Cal Anderson’s fountain mountain (Image: City of Seattle)
Back in March 2020, the Seattle Park District released a long-range strategic plan, to guide park development through 2032. Also in March 2020, COVID happened. Pretty quickly, parts of that plan were put on hold as city tax revenues cratered owing to the lack of economic activity in the early stages of the pandemic.
Instead of grand plans for major renovations of park facilities, Seattle saw then-Mayor Jenny Durkan ordering a temporary park closure to stop people from congregating, and then having people with 6-foot long sticks walk through parks reminding residents of how far apart they needed to be. Remember that? Good times.
Delayed by the pandemic and the department’s shift to “critical services,” Seattle Parks is now ready to move forward on planning for its next six-year “Cycle 2” plan of spending on safety, maintenance, recreation affordability, park development, and supporting community events and programs.
The new Seattle Park District cycle will begin in 2023. It is beginning this spring with draft plans covering three main focus areas:
- Enhancing Access and Services (PDF)
- Restoring Clean, Safe & Welcoming Parks & Facilities (PDF)
- Investing for the Future (PDF)
Many of the initiatives that became priorities during the pandemic have grown into long term priorities under the new planning cycle including proposals to increase spending on concierges and security in parks, more money for litter and vandalism clean-up, and, yes, increased patrols for off-leash dog violators. Parks is also hoping to better address equity with the creation of a handful of new parks spaces and increased spending on mobile recreation activities that can visit different areas of the city. There would also be increased spending to improve staffing, hours, and resources at parks department-run centers.
The parks department’s approved 2022 budget was about $228 million. For reference, the total city budget was a bit more than $7 billion. Though the city and the parks are two separate entities, so saying parks is a certain percent of city spending doesn’t quite work, but more on that later.
Exactly how much the department will be spending between 2023 and 2028 is the subject of the Cycle 2 project.
The whole situation is complicated by what Seattle will look like post-COVID. The pandemic has precipitated countless shifts in people’s behavior. Department officials note it is impossible to know right now how many of those changes might be permanent and how many might be temporary. Also impossible to know is how long it might take for pre-COVID use patterns to return, assuming they do.
Planning moves on. First are a series of big-ticket items the parks staff is calling “pre-commitments.” These are items that were either previously budgeted, but not actually built, or otherwise promised and not yet done.
There are six of them scattered across Seattle, but none on Capitol Hill. The closest are the Amy Yee Tennis Center on MLK Way in the Central District, which is set for a major renovation, and a new community center in South Lake Union at 8th and Mercer. Others include renovations of the Loyal Heights and Lake City community centers, development of six parks that had been put on hold owing to COVID, and finally some not yet quite defined work to the Green Lake Community Center and pool.
The parks department expects those to cost about $135 million ($25 million in cash, and the rest through debt) and about $2 million a year in ongoing maintenance costs.
Beyond those, there is likely to be some new spending, but how much is up in the air. Parks Department staff identified new projects and initiatives that would cost about $42 million per year and add 104.8 new FTE. (FTE stands for full time equivalent, a measure of staffing levels. For example, one person, working a 40-hour week is considered one FTE. Two people, working 20 hours each, would also be considered one FTE. Currently, the parks department has 826 employees, with a mix of full time and part-time.)
But the department isn’t going to bring all of the proposals forward, necessarily. The Board of Parks Commissioners, a 15-member advisory board, will instead whittle the new programs down to two options, $30 million worth of new spending and $15 million worth of new spending. The commissioners are now developing those plans, and will present a non-binding set of suggestions which they will submit to the governing board of the Seattle Parks District – which is basically the City Council, but let’s not get sidetracked.
The parks commissioners have split up into three subcommittees which are reviewing the proposed new projects. One focuses on enhancing services and access, one on restoring clean, safe and welcoming parks, and the third on investing for the future. Each of the three has its own survey up, and the city is still looking for input through May 12.
Each of the dozens of proposals has been explained by parks staff with details about just what it should be. Each also comes with an equity ranking, which is designed to help ensure commissioners understand which of the recommendations might help an underserved geographic area or community. There are details of the proposals broken out by subcommittee, and lots of other background information on the parks website.
Despite Cal Anderson and Volunteer Park’s prominent places in the city as centers of civic and recreational activity, Capitol Hill, specifically, doesn’t have much in the plans, but there would be some benefits. Some proposals involve citywide projects.
For example, there are proposals to invest citywide in trail maintenance, and to adjust hours at community centers so they are open more when people might want to use them. Considering there are trails, and community centers on Capitol Hill and the nearby neighborhoods, Hill residents would certainly see some benefits there. Ditto programs that would help with youth employment and mentorship, which could see investments at the Garfield teen life center, along with other such centers.
