Duwamish Waterway Park Expansion

Updated: February 18, 2026

Early 2026

The one-acre park expansion site, located between 1024 S Elmgrove Street, 98108, was purchased with the support of the community in 2021. In July 2025, Seattle Parks and Recreation (SPR) and the Duwamish Valley Program (DVP) reviewed the alternative site plans that reflected previous community engagement.

We are complying with the Washington State Department of Ecology’s Agreed Order that has been placed on the site and the neighboring Duwamish Waterway Park. The Agreed Order will last through at least 2028.

Once we understand the implications of the Agreed Order and funding is available to construct the park, we will reengage the community in the next steps of planning and design.

Location

1024 S Elmgrove Street, 98108

Aerial neighborhood view of new parcel location, outlined in red, along the Duwamish River

Project Description

In early 2019, the Duwamish Valley Program, working with SPR, the Duwamish Rowing Club, the South Park Area Redevelopment Committee, and the Seattle Parks Foundation secured a King County acquisition grant and SPR purchased the property in 2021.

Through an agreement with SPR, the Duwamish Valley Program worked with community and agency partners, including SPR, to lead site planning for the 1-acre site. The goals of planning were to advance neighborhood priorities for:

Developing open space
Developing community-supportive non-profit spaces
Increasing access to the Duwamish River
Restoring aquatic habitat
Creating a network of connected open spaces along the Duwamish River
Expanding opportunities for cultural activities and uses for the site.

The project has served as a learning opportunity for project partners to identify and learn about best practices for creating a community-led Duwamish Valley Resilience District, including shared funding, processes (e.g., shared decision-making, multisector collaboration), science (e.g., habitat), health equity, and anti-displacement.

Budget

Acquisition: Seattle Parks and Recreation (SPR) funded the acquisition using the Parks Fund and is working to get reimbursement from the awarded Conservation Future Tax (CFT) grant for open space purposes. Future use of the property is restricted to low-impact, passive-use recreation. The restrictions include:

Facilities to support organized/structured athletic activities such as ballfields, courts, and gyms are not allowed
A maximum of 15% (6,376.5 sq ft) of the total surface area may be developed or maintained with non-vegetative impervious surfaces
Trail surfaces (soft-surface or paved) are not included in the calculation of this restriction.

Design: The Duwamish Valley Program (DVP) secured $45,000 from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Global Ideas for U.S. Solutions: Cities Taking Action to Address Health, Equity, and Climate Change to support the site planning. This funded the development of a site plan that reflected a community-led decision-making process and SPR reviews.

$100,000 was allocated through the Parks Fund (a revenue stream from scheduling and reservation fees) to support preliminary planning and design for the site.

Development: The final budget will depend on project timing and the result of site planning. SPR is exploring funding opportunities to develop the site.

Schedule

Site Planning: 2021 - 2025
Design: TBD
Agreed Order - Site Clean-up: 2023-2028
Construction: TBD to occur after the Agreed order is complete - at the earliest, 2029.
Completion: TBD

Community Participation

The Duwamish Valley Program and SPR worked with the South Park Capacity Building Group, through which leaders from South Park community organizations collaborate and coordinate efforts to advance community priorities, to help guide community engagement and cooperate with agencies for the site planning. The Duwamish Valley Affordable Housing Coalition helped assess the need and interest of community-serving nonprofits for affordable office and program space.

Photo of booth presentation taking place. Presenter and community participants in front of presentation board.

Summer 2023 Engagement

The team educate the community about the project and gathered general input on the full site. During this engagement, we connected with the following organizations that represent Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. 80 community members responded to a multi-lingual survey that included English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Somali, and Khmer.

Duwamish Valley Youth Corps
Duwamish Valley Sustainability Association
Duwamish River Community Hub
Vietnamese and other elders at a Senior Center Karaoke night
Duwamish River Community Coalition
Duwamish Tribal members and council
South Park Neighborhood Association meetings

The landscape architecture (site planning) and architecture (multipurpose building) firms compiled information into common themes to develop preliminary alternative site plan options.

Summer 2025 Engagement

SPR hosted two engagements in Summer 2025 to gather feedback on the alternative site plans. The options included two designs that met all priorities except indoor non-profit supportive spaces. · Design Options

After several years of planning and conversations, there were no non-profit organizations whose ability to partner on development fit with the funding parameters for this site. The eventual development of the park requires funding and a more detailed engagement and design processes.