th - May 4th, 2003 |
