Names Needed for Central District Parks

Seattle Parks and Recreation is inviting the public to submit names for two new parks in the Central District and Rainier Beach neighborhoods. The properties in question — listed here with their working names — are yet to be developed:

• "Colman School Parking Lot." Located next to Colman School at 2400 S. Massachusetts St. in the Central District, this land was acquired by Seattle Parks and Recreation in 1948.

It was the school's playground, until the Washington State Department of Transportation bought the land for use in staging construction of the Interstate-90 lid project. Since 1997, the city has leased the land from the state for parking for the adjacent Sam Smith Park.

The 2000 Pro Parks Levy provided $309,300 for improvements to the site that include better pedestrian connections to the park and neighborhood.

• "Rainier Beach Lake Park." The city acquired the property, located along Lake Washington at the 9500 block of Rainier Avenue South, in the 1930s when Rainier Avenue was extended to Renton.

In 1960, the Seattle Engineering Department transferred most of the property to Seattle Parks and Recreation, which then leased the site to the adjoining AquaMarina for the moorage of small boats. This moorage was destroyed in November 2003 by severe wave action caused by high winds.

After the storm, Seattle Parks and Recreation began design work on the conversion of this site to a habitat for juvenile migrating salmon. These small fish feed and grow before they migrate through the Lake Washington Ship Canal to Puget Sound and the Pacific Ocean, where they spend several years before returning as adults to spawn in the Cedar River.
The project involved removing the parking lot fill and other features from the old moorage, installation of beach gravel, planting of the hillside with native vegetation and building a small overlook. This work was completed in late 2005.
Criteria the Park Naming Committee considers in naming parks include geographical location, historical or cultural significance and natural or geological features.

A park may be named for a person no longer living (deceased a minimum of three years) who made a significant contribution to parks and/or recreation in Seattle. The Naming Committee will consider all suggestions and make a recommendation to parks Superintendent Ken Bounds, who makes the final decision.

Submit suggestions for park names in writing by Wednesday, June 7, and include an explanation of how your suggestion matches the naming criteria. Send submissions to Seattle Parks and Recreation, Park Naming Committee, 100 Dexter Ave. N, Seattle, WA 98109; or e-mail them to paula.hoff@ seattle.gov.