You’ve probably noticed that construction of Gemenskap Park has stopped and you might be asking yourself, where’s the grass, the trees, the plants? They’re not done yet are they? Well, we had the same questions and so contacted our Parks Manager to find out what’s happening. Here’s the scoop…..

The contractor, Jansen, has completed as far as they can until water and electrical are hooked up. The hole with the pipe in it is the 12” water main.  We are in the queue for Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) to tap the main and install the meter.  When that’s done, they’ll be able to connect it to the irrigation. The electrical cabinet with meter and irrigation controller have been installed.  We are now in the queue for Seattle City Light (SCL) to install power to the meter, which powers the irrigation controller and lights.

Unfortunately, the Parks Dept hasn’t received any exact dates from SPU or SCL, except that the park is on their work order list. Once water and electricity are hooked up, they can start planting, since it doesn’t make sense to install plants without the capability to water them!

This stall may delay our plans for a celebration this summer, however, we’re hoping to host a street cleanup event and a neighborhood watch meeting focused around the park this summer, so stay posted for event dates. If you love to plan events, please contact us a at eastballard@gmail.com we’d love to have you join our team!

UPDATE ON THE UPDATE:
While the park is awaiting electricity and water hookup, the street and intersection work is complete. The Parks Dept is meeting with SDOT this week to get final review of the street. Upon receiving SDOT approval they will be allowed to open up 14th Ave NW. We’ll keep you posted!