Major Maintenance Project Information
Freeway Park Renovation

Address: 700 Seneca St; Seattle, WA 98101-2737

Current Status

Fountains
The Pigott Corridor Fountain, the Cannon Cascade Fountain and the American Legion Fountain are currently off for the winter. Additional work is being done to comply with the Washington State Department of Ecology regulations. Parks staff anticipates the work to be completed by the end of 2013.

Parks hired Mayfly Engineering of Seattle to complete the construction documents for the modification of the drainage for the fountains in Freeway Park required by Department of Ecology and Seattle Parks.

Lighting
The pedestrian lighting project was completed in early 2012. Parks is currently working on existing wiring issues that were outside the scope of initial work and need attention.

Landscape Renovation
The Landscape Renovation portion of the Freeway Park renovation was completed in July 2010. The park has been transformed with an interesting variety of ground plain plants and the reduced number of large trees introduces light and a more cheery atmosphere to the park. In August 2010, sunbathers returned to Freeway Park.

Iain Robertson, Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Washington has been retained to complete recommendations to restore and renew Freeway Park's landscape. Professor Robertson met with Lawrence Halprin FASLA, the Park's original designer to discuss the landscape renovation. Parks and Iain Robertson presented the Landscape Renovation Plan to the Design Commission on May 15, 2008 and it was unanimously approved. Danadjieva and Koenig Associates did some preliminary work on the Landscape Renovation Plan in 2006.

Landmark Designation
The proceedings to nominate Freeway Park as a Historic Landmark have been postponed until later in 2007.

The Historic Landmark Preservation Board met in November 2006 to review the status. Primarily due to issues raised by Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), nomination was tabled until further discussions between the City and WSDOT can occur.

Project Description

The current goals of this project include:

• developing a landscape improvement plan
• working with the original park designer
• developing kiosks for the future use of wayfinding signs
• developing recommendations for improvements to Pigott Corridor
• and the addition of one (prototype) bench
• additional benches will be added using a donation process, administered by the Seattle Park Foundation

Park History
When Freeway Park was originally designed and constructed in the 1970s and 1980s, its design intent was to create a park providing promenades, views of Elliott Bay and a green space in the middle of the city. The trees have grown over the years to such an extent that their canopies now shade much of the understory shrubs and ground cover plants. The grass and lawn that still remains are challenged due to lack of light. The selective removal of these trees is part of an overall plan to make the park more inviting to everyone and to encourage its active use by children, neighbors, downtown workers, and visitors using the Convention Center and Visitors Bureau.

In November, City Council approved the Mayor's proposed $2.5 million budget for Freeway Park for the 2007-2008 biennium.

The water returned to the Pigott Corridor fountains on June 25, 2008. Mayor Greg Nickels turned the water on during a neighborhood celebration. Along with refurbishing the fountains Parks installed new pedestrian lighting. The design team was lead by ORB Architects.

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

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