EVENTS:
Lunar New Year
January 31
Year of the Ox Celebration
Seattle's Chinatown/International District is the setting
for lion and dragon dances, live cultural performances, children's
activities, arts & crafts, food court; location is at
the Union Station Great Hall, 401 South Jackson Street, with
free admission. It is from 11:AM to 4:00PM. There will be
events at Hing Hay and the International Children's Park.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Project Manager: Pamela Kliment
800 Maynard Ave. S., 3rd Floor
Seattle, WA 98134-1336
(206) 684-7556
pamela.kliment@seattle.gov
Questions? Email friendsoficp@gmail.com
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UW Slide Presentation
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January 2009
In July 2008, the Friends of the International Children's Park
received a Neighborhood Matching Fund to hire a designer. Outreach
and brainstorming with WILD and the UW School of Landscape Architecture
is complete and a powerpoint has been prepared that describes
the process.
Much of the WILD work was funded by a grant from the Department
of Informational Technology. Using the NMF award, the Friends
of (ICP) are in the process of hiring a landscape architect to
prepare the schematic design. The RFQ is attached. After the landscape
architect is on board, there will be two more public meetings
to formulate the schematic design.
| LOCATION |
700 S Lane St.
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| BUDGET |
$15,000 Neighborhood Matching Fund (to be used for
design)
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| SCHEDULE |
Design: January 2009-June 2009
Construction:
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PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The current project is to hire a landscape architect to work
with the community and Parks to prepare a schematic design and
preliminary cost estimate. In 2007, The Friends of International
Children's Park received a Small and Simple grant from the Department
to undertake initial community outreach and to identify and assess
the needs and issues concerning the park. FICP partnered with
the Department of Landscape Architecture at the University of
Washington and the Wilderness Inner-city Leadership Development
(WILD) program.
A collaborative design studio at UW involving the youths of the
WILD program produced a set of conceptual design alternatives,
based on feedbacks from community workshops. Specifically, two
community meetings for brainstorming were held. The first one
produced feedbacks from the community on preferences concerning
activities and physical elements in the park.
At the community workshop, community members expressed concerns
about safety issues related to the park as well as desires for
improved visibility and greenery and multigenerational uses so
that the park can be enjoyed by both adults and youths, thereby
enhancing the safety of the park. A complete report on the results
of the studio is available at http://courses.washington.edu/replay/
The International Children's Park was developed in the 1970s
in the Chinatown-International District as results of community
activism. The park has provided a much-needed open space for recreation
and gathering in a dense inner-city neighborhood. It features
a Ying-yang inspired layout with sandpit, lawn, rock mound, play
equipment, a shelters and benches. Unfortunately, in recent years,
the park has suffered from lack of use by local residents despite
the expressed desire for more open space in the neighborhood.
Poor visibility into the park and lack of flexibility for programming
are particular limiting factors for the park. Many of the program
elements are also either damaged or out of date and lacking ADA
access.
The Chinatown-International District is historic neighborhood
with a growing residential population. The district also has many
restaurants, stores, social service agencies, and cultural institutions,
such as the Wing Luke Asian Museum, that bring a significant number
of visitors to the area. The childcare program at the Denise Louise
Education Center regularly uses the park for its outdoor activities
for preschool children. A renovated park will provide much-needed
recreational opportunities for the residents and visitors alike
and especially for the growing number of families in the neighborhood.
In November 2008, Seattle voters passed the Proposition 2 - Parks
and Green Space Levy. As a listed project in the Levy, the International
Children's Park will receive $500,000 for implementing the renovation
project.
COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION
IMPORTANT LINKS
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