Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation

A Seattleite's guide to cooling off in the heat

Guest — Sat, 29 Jun 2013 00:12:58 +0000

Guest (not verified) Fri, 06/28/2013 - 5:12pm

From spray parks and wading pools to swimming pools and beachs

File photo

From Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation

When it’s hot, Seattle residents don’t need to go far to cool off. Seattle Parks and Recreation has a long list of places to get cool in the water, including beaches, wading pools and water spray features, and outdoor pools.

Beaches

Parks offers safe, lifeguarded beaches at nine sites around the city, and we strongly recommend swimming only where lifeguards are present. Beaches are open daily, weather permitting, from noon to 7 p.m. weekdays and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Amenities range from swim rafts and low and high diving boards to nearby wading pools, play areas, ballfields, and more.

These beaches are open through September 2:

Matthews, 9300 51st Ave. NE
Madison, 1900 43rd Ave. E
Mt. Baker, 2301 Lake Washington Blvd. S
Seward, 5902 Lake Washington Blvd. S
West Green Lake, 7312 W Green Lake Dr.

These beaches are open through August 25:

East Green Lake, 7201 E Green Lake Dr. N
Magnuson, park entrance at NE 65th and Sand Point Way NE
Madrona, 853 Lake Washington Blvd.
Pritchard Beach, 8400 55th Ave. S

Outdoor Pools

Parks operates two unique outdoor pools for summer fun. Each offers swimming lessons, family swimming, water exercise programs, and special events. And you can rent the whole pool for your own special event!

Lowery C. “Pop” Mounger Pool, at 2535 32nd Ave. W, 206-684-4708, is open daily through September 8. Mounger Pool is really two pools in one place. The “big pool” has a 50-foot corkscrew slide and the warmer, shallower “little pool” is great for relaxing and for teaching little ones. Call the pool to reserve it for your own birthday party or other special event!

Colman Pool, at 8603 Fauntleroy Way SW, 206-684-7494, opens at noon each day through

September 2, and is also open the weekend of September 7 and 8. The pool enjoys a spectacular view of Puget Sound from its prime location on the beach in West Seattle’s Lincoln Park. It features heated salt water and the Giant Tube Slide!

SPECIAL NOTE ABOUT COLMAN: Colman Pool is closed to the public through Saturday, June 29, for a scheduled swim meet. It will re-open to the public on Sunday, June 30.

Wading Pools and Water Spray Features

Your little ones will love the cool, shallow water and you can cool your own grown-up toes too! We will operate 15 wading pool sites this summer, and there are 10 parks with spray features to enjoy. Please note that the pools take about an hour to fill and drain each day, as required by law.

Four-day-a-week Wading Pools (both are open noon to 6:45 p.m.):

Hiawatha Community Center, 2700 California Ave. SW, Mon/ Tue/Wed/Sat
Delridge Community Center, 4501 Delridge Way SW, Thur/Fri/Sat/Sun

Three-day-a-week Wading Pools (all are open from noon to 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted):

Bitter Lake, 13035 Linden Ave. N, Wed/Thu/Fri
Cal Anderson Park, 1635 11th Ave., noon to 6:45 p.m., Fri/Sat/Sun
Dahl Playfield, 7700 25th Ave. NE, Tues/Wed/Thur
East Queen Anne, 160 Howe St., Sun/Mon/Tue
E.C. Hughes, 2805 SW Holden St., Wed/Thu/Fri
Soundview, 1590 NW 90th St., Sat/Sun/Mon
South Park, 8319 8th Ave. S, Sun/Mon/Tue
Wallingford, 4219Wallingford Ave. N, Wed/Thu/Fri

Daily Wading Pools (all are open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted):

Green Lake, N 73rd and E Green Lake Dr. N
Lincoln Park, 8600 Fauntleroy Ave. SW
Magnuson, eastern end of NE 65th St., noon to 6:30 p.m.
Van Asselt, 2820 S Myrtle St.
Volunteer Park, 1400 E Galer St.

Daily Water Sprayparks (all are open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.):

Ballard Commons, 5701 22nd Ave. NW
Beacon Mountain at Jefferson Park, 3901 Beacon Ave. S
John C. Little, 6961 37th Ave. S
Lower Judkins, 2150 S Norman St.
Georgetown Playfield, 750 S Homer St.
Highland Park, 1100 SW Cloverdale
Lake Union Park, 860 Terry Ave. N
Miller Community Center, 330 19th Ave. E
Northacres Park, 12800 1st Ave. NE
Pratt Park, 1800 S Main St.

