On May 7, KOMO published a scare-inducing report as part of their “What a Waste” series about the 14th Ave NW Boulevard Park, citing that locals don’t support it’s nearly $3 million price tag and the lost parking spaces.

The story comes seven years after work on the project started and after community meetings, meetings with the parks department, audits, designs, grant applications and more have already gone through.

The project in question is a proposed two-or-more-block-long, 29-foot-wide park on one side of the street -- where the old trolley line used to be -- between NW 59th and NW 63rd streets. The remaining side of the road will be repaved and opened up to two-way traffic. Thirteen inches of rain garden will run alongside the park and road, acting as a buffer. (You can see the whole design schematic here.)

East Ballard Community Association and Groundswell NW member Dawn Hemminger said it would provide a green space in an area that does not have enough green space to serve the surrounding population. The project adds up to $2.9 million, which will be funded by the Parks and Green Spaces Levy.

Two other parks are nearby, but across roads with heavy traffic. There is the Ballard Corners Park to the west, on NW 62nd St and 17th Ave NW on the west side of 15th Ave NW; and there is Gilman Park, on NW 54th St and 11th Ave NW, on the south side of NW Market St.

A few residents that KOMO interviewed said they don’t understand the size of the park. One, Sue Reed, told them, "I guess I'm not sure in that little strip there what are they going to do there? What's that about? How's that going to be used?"

Still, project boosters Hemminger and EBCA member Shannon Dunn say that opponents are in the minority.
“It’s not like it’s some movement that creates a groundswell or a tidal wave in the opposite direction,” Dunn said, noting that she gets along with the project opponents despite their disagreements. “That’s just the way it is. You can’t get 100 percent of people on board.”

Furthermore, KOMO cites that the park would take away 89 parking spaces. said there was certainly a give and take, but that a study revealed the surrounding community could absorb the loss. Having middle-of-the-street parking like there is on 14th is a largely unique instance in Seattle, Hemminger said.

“I think the benefits that we will be getting from the public space in a community severely lacking green space will far outweigh the loss of concrete for parking,” Hemminger said. “There’s a gap in our neighborhood and this is an opportunity. It’s a very creative way to take a piece of property already owned by the city and converting it into something useable by the community.”More than just a green space -- or a parking space -- Dunn said the park will bring community members together and help encourage people to get out through programming, volunteer opportunities and by providing a nice place to walk.

“We’re forgetting how to get out of the house and engage one another. The park will be a vehicle for creating a physical community rather than just a digital community,” she said.

Meanwhile, as residents debate the park, progress is rolling along. The Street Improvement Permit process is underway and will be complete by April of 2014. If all goes well, construction will begin July of 2014 and will be completed by January of 2015.

To learn more about the 14th Ave Boulevard Park, visit https://eastballard.wordpress.com/friends-of-14th/

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