If you give up more than 10 years of your life trying to improve your neighborhood and finally get what you wish for, is it enough?
Kay Rood, who spearheaded the community efforts that resulted in Cal Anderson Park can speak to that. She has worked tirelessly and watched as the old Lincoln Reservoir park transformed into Cal Anderson Park directly across the street from her home of 19 years.
"Yes," she said, unequivocally. "I am just so grateful that my effort ended up in something. It makes me feel terrific. Everybody's work paid off."
She said she is literally thrilled with what has come out of the work the community put into the project. But she knew it was a big project that would need Herculean effort, so, "I was kind of careful not to hope too much."
Cal Anderson Park, on the site of the Lincoln Reservoir (the reservoir is still there, just smaller and underground), was dedicated two years ago. And fears that the new park would fall into ill use or disrepair have proved unfounded.
"I was one of the neighbors in 1994 who started to work with this park," Rood said. At that time she said it was a scary place frequented by drug use, drug dealing and other kinds of negative activity.
"It hadn't been maintained and it was neglected by everyone," she said. But it was 11 acres of ground in the middle of Capitol Hill, a neighborhood that definitely needed and desired more open space.
When Seattle Public Utilities was required by law to cover the four-acre reservoir the neighborhood was presented with a rare opportunity. There was talk at first of installing a simple plastic cover over the reservoir, but Rood and others formed the citizen group Groundswell Off Broadway that focused on having the city put a lid on the reservoir and then turning the additional open space into a jewel of a park.
Rood, an artist and picture framer, said she was used to isolating herself with her work. She had never been active before in any community.
"I don't work in groups," she declared. "But we persisted and we built coalitions. You have to."
Now, from a magnet for illegal street activity, the 11-acre park, bounded by East Denny Way, Nagle Place, 11th Avenue East and East Pine Street, is a community gathering place in constant use. Early fears that the new park would resemble its past have not materialized.
All the groups involved in creat-ing the park agreed that they wanted a water feature in the park. The water feature is a cone-shaped fountain that flows into an obstructed pool and a reflecting pool. San Francisco artist Doug Hollis designed it.
Although there are small warnings posted on the basin sides, at nearly any time on even a not very warm day you will find someone, very young, very old, or anywhere in between, wading in the fountain. Park staff rarely shoo them out, but it turns out there is very good reason not to be in that water.
"Mostly what those signs are intended to convey is it was designed as an outdoor fountain, not a wading pool," explained Randy Wiger, a Seattle Parks and Recreation employee who takes on troubled parks and works to get community involvement in them. "The water is not treated to that [wading pool] level."
Other attractions at the park are the Shelterhouse, which is a room available for community use and includes a working fireplace and a small kitchen, a new play structure for youngsters, a wading pool built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the Great Depression, a meadow and a small hummock called Kite Hill because it is perfect for kite flying. Kite Hill is sometimes called Tele-Tubby Hill because it resembles part of the terrain on the popular children's show.
At the south end of the park, along East Pine Street, are play fields and tennis courts. Once called Broadway Play Field, then Bobby Morris Play Field, they have been officially titled the Bobby Morris Play Field at Cal Anderson Park. A synthetic turf was added last year, which allows for greater use.
"I get the biggest kick out of people who have been out of town and discover the park again," Rood said. Their reactions are universally amazement and pleasure.
There are still problems in the park, as you would expect in any urban park, but Wiger said high use has made the park a very positive area, unwelcoming to the kinds of negative activity that flourished before the park was developed.
"I think Cal Anderson Park is the front yard of the neighborhood now," Wiger said.
Wiger estimated that 2,000 people live within a block and a half or two blocks of the park. Most urban parks are in single-family residential areas where they only have 50 or 60 residents within two blocks. Part of his job is encouraging community events in the park, and he said that has gone very well at Cal Anderson Park. Besides residents, there are lots of community organizations on Capitol Hill near the park.
"There is an abundance of organizations you can tap into and invite into the park," Wiger said.
Rood said even on busy days she makes time to go to the park and just sit to watch the activity.
"Who knew there were so many little kids on Capitol Hill?" she asked.
"I get comments all the time from people who love the park," Wiger said. "There is no comparison to the way it was before."
Wiger said that for big events involving 100 or more people, or needing reserved space, there is a process for organizers to go through with the park department. For small things like playing Frisbee or practicing martial arts or picnics, it's a first-come basis.
"The park is large enough to have several groups of 10 to 20 people and not get in each other's way," Wiger said. "There is certainly room for more events."
When construction begins on the Capitol Hill light-rail station construction barriers will be constructed in a L-shape at the northwest corner of the park where Denny Way and Nagle Place intersect. Wiger has no idea how that will impact the park. Rood is concerned because there is a large Chinese Scholar tree at that corner of the park. It is a city heritage tree and she fears for its safety.
Ironically, the station construction will also take Rood's home, and she will soon have to move away from the park she loves. But if Rood has to leave the area, her legacy remains for all to enjoy.
Freelance writer Korte Brueckmann lives on the Hill and can be reached at editor@ capitolhilltimes.com.
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