OUT IN FRONT // LANDSCAPE LEADING

image

LEVERAGING COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS + GOODWILL

MAKING MORE THAN A PARK



image

1

2

3

4

6

5

7

8

1. The community enthusiastically participated in several meetings and open houses, including this one at the Greenwood Car Show. / 2. Community members noted their desires for the park on a large chalkboard at the park site. / 3. Kids of all ages contributed their ideas for the park, resulting in the design of a nature discovery trail and digging area. / 4. Formerly known as Library Park, the new park was named after the chemist Alice Ball (1892-1916), a Seattleite and graduate of the University of Washington who developed the first successful treatment for leprosy. Jesse Ballnik, PNA Member and then a third-grader at Daniel Bagley Elementary, spearheaded the campaign for the name. / 5. The park opening was a celebration for the community. / 6. The Seattle Department of Transportation generously supported the installation of a raised crosswalk with a supergraphic of a book unfolding into leaves to connect the Library and the Park. / 7. Large stones donated by the Library now serve as perches for park users. / 8. The park and library work together, connecting two important civic uses into a cohesive whole. (Photo courtesy of Seattle Parks and Recreation.)


image

READING NOOK

DIGGING

DISCOVERY

NATURE

DISCOVERY TRAIL

LAWN

PLAZA

LIBRARY

RAISED

CROSSWALK

N

ALICE BALL PARK

SEATTLE WASHINGTON

Completed 2019


Alice Ball Park illustrates what can be accomplished with creative problem solving and collaboration with the community and public agencies.

Located along one of north Seattle’s primary arterials, this landbanked park site is directly adjacent to the Greenwood Branch of the Seattle Public Library.

The project site area doubled from what was initially planned through a late purchase of adjacent property, while the park budget remained the same. The scope was to fully design the whole site concept but build the original park on the parcel closest to the library, and leave the new parcel as a lawn until future funding became available.

Instead, an entire park across both lots was accomplished.

Throughout the design process, agencies, community partners, and the design team worked together to build a park that is more than a park by:


RECOGNIZING OPPORTUNITIES

The library entry plaza remodel was removing beautiful stone boulders. When asked, the library generously donated them to the park, which allowed the two civic facilities to share a common design language.

Buildings were being demolished on this sloping site, so instead of removing all walls, some were repurposed for site retaining walls.


ENGAGING THE COMMUNITY

The design of the park stemmed directly from understanding what the community most valued, which is versatile open place to come together and build goodwill. Working with the community through several workshops and open houses helped focus the vision for the park, finding the best value for those that would frequent the new shared

amenity and bringing the public along in the design vision.


FOSTERING COLLABORATION

The Seattle Department of Transportation funded design and construction of a raised crosswalk to the library with a supergraphic of a book unfolding and morphing into leaves, a design that further unites the two civic facilities and expresses the etymology of the word “book,” which is related to beech trees, the street tree of Greenwood Avenue.

SDOT allowed the sidewalk to be on the park property to give the street trees more room and combine park and street circulation into one unified pathway, an idea that came out of discussions with the Seattle Design Commission.

CITY OF SEATTLE PARKS & RECREATION

image

Owner


OSBORN CONSULTING, INC.

Previously Cascade Design Collaborative Landscape Architecture & Urban Design Prime Consultant


LPD ENGINEERING

Civil Engineering


HARBOR POWER ENGINEERS, INC.

Electrical Engineering


image

PSM CONSULTING ENGINEERS

Structural Engineering


COLLABORATORS

City of Seattle Dept. of Transportation Seattle Public Libraries

Friends of Alice Ball Park

Greenwood Community Council

Phinney Ridge Neighborhood Assoc. Seattle Design Commission