Collection materials are in
English.
Seattle Municipal Archives
PO Box 94728
600 Fourth Avenue, Floor 3
Seattle 98124-4728
archives@seattle.gov
URL:
Open Space Program Records
Seattle (Wash.). Dept. of
Parks and Recreation
5804-16
5.4
cubic feet
14 boxes
1978-2002
Records documenting the Seattle Parks Department's Open Space
Program.
The Department of Parks and Recreation maintains the City's parks,
shorelines, and boulevards; and administers community centers, public golf
courses, and other athletic and cultural facilities. Seattle's first park was
established in 1884 after David Denny donated land to the City for that
purpose. At that time, a three-member park committee, with limited authority,
was created to manage the nascent park system. A Board of Parks Commissioners
was established in 1890 with control over all public parks and authority to
appoint a Parks Superintendent. In 1896, the City Charter created the position
of Superintendent of Streets, Sewers and Parks. The Parks Department became a
separate entity in 1904. In 1926, a City Charter amendment abolished the
position of Superintendent, distributing its responsibilities between the Head
Gardener and the Landscape Architect. A 1948 City Charter amendment required
the Board of Park Commissioners to appoint a park superintendent to administer
the department. In 1967, another City Charter Amendment reconstituted the Board
as an advisory body to the Mayor and City Council, changed the agency name to
Department of Parks and Recreation, and placed fiscal and operational
administration under the superintendent. In 1902 the City hired the Olmsted
Brothers, the country's premier landscape architectural firm, to design a parks
and boulevards system. Although not all of the plan was implemented, the
Olmsted legacy is evident in many of Seattle's parks and boulevards. The City
acquired significant amounts of property for park purposes following the turn
of the 20th Century, but in 1926 further acquisition was limited by a City
Charter amendment that stipulated only money in the Park Fund could be used for
that purpose. However, in the 1970s the Forward Thrust Bond issue, along with
federal grants and the Seattle Model City Program, supported the largest
expansion of the Park system in Seattle history. These programs funded more
than 70 new parks and park facilities. The Department manages over 6,000 acres
of park land, over two dozen community centers, five municipal golf courses,
the Aquarium, and many other recreational and athletic facilities.
Records of the Open Space Program from Property and Acquisition Services
Manager Donald Harris,including his correspondence, working files, and subject
files. There are 35 mm slides in the draft proposal for a grant, but all other
materials are paper administrative files. Records document property acquisition
(including costs and correspondence), condemnation, project planning, and
funding from bond and tax initiatives. Highlights include the Duwamish River
Greenbelts, memos from the 1990 Open Spaces Bond, and the development of small
neighborhood parks.
Records also include legal files related to the use of the right of way
in Viretta Park. The Neighbors and Friends of Viretta Park, an unincorporated
voluntary association, and several individuals who live in the vicinity of
Viretta Park brought this lawsuit against the City of Seattle, its Parks
Superintendent Holly Miller, and Howard Schultz (founder of Starbucks) and
Sheri Schultz seeking declaratory judgment that vehicles are barred from the
Viretta Park right of way, and that the City did not have the authority under
the plat dedicating the park to allow the Schultzes to utilize the park right
of way for vehicular access to their property.
Records are open to the public.
[Item and date], Open Space Program
Records, Record Series 5804-16. Box [number], Folder [number]. Seattle
Municipal Archives.
Seattle (Wash.). Dept. of
Parks and Recreation
Viretta Park
Open spaces--Washington
(State)--Seattle
Parks--Washington
(State)--Seattle
Acquisition of
property--Washington (State)--Seattle
Index to City Parks - Location,
Size, Date Acquired, Elements/Features
1978
1/1
Project Development Division,
Draft Annual Report
1978
1/2
Donald Harris, Director - Working
File, Acquisition Costs
1989
1/3
Donald Harris, Director - Working
File
1990-1998
1/4
Donald Harris, Director - Working
File
1994-1995
1/5
Donald Harris, Director - Working
File
1996-1997
1/6
Policies
1987-1991
1/7
Staff Meetings
1993-1994
1/8
Strategic Acquisitions Report,
Cheasty Greenbelt, Cheasty Boulevard Additions Natural Area and Mountain View
Drive Natural Area
1990
1/9
Program Status
1995
1/10
Program Cost
Projections
1996
1/11
Acquisitions, Donations,
Transfers
1997
2/1
Open Space Bond Issue, Background
Information, Reports, Resolutions
1989
2/2
Open Space Bond Issue,
Departmental/Interdepartmental Correspondence
1989
2/3
Open Space Bond Issue, Team Open
Space - Memos/Minutes
1989
2/4
Open Space Bond Issue, Public
Correspondence and Mailings
1989
2/5
Open Space Bond Issue, Memos and
Correspondence, March
1990
2/6
Open Space Bond Issue, Memos and
Correspondence, April
1990
2/7
