Everyone is invited to come celebrate the opening of the new Yesler Terrace Park from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, August 25. An official dedication ceremony will be at noon, and throughout the event there will be music, art and food trucks.
The park is at 835 Yesler Way, next to Yesler Community Center.
The 2-acre park has sweeping views of downtown, Elliott Bay and Mount Rainier, an expansive plaza and a variety of smaller spaces for gathering and play. The playground below the plaza includes play structures and a slope for climbing up and sliding down. There also are a soccer field and a basketball court.
The Seattle Sounders’ RAVE Foundation will sponsor activities at the soccer field, and the Seattle University men’s basketball team will host activities at the basketball court.
The fun continues into the evening with a neighborhood movie night at 8 p.m.
The park's opening coincides with the redevelopment of the Yesler community into mixed-income housing.
The park represents the community in several ways: Multi-layered stone sculptures by artist Christine Bourdette are inspired by the rich diversity of communities and cultural experience in the neighborhood. Towers of Burble, the spraypark sculptures in the central water feature, and Conversation Clusters, the sculptural seating areas throughout the park, derive from the shapes of vessels, baskets and stools from the cultural traditions of those who have migrated to this neighborhood.
See also: Learn about proposed improvements to Ballard Playfield.
The new park is the result of a partnership with Seattle Housing Authority and public-private donations that include Seattle Parks Foundation, RAVE Foundation (the official charitable arm of the Seattle Sounders), Wyncote Foundation Northwest, Pendleton and Elisabeth Carey Miller Charitable Foundation, The Community Parks Fund,Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office, and the Office of Arts and Culture.
