Seattle Parks and Recreation

Department of Parks and Recreation

Seattle Parks and Recreation headquarters in 2019
Department overview
Formed1887 (1887)
JurisdictionCity of Seattle
Headquarters100 Dexter Ave N
Seattle, Washington, U.S.
47°37′09″N 122°20′31″W / 47.619195°N 122.341928°W / 47.619195; -122.341928
Department executives
  • Jesús Aguirre, Superintendent of Parks and Recreation
  • Christopher Williams, Deputy Superintendent of Parks and Recreation
Key document
Websiteseattle.gov/parks

Seattle Parks and Recreation (officially the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR))[1] is the government department responsible for maintaining the parks, open spaces, and community centers of the city of Seattle, Washington. The department maintains properties covering an area of over 6,200 acres (25 km2), which is equivalent to roughly 11% of the city's total area.[2] Of those 6,200 acres (25 km2), 4,600 acres (19 km2) are developed.[3]

As of 2007, the department managed 450 parks, 485 buildings, and 22 miles (35 km) of boulevards, with facilities including 185 athletic fields, 122 children's playgrounds, four golf courses, 151 outdoor tennis courts and an indoor tennis center, 26 community centers and two outdoor and eight indoor swimming pools. It also maintains fishing piers, boat ramps, the Volunteer Park conservatory,[2] the Washington Park Arboretum, the Seattle Aquarium, and Woodland Park Zoo.[3]

The department's operating budget in 2007 was US$117 million. Its largest park is Discovery Park in Magnolia,[3] while the oldest is Denny Park in South Lake Union.[3][4] Seattle Parks and Recreation is run by a superintendent and advised by a volunteer Board of Park Commissioners.[5][6]

  1. ^ Parks and Recreation. Seattle Municipal Code. Retrieved October 23, 2016
  2. ^ a b Parks and Recreation: 2007-2012 Adopted Capital Improvement Program, City of Seattle. p. 2 of PDF, numbered as p. 23. Accessed online 11 February 2008.
  3. ^ a b c d Quick Facts, Seattle Parks and Recreation. Accessed online 11 February 2008.
  4. ^ Berner 1991, pp. 100–101
  5. ^ Board of Park Commissioners, Seattle Parks and Recreation. Accessed online 11 February 2008.
  6. ^ Kathy Mulady, Nickels names park chief who's on a 2,600-mile (4,200 km) hike, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, September 10, 2007. Accessed online 11 February 2008.