Open Space Bond Issue, Memos and
Correspondence, May
1990
2/8
Memos and Correspondence,
June
1990
3/1
Memos and Correspondence,
June
1990
3/2
Memos and Correspondence,
July
1990
3/3
Memos and Correspondence,
July
1990
3/4
Memos and Correspondence,
August
1990
3/5
Memos and Correspondence,
August
1990
3/6
Memos and Correspondence,
September
1990
3/7
Memos and Correspondence,
October
1990
3/8
Memos and Correspondence,
November
1990
3/9
Memos and Correspondence,
December
1990
4/1
Memos and Correspondence,
January
1991
4/2
East Duwamish Greenbelt, Draft
Application to WWRP [Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program]
1993
4/3
Kiwanis Ravine, Draft Application
to WWRP [Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program]
1993
4/4
Puget Creek Natural Area and
Arroyos Natural Area, WWRP Application [Washington Wildlife and Recreation
Program]
1994
5/1
35mm Slides - Puget Creek Natural
Area and Arroyos Natural Area, WWRP Application [Washington Wildlife and
Recreation Program]
1994
5/2
West Duwamish Greenbelt, WWRP
Draft Application [Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program]
1993
5/3
Alki and West Point Lighthouses,
Acquisition Issue Paper
1994
5/4
Belltown P-Patch
1992-1994
5/5
Belltown P-Patch
1994-1995
5/6
Bikeways, Duwamish Trail and
Freeway Park
1992-1994
5/7
Burke-Gilman Trail, Parcel
Acquisition
1995
5/8
Cheasty Boulevard
2002
5/9
Citizen Participation
Guidelines
1992
5/10
Condemnations, Duwamish Head
Greenbelt (Tyrell, College Street Ravine)
1996
5/11
Condemnations, Open Space
Program
1994-1996
6/1
Condemnations, Open Space
Program
1995
6/2
Condemnations, Open Space
Program
1992-1996
6/3
Conservation
Easements
1990
6/4
Conservation Futures Bond
Program
1994
6/5
Duwamish Head
Greenbelt
1990-1995
6/6
Environmentally Critical Areas,
Standard Operating Procedure
1994
6/7
Evergreen Alliance, Parks and
Open Space Omnibus Legislation
1993-1994
6/8
Facilities Maintenance and
Development Division, Operations and Annual Report
1993
6/9
Fuel Storage Tanks
1993-1994
6/10
Future Funding Proposal for
Parks, Recreation, and Open Spaces
1996
6/11
GIS
1994
6/12
Greenbelts
1979
7/1
Greenbelts
1989
7/2
Greenwood Nursery Site
Acquisition
1994-1996
7/3
Hazardous Waste and Internal
Operations Audit
1994
7/4
Interbay Landfill and Golf
Center
1994
7/5
King County Open Space Citizens
Committee
1989
7/6
Kubota Gardens
1995
7/7
Legislation and Ordinances for
Land Acquisitions
1994
7/8
Leschi Natural Area
1990
7/9
Longfellow Creek and Seattle
Steel
1993-1995
7/10
Longfellow Creek and Seattle
Steel
1995
8/1
Magnolia Bluff Madrona [Madrona]
Trees
1994
8/2
Martha Washington Park
Development
1988
8/3
Mountain to Sound
Greenway
1994
8/4
Natural Resources Maintenance and
Management Seminar, Parks and Recreation
1993
8/5
Neighborhood Planning Work
Group
1993-1995
8/6
Noise Ordinance Task
Force
1994
8/7
North Beach, 30th NW Natural
Area
1990-1991
8/8
Northgate, Thornton
Creek
1992-1994
8/9
Olmsted/Fairview Park
Acquisition
1989-1991
8/10
Open Space America,
Newsletters
1990-1991
8/11
Opportunity Fund
1990-1991
9/1
Opportunity Fund
1991
9/2
Opportunity Fund, Public
Meeting
1991
9/3
P-Patch Program
1992
9/4
Park Foundation
1996-1997
9/5
Park Foundation
1997-1998
9/6
Park Property Management of
Non-Park Use of Park Lands
1995
9/7
Pending Transfers from King
County Properties
1991
9/8
Proposed Revisions to Public
Involvement Policies
1994
9/9
Real Estate Tax (REET) and Bond
Funding
1994
9/10
Reforestation and Green
Spaces
1990-1994
9/11
Seattle-King County Land
Conservancy, Correspondence
1993
10/1
Seattle Street Trees and Urban
Forest
1992-1993
10/2
Shoreline Park Improvement
Fund
1993-1995
10/3
Shoreline Street Ends
1994-1995
10/4
Silver Cloud and Fairway Estates
Properties
1994
10/5
Skagit Youth Camp
1993
10/6
Southeast Seattle
1993-1994
10/7
South Lake Union
Development
1980
10/8
South Lake Union
Trail
1994
10/9
St. Mark's Greenbelt
1989-1998
10/10
The Real Estate Environmental
Endowment (TREE)
1989-1990
10/11
The Real Estate Environmental
Endowment (TREE)
1990
10/12
TREEmendous Seattle
1992-1994
10/13
Washington Park Addition,
Madison/McGilvra/McGraw
1990-1995
11/1
Washington Wildlife and
Recreation Coalition Meetings
1991
11/2
Washington Wildlife and
Recreation Coalition and State Legislation
1995
11/3
Waterways 2000
1994
11/4
Waterways 2000
1994
11/5
Waterways 2000
1994
11/6
Webster School Playground and
Ballard Property Acquisition
1994
11/7
West Duwamish
Greenbelt
1990-1994
11/8
West Duwamish Greenbelt / UW
Pigeon Point / Cooper School
1989-1996
11/9
Wetland Mitigation Bank or
Fee-in-lieu
1993
11/10
Viretta Park Lawsuit - Case Law
Research
1995
12/1
Viretta Park Lawsuit - Case
File
1995
12/2
Viretta Park Lawsuit - Case
File
1995
12/3
Viretta Park Lawsuit - Case
File
1995
12/4
Viretta Park Lawsuit - Case
File
1995
12/5
Viretta Park Lawsuit - Case
File
1995
13/1
Viretta Park Lawsuit - Case
File
1995
13/2
Viretta Park Lawsuit - Case
File
1995
13/3
Viretta Park Lawsuit - Case
File
1995
13/4
Viretta Park Lawsuit - Case
File
1995
13/5
Seattle Parks
Centennial
1984
14/1
Seattle Olmsted Parks Centennial
and the Annnual Meeting (in Seattle) of the National Association for Olmsted
Parks
2003
14/2