On July 18, community members in the Whittier Heights neighborhood put together a work party and ice-cream social to fundraise for a new park to be built on Ninth Avenue Northwest and to give the local neighbors a chance to get involved with brainstorming ideas for the open space.

Last year, the city of Seattle purchased a 39,000-square-foot property at 7028 9th Ave. N.W. and dozens came out in support last week of what will become the neighborhood's newest park.

Development meetings will start in the fall but the community is getting a head start on fostering a vision for the park.

Alyssa Smith, who is a part of the community group that’s involved with the development of the park, was at the site early in the morning trimming the hedges along the park.

“The purpose of this event really is to create an awareness within the neighborhood, to give input for the future park,” said Smith.

“We were thrilled when the city bought it," said Joan Weaver, who lives around the corner from the new park. "It‘s nice to see all the newer families getting involved with the neighborhood through the park. It‘s starting a whole new wave."

Weaver, who moved to Ballard about three years ago from southern California, said she couldn’t be more content with the move up to Seattle. She loves the friendly, family-oriented atmosphere of the neighborhood.

Weaver said her two grandchildren, who live within walking distance from park site, will really benefit from having a new park nearby.

Neighbors had worried that is the city had not purchased the property, it would have been developed into townhouses.

“Especially with the economy in the state it is right now, the property would’ve ended up being filled with vacant houses,” Weaver speculated.

According to Smith, about 35 neighbors came to participate in the ice-cream social and work party.

Also that night an outdoor movie, Disney Pixar's "Wall E," was hosted on the site. About 100 people showed up, and more than one third were people visiting the park for the first time, said organizers.

“The park is important to me," said Weaver. "It keeps it a neighborhood."

For more information or to get involved in the development of the new park, email 9thAveNWpark@gmail.com.