Ben Evans (1895-1988), long time director of the Seattle Parks Department recreation programs, was born in Cambridge, Ohio, and moved to Seattle with his parents in 1904. He attended University Heights grammar school and graduated from Lincoln High School. Evans married Ethel Reed of Findlay, Ohio, in 1925; the couple had no children.

A severe shoulder injury suffered in elementary school indirectly led Ben Evans to a career in recreation. After being in a partial body cast for two years waiting for bone chips to make their way through his body, a physician told Evans, “The thing that will save you is lots of fresh air and sunshine.”

Evans began his association with the Parks Department at the age of fifteen as an after-hours volunteer at the University and Collins Playfields. After high school graduation, he coached baseball and football at University Heights elementary school before joining the Parks Department full-time in 1917 as a playground instructor. Fifteen months later he was appointed Playground Director, and by 1925 was Director of Playgrounds and Bathing Beaches. In 1938, he was officially placed in the position of Recreation Director for the Parks Department, a position he held (with various title changes) until his retirement in 1960. For forty years, Evans was assisted by his brother Luther (Lou) Evans.

Ben Evans directed the development of Seattle’s public recreation program, turning it into one of the nation’s major playfield and recreation systems. When Evans began his career, Seattle had four playfields. By the time he retired, it had forty-three. Evans is credited with developing the city’s public school/playground joint use program. He also originated two of the Parks Department’s most popular contests: “Old Woodenface” (Old Woody), in which boys threw baseballs through an opening in a wooden frame, and “Old Oswald” (Old Ossie), which tested football kicking and throwing skills.

Outside of his Parks Department work, Evans advised the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Camp Fire Girls, YMCA, and YWCA on their recreation programs. He received many honors for his work with children, including a lifetime membership in the PTA, a commendation from the Catholic Youth Organization, a diamond pin for Scouting activities, and the Seton Award for Creative Service from the Camp Fire Girls. He also served as adviser to the Boeing Company’s employees’ recreation program.

Evans was also active in professional recreation associations on the local, state, and national levels. He was a member of the White House Council on Children and Youth for Washington State, received a medal for his work on playfields from the National Recreation Congress, and was awarded a lifetime membership in the Washington Recreation and Park Society. Ben Evans died in 1988 at the age of 93.

Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation: Administrative History

The Parks and Recreation Department administers Seattle’s parks system and community recreation programs. It maintains over 6000 acres of city parks, 20 miles of shoreline, and 22 miles of boulevards. The department operates the city’s 25 community recreation centers, the Seattle Aquarium, nine swimming pools, a tennis center, and more than 400 smaller facilities. In addition, it is custodian for four public golf courses, three moorages, and several other athletic and cultural facilities.

In 1884 David Denny donated a five-acre tract that was the site of a cemetery to the City of Seattle, stipulating that it be designated a public park. The site, initially named Seattle Park and later renamed Denny Park, was the first ordinance-designated public park in Seattle. The ordinance that accepted the property (Ordinance 571) also made allowances for its conversion from a cemetery to a park and included a provision that three Park Commissioners be appointed to oversee the conversion.

At that time, the City of Seattle was operating under its 1869 charter, which provided for a relatively small government of 13 elected officials and three other officers, in whom all municipal authority was vested.

Legislation in 1887 (Ordinance 874) created the Board of Park Commissioners, consisting of three members to be appointed by Council. The commissioners served three-year terms. This unpaid body was charged with all management responsibilities for Seattle's parks and was expected to report to Council as often as each quarter, making recommendations for improvements and for the acquisition of new properties.

In 1890 the City of Seattle adopted its first home-rule charter. The city’s population had expanded from 3533 in 1880 to nearly 43,000. The new charter mandated a dramatically larger city government composed of 34 elected officials, 13 departments, and six regulatory commissions, including a Board of Park Commissioners. A park fund was also established, consisting of: proceeds from the sale of bonds issued for that purpose; gifts; appropriations made by Council; and 10% of the gross receipts from all fines, penalties, and licenses.

The new Board of Park Commissioners, appointed by the Mayor, consisted of five paid ($300 per year) members who served five-year terms. Although the Board had all management responsibilities for Seattle's parks, including the authority to appoint a superintendent and to negotiate for property, Council retained the authority to purchase property.

In 1892 the Board appointed E. O. Schwagerl, a noted landscape architect and engineer, to be the second Superintendent of Parks. During the four years that he held the office, Schwagerl developed the first comprehensive plan for Seattle's parks. This plan may have guided Assistant City Engineer George F. Cotterill, who organized volunteers to construct 25 miles of bicycle paths, the routes of which were utilized by the Olmsted Brothers in their 1903 city-wide plan for a system of parks and boulevards.

