| Freeway Park | |
|---|---|
 Aerial view of Freeway Park at night | |
 | |
| Type | Urban park |
| Location |
|
| Coordinates | 47°36′35″N 122°19′52″W / 47.60972°N 122.33111°W |
| Area | 5.2 acres (2.1 ha; 0.0081 sq mi; 0.021 km2)[1] |
| Opened | July 4, 1976 |
| Owned by | Seattle Parks and Recreation |
| Operated by | Freeway Park Association |
| Open | 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.[2] |
| Public transit access |  Symphony station |
| Architect | Lawrence Halprin, Angela Danadjieva |
| Architectural style | Brutalism |
| NRHP reference No. | 100004789 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | December 19, 2019[5] |
| Designated WHR | October 25, 2019[3] |
| Designated SEATL | May 18, 2022[4] |
Freeway Park, officially known as Jim Ellis Freeway Park, is an urban park in Seattle, Washington, United States, connecting the city's downtown to the Seattle Convention Center and First Hill. The park sits atop a section of Interstate 5 and a large city-owned parking lot; 8th Avenue also bridges over the park. An unusual mixture of brutalist architecture and greenery, the 5.2-acre (21,000 m2) park, designed by Lawrence Halprin's office under the supervision of Angela Danadjieva, opened to the public on July 4, 1976, at a cost of $23.5 million.[6] An expansion of the park that stretches several blocks up First Hill, including a stairway and wheelchair ramp, was opened in 1982.[7]
The park is also a cultural landscape and a precedent setting park that, according to The Cultural Landscape Foundation, helped define a new land-use typology for American cities.[8] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 19, 2019, having been listed on the Washington Heritage Register in a unanimous vote on October 25;[5][3] it was also declared a Seattle Landmark by the city's landmarks preservation board in a unanimous vote on May 18, 2022.[4]
The park's unique architecture has made it famous among parkour enthusiasts. The World Freerunning and Parkour Federation listed Freeway Park second on its list of the seven best parkour locations in the world.[9]
- ^ Annual Report 2019 (Report). Freeway Park Association. April 13, 2020. Retrieved October 25, 2021 – via Issuu.
- ^ "Freeway Park - Seattle Parks and Recreation". Seattle.gov. City of Seattle. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
- ^ a b Reiner-Roth, Shane (November 5, 2019). "Seattle's Brutalist Freeway Park is reviewed for National Register and approved for renovation". The Architect's Newspaper. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
- ^ a b "Freeway Park in downtown Seattle declared city landmark". KIRO 7 News. May 20, 2022. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
- ^ a b "Weekly List 20191220 - National Register of Historic Places". National Park Service. United States Department of the Interior. December 20, 2019. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
- ^ Beckner, Chrisanne (September 2019). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Freeway Park" (PDF). United States Department of the Interior. Archived from the original on October 25, 2021. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
- ^ Easton, Valerie (July 27, 2008). "In the concrete jungle, Freeway Park will offer respite once again". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on June 16, 2018. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
- ^ Maryman, Brice; Birkholz, Liz (2005). "Freeway Park/Past, Present and Future?". The Cultural Landscape Foundation. Archived from the original on February 28, 2009. Retrieved May 31, 2009.
- ^ Parham, Sam (February 18, 2020). "The 7 Best Parkour Locations in the World". World Freerunning and Parkour Federation. Retrieved February 21, 2021.