Pro Parks Levy Acquisition

The Levy provides $16 million for land purchase for 18 new Neighborhood Parks in many of Seattle's most densely developed neighborhoods, and $10 million to preserve Green Spaces such as forested hillsides and creek corridors. In addition, $5.7 million of the Levy's Opportunity Fund was designated toward acquisition projects. Seattle Parks has leveraged this $31.7 million to secure $21 million in private donations and city, county and state grants to augment the acquisition projects.

 » Acquisition Projects

Seattle Parks has acquired 47.1 acres with Pro Parks Levy funding, including:

• Property acquisitions for 17 Neighborhood Park projects, totaling 21.04 acres. Many of these sites have been developed as wonderful new parks. Examples include Greenwood Park, Homer Harris Park in the Central Area, Ursula Judkins Viewpoint in Magnolia, Northgate Park, and the 6th Avenue NW Pocket Park.
  
• The preservation of 19 acres in designated Green Spaces, such as the West Duwamish Greenbelt in West Seattle, Kiwanis Ravine in Magnolia (home to Seattle's largest great blue heron colony), the NE Queen Anne Greenbelt, properties adjacent to Kubota Garden in Southeast Seattle, and a panoramic viewpoint in the Leschi Natural Area.
  
• Properties for 16 Opportunity Fund projects, including Fremont Peak Park, Mount Baker Ridge Viewpoint, an addition to the International District/Chinatown Community Center, Pinehurst Pocket Park, and Junction Plaza in West Seattle.

The Levy anticipated that Levy funds would provide an opportunity to leverage matching grants and donations for open space acquisition. As noted above, the Acquisition Program has been successful in this goal, leveraging the $31.7 million provided by the Levy for acquisition into more than $52 million. Examples include grants from the King County Conservation Futures Tax and the state's Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program, private donations for Fremont Peak Park, Seattle Parks Foundation support for Homer Harris Park in the Central Area, and partnerships with Seattle Public Utilities along Thornton Creek. The Cascade Land Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land have played invaluable roles in preserving a number of properties, and property owners have donated land to Parks in three designated green spaces.

To find out more about all of the Pro Parks projects - both acquisition and development - view the alphabetical list of Pro Parks projects or find a project on the interactive map of Pro Parks Acquisition and Development Projects.