In 1896 Seattle adopted a new home-rule charter. This charter redefined the Board of Park Commissioners as the Park Committee: five unpaid appointees who reported annually to Council. In addition, all management responsibilities of the parks, including the authority to obtain new properties, were vested with the City Council. The Superintendent of Parks position was eliminated and its responsibilities were assumed by the new Superintendent of Street, Sewers, and Parks, one of the three members of the Board of Public Works.

In 1903, City Council adopted the Olmsted Brothers plan to expand and develop a system of parks and boulevards. At the same time, the Charter was amended, re-establishing the Board of Park Commissioners and giving it the kind of independence that park commissions in the metropolitan cities of the East enjoyed. While Council retained the authority to approve the purchase of property, the Board assumed all management responsibilities of the parks, as well as the exclusive authority to spend park fund monies. In addition, all park-related authority was removed from the Board of Public Works, and the Board of Park Commissioners elected to appoint a superintendent.

Public support, both for the implementation of the Olmsted plan as well as for the new, empowered Board, was substantial. In 1905 a $500,000 park bond was passed, followed by $1,000,000 in 1908; $2,000,000 in 1910; and $500,000 in 1912.

In 1907 the Superintendent was joined by a new staff position, the Assistant Superintendent, and in the following year the first directorship, Playgrounds Director, was created. In 1912 the first full-time engineer appeared under the title Chief Engineer, later to be changed to Park Engineer. By 1922 a Head Gardener had been appointed, and two more directorships created: the Zoo Director and the Bathing Beaches Director.

In 1925 the charter was amended such that no more money could be spent in the acquisition of park properties than was available through the park fund. In that same year, the Park Engineer was replaced by a new position, the Landscape Architect. In 1926 the Board abolished the position of Superintendent, distributing that position's responsibilities between the Head Gardener and the Landscape Architect. In 1927 the position title of Park Engineer was re-established, but with the duties and responsibilities of the old superintendent, while the new Junior Park Engineer directly managed engineering and construction activity.

In 1926 Mayor Bertha K. Landes appointed a Municipal Recreation Committee, composed of Park Board members, School Board members, and a representative of the community at large. Committee members analyzed ways in which they could cooperatively contribute to the municipal recreation program. The Committee submitted its report to the Mayor in January 1928. The report detailed which facilities were provided by the Park Board and which by the School Board; how the facilities could be more efficiently utilized; and what additional facilities were required.

A ten-year plan for the Department of Parks was announced in 1931. This plan, based upon a projected population for the Seattle metropolitan area in 1940, was a program of development aimed at making better use of existing properties, adding to those properties that needed more space, and acquiring new properties in those parts of town that were experiencing growth. Much of this plan would be realized by the Works Projects Administration later in the decade.

In 1939, administration of playground programs and bathing beaches was consolidated under the newly created position. In 1940, with the opening of the West Seattle Golf Course (the city’s third municipal golf course) the position of Golf Director was established. A 1948 Charter amendment required the Board of Park Commissioners to appoint a park superintendent, and the position was to be excluded from the classified civil service.

A Charter amendment in 1967 reconstituted the Board of Park Commissioners as an advisory body to the Mayor, Council, the renamed Department of Parks and Recreation, and other City agencies. The amendment placed the fiscal and operational administration of the department under the control of the Superintendent of Parks, who was now appointed by the Mayor to serve a four-year term. The specific duties of both the Superintendent and the Board, as well as the number of members and term length for the latter, were to be prescribed by ordinance. Council passed an ordinance in 1968 (Ordinance 96453) defining the Board as a seven-member body with three-year terms of service.

The 65 million dollar Forward Thrust bond was approved by voters in 1968. By 1974, with matching funds, interest, etc., it had grown to 92 million dollars in working capital; by 1976, over 40 new properties had been obtained by the Department of Parks and Recreation utilizing these funds.

By 1969 golf had ceased to warrant a director-level position and came under the administration of the Recreation Director. A new directorship, the Aquarium Director, was added in 1973. By the following year there were only four executive positions reporting directly to the Superintendent: Zoo Director, Aquarium Director, Assistant Superintendent of Management, and Assistant Superintendent of Operations. In 1977, a charter amendment abolished the four-year term for the Superintendent of Parks established by the 1967 amendment.

Recreation History

“The most pressing need of the playgrounds is adequate provision for winter work. With a long rainy season, there is no chance for children or grownups to enjoy the hardy outdoor sports the cold winters make possible in the East.”

So wrote J. Howard Stine, Seattle’s first fulltime Director of Recreation, in 1910. He was arguing for the “immediate construction” of fieldhouses. The next year when Hiawatha and Ballard fieldhouses opened their doors, Seattle became the first city on the West Coast and one of the first in the nation to build and operate year-round recreation centers. Although motor vehicles have now brought ski slopes within reach for many people, Mr. Stine’s basic premise remains valid, but he could hardly have foreseen the popularity of basketball or the invention of pickleball.