Volunteer Park’s wading pool (Image: CHS)
There are also proposals for more behind-the-scenes improvements, like helping reduce the amount of carbon used in parks buildings, introducing new irrigation systems, and converting some small equipment to electric fuel instead of gas. In addition there are calls for increasing funding for vandalism response, and parks beautification.
Funding to help improve viewpoint maintenance, would assist with north Capitol Hill’s Louisa Boren Viewpoint, along with the other four designated viewpoints around the city.
Plans to renovate bathrooms at parks around the city include the facilities at Judkins Park.
Another proposal would increase safety at aquatics centers, including Medgar Evers Pool near Garfield High School.
Plans to renovate playgrounds call for updating the Firehouse Mini Park at 18th and Cherry in the Central District, along with work at Judkins Park, TT Minor Elementary School and the Madrona Playground, in addition to other parks around the city.
The commissioners plan to hear public comment on April 28, then hold a public hearing May 12, before another round of comments, and a final vote on their recommendations May 19.
From there, it goes to the governing board of the Seattle Parks District. That board is basically the City Council with the serial numbers filed off. The Seattle Parks District shares the same boundaries as the city, but is a legally distinct entity with its own taxing authority. The City Council sits as the Parks Governing Board three times a year, in general. In the end, it will be the Governing Board (aka the City Council) which will make the final decisions on what projects go forward or not. All of the spending proposals fall well below the maximum amount the parks district can legally collect in taxes. The governing board typically holds a meeting in late June, and another in the fall.
You can find links to surveys to collect feedback on the proposals here through May 12th. Learn more at seattle.gov.
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This must be a joke. The park safety program seems to be focused on having concierges who can warn people with off-leash dogs that they need to keep their dogs leashed.
The Restoring Clean/Safe/Welcoming committee wants to fix things up by installing 78 hanging baskets in parks.
And who knows what the Investing For The Future committee wants because the link to their PDF is broken.
Did Ari read these reports before writing this post? Or just listen to a press conference / do an interview with someone at the Parks Dept and report their talking points?
Our parks are one of the areas most impacted by tents and RVs. I also want more beautification of all the public spaces around town but there’s exactly one issue beyond basic maintenance that the parks Dept should be laser focused on, and it isn’t off leash dogs or new hanging baskets.
I agree with you mostly but the amount of dogs in cal anderson off leash in Cal Anderson has become farsical.
Other parks have some dogs off leash but, I hate to say it, the ones out side of Capitol Hill are better dog owners with better trained dogs. Cal Anderson has just become a hangout for the entitled capitol hill techie that plays on his phone while his dog runs around doing whatever.
Yep. It’s really difficult for me to bring my cat (leashed). Seriously.
It’s difficult to bring a dog leashed to if you don’t want it accosted by other dogs. Also difficult to just walk through it as well.
My cursory survey of parks on Cap Hill shows tents mostly gone (thank you Mayor Harrell!). I heartily endorse hanging baskets and getting unleashed dogs out of Cal Anderson. We need more beauty and more considerate dog owners in our parks.
Yes to more considerate dog owner. Pick up the poop. Use the leash where required. Realize that just because you think your dog is friendly, not everyone wants to befriend your dog.
Just a note to editor – that is not the Volunteer Park wedding pool in the picture.
There should be a singular focus in Seattle with all public funding, especially with parks + sidewalks:
We should, obviously, help people who are either seeking it; or unable to seek it but need it. It should be in the form of healthcare, housing, and sustenance. We have the funds – especially in rich suburbs like Bellevue and the eastside; as well as federal funding.
The next year or two is going to define if we will go down the SF/Portland route, and abandon urban living – or get back into a working society where living in the city does not equate tolerating crime and ignoring safety. Suburbs shouldn’t be the only “safe” places.
We can do it – it takes discipline and prioritization.
People moving here in droves is definitely a sign of people abandoning urban living lol. The rich techie nubes are driving all the wealth inequality that’s causing this mess. If only your bullet points could rally everyone to do what you and you alone wish upon us all. Lol.
The wading pool pictured is actually at Green Lake, not Volunteer Park
Fixed. Sorry for the error!
Tashkent Park was cleared of the encampment this morning.
Yeah that was sad to see.
Where are you going to set up camp next?
Great news!
Great to see, and about time!
Yes…it’s actually thrilling to be able to walk through Tashkent again
I will never forget the COVID craziness of Parks & Rex during early 2020. My favorite was the “just keep moving” phase, where the theory seemed to be no one could get sick so long as they were in motion. I remember a park warden telling my 2 and 4 year olds they could not sit on a bench to have a drink of water.