For a more complete listing of fun summer activities in Seattle parks, please visit www.seattle.gov/parks and click on “2013 Summer Guide” on the home page.

Follow Ballard News-Tribune on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ballardnewstrib

And Twitter at http://twitter.com/ballardnewstrib

Seattle news

Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation

North Beach Park first recipient of Groundswell NW's microgrant program

Guest — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 07:29:34 +0000

Guest (not verified) Fri, 10/19/2012 - 12:29am

The first lucky winner of Groundswell NW's new microgrant program is Friends of North Beach Park, who have been working to restore North Beach Park and Nature, according to a press release.

The microgrant program awards $500 to support community members trying tos tart projects which support Groundswell NW's mission. They are preferred to be in the Northwest quadrant of Seattle, be a new project and have an inclusive group which will welcome public participation.

David Folweiler, a member of the Groundswell NW board, had this to say:

“Friends of North Beach Park is a passionate group of volunteers who maintain a much needed green space adjacent to North Beach Elementary School. Their work involves removing invasive species and restoring native plantings. They also work with students to enrich their environmental education. The work of the Friends of North Beach Park furthers the mission of Groundswell NW – the creation and maintenance of public parks, habitat, and green space. We are honored that our first microgrant award goes to such a dedicated group.”

Friends of North Beach Park includes neighbors from Crown Hill, Olympic Manor, North Beach, and Ballard. Since April, 2011, there have been 17 work parties in the main body of the park, including visits from five school groups. Work parties are held on the 4th Saturday of the month, from 9 a.m. to noon. The October and November work parties will feature native planting in numerous sites throughout the park.

The grant will be used to produce a newsletter for neighbors of the park and to purchase tools. The work of Friends of North Beach Park is also supported by the Green Seattle Partnership and the Seattle Parks Department.

For further information about Groundswell NW and their new microgrant program, please visit their website: http://www.groundswellnw.org/

For further information about Friends of North Beach Park, or to volunteer for a work party, please contact Luke McGuff at lukemcguff@yahoo.com.

Groundswell NW

Zachariah Bryan

Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation

North Beach Park

Friends of North Beach Park

David Fowlweiler

Ballard

Ballard News Tribune

New Kirke Park place for community to gather

Guest — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 07:27:47 +0000

Guest (not verified) Mon, 08/13/2012 - 12:27am

One of the unique parts of Kirke Park, a "natural play" area which runs along the east side of the park, is a dry bed lined with rocks, trees and logs which will rot over time.

Photo by Zachariah Bryan

After four years of planning, designing and community input – as well as many more years of eyeing the property as a possible park location – Kirke Park had its grand opening last Saturday, Aug. 11, and is now open for public use.

The park, though fairly small in size, is able to fit an impressive amount of activities and uses without feeling too cluttered. On the south end is a playground for kids to enjoy, which includes large disc-like swings that several kids can fit on at once (at hit at the grand opening) and a rock climbing wall. In the middle of the park is the “living room” area, a place where people can sit at benches or lay on the grass and gather for conversation, picnics or relaxation. On the north side is a P-Patch garden with fresh beds of soil, fruit trees and berry bushes. Apples, plums, figs, blueberries, strawberries, gooseberries and many, many more edible foods all will start popping up around the park in the future. Some, such as the apples, have already started.

Along the east side of the park is a dry bed lined with rocks, logs and trees. In addition to acting like a natural drain during the winter, the area is also available for kids to play in. “Nature play” is a big word in urban parks, said Landscape Architect Clayton Beaudoiu, who helped design the park. “We’re having a hard time introducing kids to natural elements that evolve over time.”

In a suburban neighborhood with few natural elements outside of well-maintained and manicured trees, the area also provides a rare peek into a truly natural environment, where things, such as logs which will rot over time, are allowed to decay.

“Seattle parks should be commended for their willingness to put things that are impermanent (into a park,” Beaudoiu said.

It was a challenge, he said, to create a park that the whole community could use.

“(The goal was to) create a multi-functional space that works for all people of all interests and generations.”

Alyssa Smith, a nearby resident who has been heavily involved in the process of creating the park, said that it was vital for the open space to be a gathering spot for the community. The neighborhood, like many areas in Ballard, has been starving for an open space such as Kirke Park for a long time.

“Honestly, there really isn’t another spot in the area (to meet that need),” Smith said.

