Last month, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell joined Duwamish Valley neighbors and small businesses to cut the ribbon to the new South Park Plaza!
Seattle’s Duwamish Valley Program (DVP), led by the Office of Sustainability & Environment (OSE), coordinated with Seattle Parks and Recreation and nonprofits Cultivate South Park and Duwamish River Community Coalition (DRCC) to celebrate the new community space. Continue reading to learn how dozens of partners collaborated to deliver the new park.
A Park Designed by Community
“South Park, this is your park,” Mayor Harrell said at the grand opening.
South Park Plaza features a large greenspace, play area, events plaza, accessible pathways, and more. Local artists embedded cultural elements throughout the plaza, including Lushootseed language etchings, colorful tiled surfaces, and Indigenous plants.
“Elements the community asked for years ago; a place for events, for looped paths for kids on their bikes, an outdoor music venue, a playground, and climbable art, all ended up in the park,” said Meredith Hall of Karen Kiest Landscape Architects. “Watching everyone at the opening took me back to those beginning conversations. We did it!”
After the South Park Bridge was finished in 2014, neighborhood groups felt the newly easy-to-access, but undeveloped, plot of land nearby was ripe for community use. Community members advocated that the City transform the empty lot into a multi-use park, and the City took up the project.
Residents made clear to the DVP that affordable housing and greenspace development must be prioritized together, not one without the other. As Parks and Recreation moved forward with constructing the plaza and purchasing land for another nearby park, Seattle’s Office of Housing purchased a site for affordable housing down the road off Henderson and 14th Avenue South. The Henderson Street Project is expected to break ground in 2026.
Seattle’s Department of Transportation (SDOT) is ensuring community members can easily go between South Park and Downtown, with the new plaza serving as a hub. SDOT is constructing connectors between South Park to Georgetown and Georgetown to Downtown for people to safely walk, bike, and roll. OSE and SDOT are also working together to put 2024 Seattle Transportation Levy dollars toward sidewalk installations, providing more safe routes to schools.
A Resilient Region
The Duwamish Valley, made up of the Georgetown and South Park neighborhoods, faces a legacy of pollution from the nearby heavy industry and highways that have worsened air quality, noise pollution, and transit and greenspace accessibility. As climate change intensifies, the Duwamish Valley has an increased flood risk due to sea-level rise and increased precipitation, compounding existing concerns about housing and affordability.
But Duwamish Valley communities are resilient; Neighbors have been working together to develop their own innovative solutions to adapt to climate change. After recognizing that the region required attention, resources, and action from the City in partnership with community and local business, Seattle created the DVP in 2016 and published the Duwamish Valley Action Plan in 2018. The South Park Plaza project helps advance the plan’s focus on responding to longstanding community priorities and advancing environmental justice.
The DVP has worked to align the work of more than 18 City departments with the ongoing grassroots efforts of more than 25 community organizations. In the last seven years, the DVP has cultivated more than $3 million for community organizations to develop greenspaces and host youth and economic development programs. The opening of South Park Plaza kicks off DVP’s next five years.
What’s Next for South Park and Georgetown
This summer, we’re expecting hundreds of visitors to enjoy the Plaza and support local small businesses. Seattle’s DVP will help foster economic activity in the newly revitalized area and ensure that nearby projects are completed quickly and in constant consultation with community.
“The Plaza provides a wonderful place for everyone to gather!” said Crystal Brown, executive director of Cultivate South Park, which is helping to run a shop small business campaign. “There are great spaces to hold markets and events in close proximity to many of the restaurants in South Park!”
The City has many projects in progress —
- Georgetown Flume Park Redevelopment: Building an off-leash dog park and greenspace that also offers a walking and biking connection and extreme weather mitigation.
- South Park Community Center: The community center plans to re-open with many improvements in spring 2026.
- Marra Farm Playground: Further building out the park and play area at Marra Farm. Construction is expected to start this year.
- Duwamish Waterway Park Expansion: Expanding the existing greenspace with access to the river and restoring aquatic habitat. Community engagement is underway.
- South Park Water Quality Facility: Improving drainage, water quality, and flood management in the industrial area of South Park.
Excited about visiting the new South Park Plaza? Check out Cultivate South Park’s upcoming events at cultivatesouthpark.org/programs!