Mr. Stine had several other recommendations to improve the quality of recreation in Seattle: fence the playgrounds, give pay raises to the more experienced recreation leaders, and install telephones on the playgrounds. Summer “playground work” centered around team sports, games for small children, and inter-playground tournaments and field days. Construction of the fieldhouses opened the door to arts and crafts, indoor sports, and community events. Plays and concerts were popular.

Although Seattle was in the forefront of the growing “recreation movement,” it was by no means alone. Public recreation was unknown before the opening of the Boston “sand gardens” in 1885. Hull House in Chicago, founded by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr, opened in 1889 and shortly thereafter Cities all over the nation began offering playground programs for their children. The first White House conference on playgrounds was held in 1906 and resulted in the founding of the Playground Association of America (later the National Recreation Association). The time was right for organized recreation, both public and private. The National Association of Boys Clubs was founded in 1906, the Boy Scouts and Camp Fire Girls in 1910, and Girl Scouts in 1912. The first Boy Scout troops in Seattle were organized in 1910 at Collins, Rogers, and Ballard playgrounds.

In the early decades of this century playgrounds and recreation centers were the focus of neighborhood activities. Architecturally, this community focus is seen in the stages that were a fixture in all the centers. Rarely used today, these stages were the scene of plays, concerts and lectures put on by local citizens and often sponsored by merchants.

In the summer, inter-playground meets and tournaments, elaborate Fourth of July celebrations, and outdoor concerts were common. Many adults in Seattle today have fond memories of “Old Woody” and “Old Ossie” competitions sponsored by the Seattle Times. Old Woody, or Old Woodenface, was a softball pitching structure that was carted from playground to playground where youngsters matched their skills to each other’s and to their own personal bests by trying to toss a softball through an opening. Old Oswald provided a similar throwing competition for football hopefuls. In 1922, more than 4500 youngsters took part in the Old Woodenface Contest at 23 playgrounds. The competition culminated in a parade 20 blocks long to Woodland Park for the finals. Old Woody and Old Ossie were playground fixtures from 1919 to 1968.

In its efforts to keep pace with changing recreational needs, the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation has sometimes offered some unusual programs. From 1922 to 1928, the Parks Department operated a tourist camp south of Green Lake where the Lower Woodland playfields are now located. The camp cost $21,000 to build and included a “community house,” large outdoor fireplaces, showers, and laundry facilities. Entertainment was presented nightly, usually in the form of concerts, dances, and movies. With camp sites renting for 50 cents a night, the project took in $15,000 above its operating expenses in 1922, serving 15,000 people in almost 5000 cars. The camp flourished briefly, reaching a peak in 1924 when it served 12,000 cars. Its decline was almost as swift, probably as the “tourist court” industry grew. It closed in 1928 in response to “a growing demand for use of the camp area for large picnics” and a proposal to construct “a battery of twelve or more tennis courts” on the site, according to Park Board correspondence.

In the 1930s, the Department made a brief effort to include skiing in its recreation offerings. On December 20, 1933, the Forest Service leased 28.4 acres at Snoqualmie Pass to Seattle to be cleared and developed for a ski course. Snoqualmie Ski Park was dedicated on January 21, 1934—one month later. In 1938, the Department reported: “The ski course at Snoqualmie Pass gains in popularity and thousands of spectators as well as skiers visit the course each winter.” The last mention of the ski park occurs in the 1939 annual report. Apparently, the five-year lease was not renewed.

The Seattle Civic Christmas Ship started its annual voyages in 1949 under the leadership of then-Superintendent Paul Brow, who sought to combine Seattle’s tradition of Music in the Parks with its penchant for water-oriented activities. With bonfires and holiday music, the Christmas Ship adds a distinctly Northwest tradition to December festivities. Ships that have carried the colors of the Civic Christmas Ship include: the converted destroyer-minesweeper Valkyrie from 1949-1967, owned and donated for the cruises by the late Chris Berg; the 105-foot luxury yacht Sobre las Olas, from 1968-1980, whose use was donated first by Murray Suthergreen and later by Dr. Rodney Hearne; and the 65-foot cruise ship Snow Goose, donated by the Pacific Marine Institute.

In the 1970s, Forward Thrust Bonds, along with federal grants and the Model City Program, supported the largest expansion of the Park system in Seattle’s history. The Forward Thrust program funded more than 70 new parks and facilities alone. The Associated Recreation Council (ARC) was formed in the 1970s to provide a structure for the citizen advisory councils that had grown in number. ARC was a federation of members advisory councils, with a Board made up of advisory council presidents elected by advisory council memberships.

In the 1980s and 1990s, recreational programs were focused more on specific populations, such as youth, families, at-risk teens, and those with disabilities. Recreational services broadened to include more social and educational programs. The hours of programs services were also extended, covering more hours per day and more days per week.

As the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation enters its second century, it has a varied history to look back on, and the prospect of a future uniquely shaped by the needs and demands of a population that values open space and recreational opportunity.