Online, the Department of Parks and Recreation has a gap analysis map gauging how much park space different areas in Seattle has (http://www.seattle.gov/parks/levy/gap_analysis_map.pdf). The more parks in an area, the greener it is; the fewer parks, the less green it is. In the area where Kirke Park now resides, the map had a stark white circle.
Early on, park proponents, including Groundswell NW, had identified the former church property as a good spot for an open space. But it wasn’t until 2007 that the idea started to become a reality, when a realtor was quietly marketing the space. In 2008, the property was formally bought and the planning began.

The property the park is on was originally owned by the Seventh Elect Church, a reclusive religious sect whose members effectively created a wall around the property using towering holly and laurel hedges. The sect practiced absolute celibacy (and vegetarianism), and by the 1990s only a few elderly people were left, meaning that the religion -- and the tenants of the 9th Ave NW and NW 70th St property -- quite literally died off. The history of the religion is long, controversial and full of fuzzy details. To read more about the history, visit Groundswell NW’s web page at http://www.groundswellnw.org/kirke-park/124-whats-the-story-behind-ball….

Whatever the history, and if the heavily attended grand opening is any indication, Smith believes that Kirke Park is already a hit in the neighborhood and that it will see a lot of use in the future.

Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation

Ballard

Ballard News Tribune

At Ballard parks, water reduction pilot has begun

Guest — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 15:35:31 +0000

Guest (not verified) Tue, 07/31/2012 - 8:35am

Dr. Leslie Miller with her husband, Bruce, who have lived by Salmon Bay Park for over 21 years. The park is part of a water reduction pilot program this summer that will affect about 150 parks.

Photo by Zachariah Bryan

At Salmon Bay Park, the grass is green and full. Kids play on the playground, dogs run around panting and on a warm summer day people will lay their blankets down on the ground and relax.

But a few spots of brown can be seen, too. And as summer continues, visitors may begin to see more of it.

In parks all over Seattle, including Salmon Bay Park in Crown Hill, the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation has started testing out a new water conservation pilot program.

Out of 430-plus parks, about 300 are currently irrigated, and about half will be going through reduced watering this summer. Parks says they spend about $1.25 million a year to irrigate parks, according to a press release. At Salmon Bay Park, watering costs between $1,600 and $3,400 per year.

The program is meant to discover how much money Parks can save as well as test out what they can do in case of a drought emergency, should that ever occur in the Pacific Northwest.

Dr. Leslie Miller, who has lived by Salmon Bay Park for over 21 years now, is upset with the plan.

The park just got an irrigation system as late as 2008, which cost about $135,000 (this number is not confirmed since funding was part of a larger piece), Galt said.

Miller said that before the system was installed, Salmon Bay Park was brown and not as inviting. Ever since, though, the lawn is green and people have made more use of it, she said.

Having seen both sides, Miller wonders why money cannot be saved elsewhere.

"What is this vision where (green lawn) suddenly is not essential?"

Compared to how much the Pro Parks Levy is -- $146 million -- watering Salmon Bay Park is "just a drop in the bucket," she said. Especially, she said, when compared to how much money is spent on management.

The new irrigation system at Salmon Bay Park, which has 10 or 11 different zones, allows Parks to be more nuanced in its watering, able to reduce or turn off watering in lesser used parts.

Before, the park was watered four times a week for 50 minutes a day, Miller said. The Parks plan will cut that roughly by one day.

"We are reducing, not eliminating, water in certain areas of the park that are less used. We are monitoring the landscape for health and wear so that we can avoid reaching a point where there is any damage to the asset," said Karen Galt from Parks and Recreation. "If browning should occur, we would evaluate whether the situation warrants changes to the irrigation schedule to avoid landscape health issues."

Other parks going through water reduction are Ballard Commons Park, Ballard Corners Park, Loyal Heights Playfield, Ross Playground and Webster Park.

Parks that will receive no irrigation include Baker Park, Marvins Garden and NW 60th Street Viewpoint.

"Park users and observers will see some brown grass and some park shrub beds not watered as often as before; crews watering earlier in the day and less frequently at parks not controlled by the automatic system," stated Parks in a press release.

Comments can be directed to Galt and Seattle Parks at karen.galt@seattle.gov or pks_info@seattle.gov. In the Fall, Parks will pull together data and comments from the community to decide whether to continue the program in the future. If it does continue, the program will rotate parks to reduce stress on the lawn.

Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation

SDPR

Marvins Gardens

water contingency plan

Ballard

Ballard News Tribune