Early last year, Groundswell NW received a nearly anonymous e-mail with information that the 7th Elect Church of Israel property in the 7000 block of 9th Avenue Northwest was being very quietly marketed for sale. At first we thought it might be a hoax, as this property has been privately held for decades, but we decided to check it out.

(Groundswell NW member) Dave Boyd contacted the agent, and immediately alerted Don Harris, in Seattle Parks’ Acquisitions unit. Many enthusiastic letters and e-mails from the neighbors led to very quick action by Seattle Parks staff making it possible for Mayor Greg Nickels to announce the purchase of this 39,000 square foot property at Groundswell’s annual meeting last March.

To have this wonderful open space preserved is a tremendous accomplishment for the Whittier Heights neighbors and for the city.

The immediate neighbors of this new park have already logged over 300 volunteer hours in clearing and weeding. The new Friends of the Park, working with Groundswell NW, have held two successful fundraisers.

In July, with donated ice cream from the Ballard Market, we hosted an ice cream social. In December, with supervision of the Parks Department, we limbed up the lovely variegated holly trees in the south meadow and sold holly bunches for holiday decorating.

Neighborhood volunteers are excited to be stewards of the park and have enthusiastically taken to nurturing the landscaping and raising additional funds for the park’s development.

This new park on 9th Avenue (as yet unnamed) will receive development funds from the 2008 Pro Parks Levy. We are in close contact with the Parks Department to learn who will help in the preliminary stages of development that may start later this year.

Our immediate goals are to continue maintenance and fundraising, and to conduct a survey of neighbors about their wishes for the park.

Even in its current state, this little park offers a great place for picnics, so please stop by and visit this new gem in Ballard!

If you are interested in helping with this effort please send inquiries to 9thavenwpark@gmail.com.

Alyssa Smith is a member of Groundswell NW and Andrea Faste is the president.