The city of Seattle will maintain control over City Hall Park, scuppering a 2021 agreement that would have traded the downtown property for 13 county-owned parcels scattered throughout the city.
The new deal leaves the park, which abuts the King County Courthouse and county government offices, in the hands of the city with the understanding that city officials will reopen, reactivate and secure the park. It has been closed for more than a year since the city and JustCARE team moved out an encampment that had been established there during the pandemic.
The promised changes at the park will happen “following an expected vote by the City Council to pass the mayor’s proposed budget, which includes $2.8 million dedicated to the park,” according to the announcement made on the morning of Oct. 14.
The City Council was set to hear a presentation on the Seattle Parks & Recreation budget that afternoon but ultimately ran out of time that session.
If approved, the $2.8 million is a “first step” in Harrell’s plan, which includes a permanent structure for public gathering and a space for concerts and other events. The city will revitalize the Prefontaine fountain across the street and “explore options” for public restrooms in the park.
King County Executive Dow Constantine and former Mayor Jenny Durkan originally agreed to swap City Hall Park for discontiguous land plots. The King County Council approved the plan in December 2021, but the City Council had not. Low-income housing providers and Pioneer Square advocates called on the city to keep the park and reopen it in an August 2022 committee meeting.
A county report released in January 2022 said that, if the county had control over the park, it could put a Department of Natural Resources and Parks code of conduct in place, allowing the county to enforce those rules with infrastructure like security staff and cameras, emergency callboxes, “access barriers/gates/fencing” and enhanced lighting.
The park had become a security concern for people who worked at or visited the courthouse and county offices.
King County Councilmember Jeanne Kohl-Welles had advocated for county control over the park. In an Oct. 14 interview, Kohl-Welles said that she had heard about the new agreement on Oct. 12 and that she would have a “wait and see attitude” on Harrell’s proposal.
“I am pleased that there is a resolution to it and overjoyed to think of the park once again being in a condition for people to feel safe and be a positive, welcoming place in the neighborhood,” Kohl-Welles said.
Had the county taken over the park, Kohl-Welles had hoped to restore and reopen the historic Jefferson Street entrance to the courthouse, which faces the park. Currently, the public can access the courthouse on the Fourth Street side; a judge ordered the Third Street entrance closed in 2019 citing multiple attacks on jurors and court employees.
Ashley Archibald was the editor of Real Change through July 14, 2023, after working as a staff reporter for the newspaper for several years. She left to become a communication specialist for Purpose. Dignity. Action., previously known as Seattle’s Public Defender Association. Real Change is proud to know this talented person.
Read more of the Oct. 19-25, 2022 issue.