It doesn't have a name yet, but there's a preliminary design for a new neighborhood park at the corner of Queen Anne Avenue North and Roy Street.
The design by Murase Associates was shown off at a July 24 community ceremony marking the one-year anniversary of the purchase of the land for the "Uptown Queen Anne Park" site.
People had a chance to comment on the design at the event, which also featured a brass band and the crowning of neighborhood resident Rose Walter as "Miss Uptown Sunday in the Park 2005."
Walter, who manages two apartment buildings near the park, said she had no idea why she won. But John Gessner from the Uptown Alliance said Walter was honored for her volunteer efforts in Queen Anne. "And everybody knows Rose in the neighborhood," he added with a smile.
In a sad turn of events, Robert Murase of Murase Associates died last week. Representing the company, landscape architect Iola Allesandrini was at the event to say that the design of the park reflected "the eternal life in Queen Anne." It also pays homage to the theater community in the neighborhood, she said.
The design includes lights at the bases of two walls framing the park, along with a raised triangular edge inside the site that is 29 inches tall at the corner and tapers to ground level on either side, Allesandrini said.
The edges of raised section will be lighted from the inside, and the colors of the light can be changed for special events, holidays and the changing seasons, according to design specs.
The outer part of the park will consist of wooden planks, while the inner part will have a surface of finely crushed granite gravel, she said.
Benches and picnic tables are included, and trees are also part of the design. However, exactly how many trees depends on fundraising efforts by the Uptown Alliance, said Cathy Tuttle, the Seattle Parks and Recreation project manager in the effort.
"Parks has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Uptown Alliance to allow them extra time for fundraising," she said of a group that took on planning efforts for Lower Queen Anne, renaming it Uptown. Because of that wiggle room for fundraising, the completion date for the park could be either 2006 or 2007, according to Tuttle.
The Pro Parks Levy will provide $303,946 for planning, design and construction, but the Uptown Alliance would like to at least double that amount, she said.
Actually, the group would like to raise substantially more. "The goal is a million dollars," said John Coney, who heads up the Alliance.
The preliminary concept for the park is "a very significant art design" that makes maximum use of the property, he added. "I like it." Planning for the park is only a quarter of the way along, and it's way too early to select a name for it, according to Coney.
But there is one idea some people are excited about, Gessner said. "We want [the name] to honor the Counterbalance," he said of Queen Anne Avenue from the Roy Street to Highland Drive when a counterweighted trolley once made the climb. "It's a unique part of our history," Gessner added.
He said Counterbalance Place and Counterbalance Plaza are two of the possibilities, but Gessner also noted that the Parks Department has to approve whatever name is ultimately proposed.
Staff reporter Russ Zabel can be reached at rzabel@nwlink.com or 461-1309.
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