Kat and a bunch of other neighbors in the Jefferson Park Alliance have been working tirelessly for years and years and years to turn Jefferson Park -- the site of two reservoirs that are currently being lidded -- into the type of beautiful public greenspace that the Olmstead brothers envisioned for it 100 years ago.
After helping fight the Parks Department's plans for erecting a dozen 100-foot light poles at the top of the site and then fighting the Department of Planning and Development over the construction of a huge T-Mobile cell phone tower in the corner of the park over the last year and a half, I'm thrilled that the park development is finally starting to get the kind of recognition it deserves. From a story in today's P-I:
Jefferson Park on Beacon Hill is becoming the stuff of neighborhood dreams, thanks to years of citizen activism and city of Seattle inventiveness.
I don't want to speak too soon -- because, if I've learned one thing from living down here in the South End, it's that once you start to think you're out of the woods, you're likely going to have to fight off yet another big mean bear -- but, OMG, HALLELUJAH.
Hey, city council candidates, if any of you are reading this, be prepared to tell me what you think about Jefferson Park and that view shown above tonight at the South End Candidates Forum. Do you think that panorama -- which affords views of the Olympics, Puget Sound, the Space Needle, the Smith Tower, the downtown skyline, Mt. Baker, and the Cascades -- deserves the same sort of protection as the views from 80 other parks and playgrounds in the city listed in Seattle Municipal Code 25.05.675? (Stumped? I'll give you a hint: YES.)
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