Bell Street Park
Parks and Green Spaces Levy
Project Information

Location: First to Fifth Avenue

Project Status

December 2011
A change in the licensing requirements for outdoor restaurant dinning has prompted Parks to adjust the design to accommodate all existing restaurants in the corridor and proposed restaurant on Bell at 2nd.

The trees along Bell Street will be removed to move this project forward. This is an issue the City does not take lightly. Specific tree information can be found here. Parks did an extensive review of the existing trees within the four blocks of the proposed Bell Street Park. An element of the tree replacement plan is Parks staff and the project design team will be developing a long-term tree management plan covering maintenance, pruning and replacement of the trees over the next 30 years for the Bell Street corridor.

Thank you for your attendance and participation in the Bell Street Park public meetings. Parks presented an update at the Best of Belltown on June 14, 2011 for the Belltown Business Association and neighborhood residents.

Seattle Parks and Recreation has started the permitting process with the Seattle Department of Transportation to obtain the required street improvement permit to allow for construction. Additionally, Parks is working to refine the design of the park which may include changes to traffic lane, reevaluating existing vegetation and trees, and adjustments to the features and finishes.

Together Seattle Parks and Recreation and the Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs is happy to announce the selection of Sheila Klein as the project artist for Bell Street Park. She is a nationally recognized public artist that has worked from Los Angeles to Pittsburgh.

Sheila will work with project designers and city staff to develop site-specific artwork consistent with the goals of the project. It is hoped that the art will be the catalyst for park activation. The artwork development schedule will follow the design and construction schedule for the park. The artwork is commissioned with Parks and Green Spaces Levy 1% for Art funds.

The third meeting for the park development in May 2010 was well attended. The design team presented a hybrid design that was developed with community input from the previous meeting. Please see presentation below.

Over 130 people attended the second public meeting held on January 13, 2010. The designers, SvR + Hewitt, presented two different design options that took their inspiration from the history of the area and a lighting specialist presented information on light levels on Bell.

The design team walked the audience through a comparison of the options requesting input on the “Sluiced Surface” option and the “Measured Movement” option. The community offered positive feedback and direction for the design of the park. The community encouraged the designers to look into a combination of the two designs emphasizing the importance of safety, activation, lighting, and using green / recycled materials.

In October 2009 Seattle Parks selected SvR + Hewitt as the primary design consultant for this project. Four Belltown blocks, from First to Fifth Avenues will be turned into Seattle's first park boulevard with swales and natural landscaping.

The conceptual design was approved by the Parks Levy Oversight Committee in April 2009 for $3.5 million in funding based on its ability to provide 17,000 square feet of much-needed open space for the Belltown Community.

The conceptual design was subsequently presented to the City Council in June 2009. They approved both the funding authority and a transfer of jurisdiction of the Bell Street right-of-way to Parks so that the plan could be implemented as envisioned.

Project Description

The neighborhood of Belltown holds a unique spot within the City on many levels. Geographically it links other neighborhoods: the waterfront, Pike Place Market, downtown, Seattle Center, and the Denny Triangle. It has an eclectic mix of businesses, residents, and architecture. It is a dedicated, caring, and inclusive community that not only supports, but also embraces more than 30 human services agencies and low-income housing located there.

Belltown is one of the highest density neighborhoods. From 1990 to 2005 the number of housing units increased by more than 246% and it is expected to grow by another 30% by 2010.

Per the City’s goals for open space, the neighborhood should have 8.64 acres of open space now, and 13.34 by 2024. Unfortunately, the land and resources dedicated to open space has not kept pace with this growth in both residential and business use. Belltown has one park (Regrade Dog Park) that is about one-half acre, clearly falling short of providing for basic needs, let alone establishing the livable, pedestrian-oriented and active mixed-use neighborhood visualized in the neighborhood plan and by the City.

Long term aggressive planning for additional open space in the form of parks and green relief is needed. However, there is an immediate need to provide pedestrian amenities that a great neighborhood like Belltown deserves.

The project was first proposed in the 1998 Belltown Neighborhood Plan, and has been endorsed by a range of community organizations – including Belltown Housing and Land Use Committee and the Bell Town Community Council.

The project converts one traffic lane and reconfigures parking to create a park like corridor through the heart of Belltown. The four block area will be improved with landscaping, better lighting, and more open space. Sidewalks on the north side of Bell Street will be widened to nearly 30 feet with landscaping, lighting and space for children's play areas and other recreational activities. Natural landscaping and swales - vegetation in the right-of-way that collects and cleans rainwater - will be added.

Community Participation

• Meeting Notes

• Summary
• Recorded & Submitted Comments

• Agenda
• Summary
• Design Options Presentation
  

• Summary
• Notes
• Presentation
  

Important Links

• Seattle Parks & Recreation
• Parks & Green Spaces
• Belltown Community Council

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