Seward Park Playground Improvement Foundation
PLEASE JOIN US FOR THE SEWARD PARK PLAY AREA
FINAL DESIGN OPEN HOUSE
Come see the plan and learn how you can make this dream playground a reality!
Tuesday, November 18th
6:30-8:00 p.m.
Seward Park Environmental & Audubon Center
5902 Lake Washington Blvd. S.
(Building adjacent to fomer play area)
Snacks and childcare will be available
ALL ARE WELCOME!
J.A. BRENNAN and ASSOCIATES is thrilled to join our effort in creating a unique, safe, special and FUN place for children to play in Seward Park! Check them out!
We had two public meetings in June and July to get community input on siting and design ideas. The site at and near to the former playground has been selected for the new play area. Our team has been hard at work to accomplish the goals of creating a play area that celebrates the natural beauty of the park, furthers the Audubon Center's mission for exploratory education, and is a darn fun place to be!
See the newest designs for the play area!
What are we doing?
Many of you are already aware that the pirate ship 'moored' for nearly 20 years at the entrance of the park is no more. It had a hole in it making it unsafe and so was removed by the Parks Department.
A neighborhood group formed in mid-December to help create a safe and special playspace. The Seward Park Playground Improvement Foundation (SPPIF) applied for and received a $15,000 neighborhood matching grant from the city to begin the process with the goal of hiring a Landscape Architect and coming up with a schematic design for construction. In accordance with the conditions of the City's grant, there will be a public input process to determine what kind of playspace replacement will be designed and where it goes.
Volunteers Wanted
Want to contribute to the success of the Seward Park's new playspace? SPPIF is looking to expand its membership and is hoping that you or someone you know will be willing and able to join this worthy and rewarding endeavor. Check out the SPPIF Volunteer page for more details about how to get involved.
RE-CAP of SPPIF's THIRD PUBLIC MEETING and NEXT STEPS
SPPIF Team:
Thank you to all who attended our third public input meeting on September 17th. It was a decently attended meeting with over 30 people in attendance - several of whom were first timers.
Associates Tanja Wilcox and Mike Perfetti from our hired landscape architectural firm, J.A. Brennan, presented their three schematics with considerably more detail than what was shown at our last public meeting. JA Brennan made clear that what was shown at our meeting was still conceptual - that is, all of the play elements shown will not necessarily end up in their final schematic. The main objective of the meeting was for them to glean input from the community about what play elements are most important to them and why so that they can accurately reflect the community's wishes and needs in their final rendering. We expect for the final design along with a probable cost estimate to be presented sometime in October. As soon as that date is set, you will be notified.
Key points from the meeting (as noted by Tanja Wilcox) include:
1.) concern about the limited space available for the play area.
*Brennan's response: to show low key, and low profile, naturalistic play elements in the buffer lawn area between the play area and the entry drive. These boulders, logs, planting areas, seating opportunities, etc. and possibly railings will serve as a place of informal play while also protecting the views of Mt. Rainier and slowing children down before they can make it to the drive. The FoSOP group, represented by Brooks Kolb, expressed openness to this type of use of the play buffer zone.
2.)enthusiasm for swings, but as long as some kind of swings, such as swings for small children, are incorporated into the new play elements, then removing the existing swings is acceptable to most people. Ideally, if more space for new play features were available, the community would prefer to keep the existing swings and also have more other play features, but is willing to lose them if a more creative and imaginative play area is thereby possible. The decision on the swings will be made as a part of the design process, weighing space availability and safety with the other play priorities expressed by the community. In any case the trail to the upper swings will be highlighted with a gateway feature and potentially a sign.
3.)The play area character should blend with the character of Seward Park and be both playful and at the same time an expression of the natural world around it. It should have potential as a teaching tool. The play area should be a blending of the three conceptual themes. It should incorporate elements of the forest, marsh, lakeshore and fantasy concepts by incorporating play elements that have many multiple uses, encourage active play and stimulate the imagination such as through construction of over-sized plants (marsh concept) or insects and birds, a tree root cave or hollow tree snag and beaver lodge to climb on, into and over or slide down. The existing slide should be removed and a slide should be incorporated into a new play element. Ideally, running water should be incorporated into the design, but if that isn’t possible, then water could be simulated. A design idea will be proposed that includes water, possibly a disappearing fountain feature incorporating water as a surprise, and direction will be taken from Pro View if this will be acceptable from a maintenance standpoint. Of primary importance is that all play elements are dynamic, with as many ways as possible to go in, out and on as possible. The play elements will be made of natural materials or will simulate natural materials and will use muted colors.
4.) The majority of the play elements incorporated into the design will be small in scale or unobtrusive, while a tall play feature will be built into the hillside in the approximate location of the existing slide. This tall feature will likely have a forest character (i.e. tree palace concept) to blend into the forest landscape and could be connected to other play features via a zip line or swinging bridge and a slide. Interest was expressed to have a path passing under a play structure, but it is agreed that the primary park trail will be re-routed to bypass the play area.
5.) The Audubon flexible use space will be retained for multi-use, but the existing timber walls will be removed and an informal landform will be created with seating walls and lawn panels to be used for parents to view both small children and older children playing or for use as a small amphitheater. The flex space could incorporate natural play / seating elements such as boulders, logs and pilings.
***The attendees agreed to the Design Guidance items presented, except for a strict adherence to the play area footprint and the issue of the swings as noted above.
NEXT STEPS:
*Next we will need to go to Pro View to get their response to the alternatives and proposed design direction. A conversation with Parks is necessary in order to flesh out if Pro View needs to see the alternative concepts as they are, or if it would be better to move ahead to the draft schematic and present this instead.
*A deadline for Brennan's final design needs to be given along with a DATE for our next public meeting when we can expect to see their schematic and probable cost estimate for the project.
HAVE SOMETHING TO ADD?
Visit our website at http://www.sewardparkplayground.org
OR email us at moc.cam|FIPPS#moc.cam|FIPPS
OR contact Parks directly via our neighborhood matching fund liaison, Pam Kliment @ vog.elttaes|tnemilk.alemap#vog.elttaes|tnemilk.alemap
OR contact the Superintendent of Parks, Tim Gallagher, director directly at: voG.elttaeS|rehgallaG.yhtomiT#voG.elttaeS|rehgallaG.yhtomiT
THANKS! TOGETHER WE CAN AND WILL CREATE SOMETHING FUN AND TRULY UNIQUE FOR OUR REGION'S CHILDREN AT OUR BELOVED SEWARD PARK!
Also swing by the old play area to check out the temporary play equipment provided by the Parks Department until the new play area is built. Notice that we now have an accessible yellow swing also.