Starting next week, Seattle Parks staff will be at Ballard Commons Park every day with activities in an effort to encourage positive park behavior.
It’s called the Park Concierge program, which will bring a canopy tent with Seattle Parks and Recreation staff running a small booth. They’ll have sidewalk activities for all ages and provide information about the Parks programming throughout the city.
Rachel Schulkin from Seattle Parks tells My Ballard that the program started four years ago in downtown parks in order to encourage “positive park use and activate a space that is under-activated or has seen negative use.”
Schulkin says it works well in parks that have a lot of foot traffic, such as Occidental Park and Westlake, but have been underutilized by the general public.
In other parks, they’ve set up giant Jenga, cornhole, and even ping pong.
“People tend to interact because they’re already walking through, or eating lunch there,” she says.
Schulkin says that if Parks staff see dangerous behavior during their concierge hours, they’re instructed to call Seattle Police.
The Park Concierge will start on Monday, August 12th, from 11am to 8pm, and will be there on a daily basis throughout the summer.