Capehart was first discovered as a heavily wooded area with ocean views. Around World War I, it became part of the vast military outpost of Fort Lawton.
Several military families were housed in the tract. There was a commissary, a gas station and maintenance building, too. But as the military's needs changed as land was converted into park property, the old and empty homes were demolished.
The entire 24-acre Capehart housing area is now the property of the City of Seattle, as of Oct. 22, and $11.1 purchase funded by a combination of state and county grants as well as from proceeds from the sale of surplus city property.
Capehart, now a strange otherworld with grey, rectangular foundations intermittently dispersed throughout the non-native grasslands, is in the midst of a grand $1.5 million restoration project.
Seattle's Parks and Recreation Department is heading the project and has hired ESA Adolfson landscape architects to come up with a new look for the acreage. ESA, led by landscape architect Mark Epstein, has designed a non-terraced topography that will feature the reintroduction of native trees. And instead of a smooth flatland, Epstein has figured out a way to bring more shape to the land.
At the site Monday afternoon, Epstein pointed west where the land sloped toward Puget Sound and said, "Reducing terracing and getting a natural topography was a goal from the start. We want to knit together forestlands from the north to the south to make it more contiguous"
What will they do with the concrete foundations? They will be broken up into 2' by 2' blocks and buried, which will create natural mounds throughout the land. Gary Gibbons, project coordinator with Parks said soil will be moved from one part of the acreage to another and that no soil will be exported or imported. Epstein said that that would create a major cost savings.
Most of the $1.5 million in funding will go toward design, demolition and construction, and purchasing of native trees such as hemlock, Douglas fir, maple and alder. The Seattle Conservation Corp. is currently clearing the land of non-native brush such as scotsbroom. The roots of non-native trees will be buried, which will suffocate them and create snags for wildlife habitat. This and the clearing of other non-natives will be crucial in helping native plants take root. Gibbons said wind and animals are the culprits in non-native seed spreading. And the restoration, he said, will likely bring more wildlife to the park.
"Not all of a sudden with bears or cougars, but over time they could show up and migrate through," Gibbons said looking out into the grasslands.
Construction and landscaping will take place next spring and summer and is expected to be completed by fall.
Parks is hosting a public meeting from 7-8 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 10, at the Discovery Park Environmental Learning Center, 3801 W. Government Way. Epstein will be there and will have his park design rendering available. The community is encouraged to attend to learn about the project and the effort to restore the area to a more natural state.[[In-content Ad]]
