Plan would make Seattle's Freeway Park more people friendly

Freeway Park, next to the Washington State Convention and Trade Center, was supposed to take some of the sting out of the division of Seattle into two by Interstate 5.

The park, which sits atop I-5 at Seventh Avenue between the Seneca Street and the convention center, was supposed to give city-dwellers a little piece of the woods. Paths wind their way though dense stands of trees and around concrete walls intended to evoke boulders.

But, of course, muggers usually aren't lurking around the bend in nature. All the turns and faux boulders have made people feel unsafe, and the park has been barely used, except by drug dealers and street alcoholics. In addition to providing a refuge for unsavory activities, the walls and trees block the view of the park from the plaza on the upper level of the convention center. So few people know the park is even there.

This week, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer spoke with Fred Kent, president of the Project for Public Spaces. The city hired the New York-based non-profit to figure out how to revitalize the park.

After meeting with community organizations, the city unveiled the non-profit's recommendations at a public forum last night. After working with the city's parks board next spring, the city could begin making changes to the park late next year or in 2006.

The city also hired the Project for Public Spaces to come up with plans to renovate Occidental Park in Pioneer Square. Both efforts are part of Mayor Greg Nickels' initiative to make downtown more residential.

What were your impressions of the park?

"I was struck by how incredibly beautiful it is. But it is really a wonderful place, with nothing to do. .... Parks are places where people like to go and have fun, go to playgrounds, sit and read, or have performances."

What are some of the ideas you've come up with?

"We spent a couple of days talking to people who live and work around the park, and they came up with some wonderful ideas to add activity to the park. The side facing the (plaza outside the upper level) of the convention center could be opened up" by taking down walls blocking the view of the park.

"The (small) building with the bathrooms and the elevator into the parking garage could become a coffee stand, with outdoor seating in the open area.

"On the west side of the park (at a lower level outside the Park Place office building), there is a real opportunity to create a fairly large open space with performances. Maybe a skating rink outside Park Place, with a restaurant. It is evocative of Rockefeller Center.

"In the middle of the park there might be a space for a dog run."

But what about the original vision of the park as a nature trail in the city?

"That came from a time when the design profession was coming up with a lot of clichés about nature in cities, mountains in cities, that sort of thing. It was a very good idea, but it didn't include activities that people would want to do there. What we've seen in places around the world are a lot of places where they've built half of what would be a nice place, because there's nothing to do. If you go to a park and ask a child, 'What did you do?' You don't want them to say, 'Nothing.' You want people to walk their dog there, meet three or four other people and have a talk, so that people are making connections."

How much would you alter the park's feel?

"You want to preserve a beautiful environmental setting but maybe make some of the trails a little straighter, open things up more (by taking down some walls and trees), create places where you can have (board) games and coffee."

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