Crews from the City cleaned up a number of camps at Ballard Commons over the weekend in advance of Seattle Park’s new concierge program.
The program, which launches today (Monday) and will continue through the end of September, will place Seattle Parks staff at the park every day from 11am to 8pm. There will be a canopy set up with information about park programming, lawn chairs, and sidewalk games — all in an effort to make Ballard Commons a more positive place for visitors.
KOMO reported that more than a dozen people camping in the park were given 72 hours notice to vacate prior to their clean-up over the weekend.
Rachel Schulkin from Seattle Parks says the concierge program has worked at downtown parks, and is hopeful it will make the Commons a more positive place for families.
The Parks staff in the concierge program are trained in mediation and de-escalation, but are instructed to call the police if they see dangerous activity.