Fall/Winter 2012
Both the 2000 Pro Parks Levy and the 2008 Parks & Green Spaces Levy identify the First Hill Urban Center Village as a priority area for acquisition of a site for development of a neighborhood park.
Seattle Parks and Recreation hosted a public meeting in May 2012 to provide an update on its efforts to work with a real estate developer to acquire a site for development of a neighborhood park in the first Hill Urban Center Village. The City has the opportunity to acquire a site through an easement at the corner of 8th Avenue and Columbia Street, to be provided by the developer of an adjacent multi-family project, subject to Parks and Recreation and community involvement in the design.
Seattle Parks acquisition staff regularly briefs the First Hill Improvement Association about the status of acquisition planning and negotiations. The priority area for acquisition is the portion of First Hill south of Madison Street.
Parks hosted a public meeting on December 1, 2009 at Skyline at First Hill to brief neighborhood residents about its efforts to secure a site for development of a park. The meeting was attended by over 60 neighborhood residents. A summary of the meeting is linked below.
Next steps: Parks is focusing its efforts on the area between 8th/9th Avenues, and Columbia/Marion Streets.
In 2004 and 2005, Seattle Parks acquisition staff and Makers, an urban design firm, worked with First Hill community stakeholders to develop a "First Hill Urban Village Park Plan."
The plan provides a strategic approach for identifying potential sites for a new park through the Pro Parks Levy acquisition project. It also outlines park and open space needs and opportunities on First Hill.
> Executive Summary, First
Hill Urban Center Park Plan 
> Draft First Hill Urban Center
Park Plan (2.5M)
A potential future source of funding for park and open space improvements in First Hill and other "Center City" neighborhoods is through a proposed impact fee on developers. For more information, see: Mayor Nickels' press release of 8/2/05.
For local news coverage of the impact fee proposal, see:
PI article of 8/3/05
Seattle Times article of 8/3/05
