After 15 months of being closed, Ballard Commons Park is reopening to the public tomorrow (Sat. March 11).
Ballard Commons closed in December 2021 following an encampment cleanup. Since then, Seattle Parks and Recreation has been conducting rehabilitation and remediation efforts including turf repair and landscaping, replacing pedestrian lighting, fixing the restroom, and updating the spray park.
Seattle City Councilmember Dan Strauss, the Ballard Alliance, and Seattle Parks have been working together to plan the reopening event, which will include a ceremony, live music, food trucks, lawn games, and a skate session hosted by the Ballard Thrashers Skateboard Club.
Here’s a full line-up of events on Saturday and Sunday, courtesy of Councilmember Strauss:
Councilmember Strauss says keeping the park accessible to all is a primary focus moving forward.
“I am confident the City will be able to rapidly mitigate any challenges impacting Ballard Commons Park from being able to be used by everyone,” Strauss wrote in his newsletter to constituents this week.
In his newsletter, Strauss said the City’s response to addressing homelessness has changed in a few key ways: “The first is the launch of the Unified Care Team (UCT,) an interdepartmental team working to ensure public spaces, like the Ballard Commons Park, are clean and accessible for all. The second key difference is that the King County Regional Homelessness Authority is fully operational and working in close partnership with the City and service providers on impactful encampment resolution.”
The organizers are still seeking volunteers to help with events: They say to report to Ballard Commons at 11 a.m. for set-up or 6 p.m. for take-down.
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