Cal Anderson Park

Cal Anderson Park
May 13, 2006
Type	public park
Location	Capitol Hill, Seattle, Washington
Coordinates	47°37′01″N 122°19′08″W / 47.617°N 122.319°WCoordinates: 47°37′01″N 122°19′08″W / 47.617°N 122.319°W
Area	7.37 acres (29,800 m^2)[1]
Created	September 24, 2005
Operated by	Seattle Parks and Recreation
Open	All year
Public transit access	Capitol Hill Station

Cal Anderson Park is a public park on Seattle, Washington's Capitol Hill that includes Lincoln Reservoir and Bobby Morris Playfield.

Features

The north end of the open park features a large mountain-shaped water fountain feeding a shallow texture pool, a reflecting pool, and a wading pool. The south end features the lighted Bobby Morris Playfield. The wading pool operates in the summer months from 12 noon to 7 p.m.

Other features:

• Shelterhouse
• Plaza
• Children's play area
• Caged tennis courts with outdoor lights
• Basketball courts
• Dodgeball court

History

Baseball at Lincoln Park circa 1919. The open-air Lincoln Reservoir is visible in the near background. The building at left still exists today, as does the German United Church of Christ at right. The water tower on the horizon is in Volunteer Park.

Lincoln Reservoir was begun in 1889, in response to the Great Seattle fire of 1889, and completed in 1901. A parcel just south of it was named Lincoln Park the same year. The famed Olmsted Brothers designed the park, as part of their many works in the Seattle area.^[2] In 1908 it was developed as a playfield, and in 1922 its name was changed to Broadway Playfield so as not to duplicate the name of the new Lincoln Park in West Seattle. The playfield was named after Bobby Morris, former King County, Washington auditor, in 1980. Meanwhile, the area around the reservoir had come to be known as Lincoln Reservoir Park.

On April 10, 2003, the entire area was designated Cal Anderson Park, after Washington's first openly gay state legislator. Anderson had died in 1995 of AIDS.

From 2003–2005, the reservoir was rebuilt as a covered basin.

Three security cameras were installed in the park in April 2008 in an effort to combat certain types of criminal activity, namely vandalism, drug dealing, and public sex.^[3]

In 2004, World Naked Bike Ride Seattle established a tradition of stopping briefly in the park, usually in the midsection near the shelter house and water feature. Body Pride ride also began making stops in 2005.

In 2009, Forbes magazine recognized Cal Anderson Park as one of the 12 Best City Parks in the U.S.^[4]

Light rail station

The northwest corner of Cal Anderson Park (at the corner of East Denny Way and Nagle Place) contains an entrance to the underground Capitol Hill Station of Sound Transit's Link Light Rail.^[5]

References

1. "Seattle Parks and Recreation: Cal Anderson Park". Retrieved 2007-06-21.
2. http://www.seattle.gov/parks/parkspaces/Olmsted.htm#parks
3. "Security cameras installed at Cal Anderson Park". KING5.com. Archived from the original on 2008-04-24. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
4. "Cal Anderson Park named one of 12 best city parks in U.S. by Forbes.com" (PDF) (Press release). Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation. November 18, 2009. Retrieved November 27, 2012.
5. "Link Light Rail, Capitol Hill Station". Sound Transit. Retrieved 2007-06-19.

External links

• Cal Anderson Park
• Cal Anderson Park Improvements
• Video History of Cal Anderson Park