Freeway Park

---

title: "Freeway Park" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["brutalist-architecture-in-washington-(state)", "parks-in-seattle", "downtown-seattle", "1976-establishments-in-washington-(state)", "national-register-of-historic-places-in-seattle", "landmarks-in-seattle", "parks-on-the-national-register-of-historic-places-in-washington-(state)"] description: "Urban park in Seattle, Washington, US" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeway_Park" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Urban park in Seattle, Washington, US ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox park"]

Field	Value
name	Freeway Park
photo	Aerial view of Freeway Park at night, looking south from Pine and 9th.jpg
photo_width	300px
photo_caption	Aerial view of Freeway Park at night
type	Urban park
location
area	5.2 acre
mapframe-custom
map_caption	A map of downtown Seattle with Freeway Park highlighted in black
coords
opened
owner	Seattle Parks and Recreation
operator	Freeway Park Association
open	6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
publictransit	Symphony station
embedded	{{Infobox NRHP
embed	yes
built
architect	Lawrence Halprin, Angela Danadjieva
architecture	Brutalism
designated_other2_name	Washington Heritage Register
designated_other2_abbr	WHR
designated_other2_link	Washington Heritage Register
designated_other2_date	October 25, 2019
designated_other2_color	#FFE978
designated_other3	Seattle Landmark
designated_other3_date	May 18, 2022
added	December 19, 2019
refnum	100004789
::

| name = Freeway Park | photo = Aerial view of Freeway Park at night, looking south from Pine and 9th.jpg | photo_width = 300px | photo_caption = Aerial view of Freeway Park at night | type = Urban park | location = | area = 5.2 acre | mapframe-custom = | map_width = | map_caption = A map of downtown Seattle with Freeway Park highlighted in black | coords = | opened = | owner = Seattle Parks and Recreation | operator = Freeway Park Association | visitation_num = | open = 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. | publictransit = Symphony station | embedded = {{Infobox NRHP | embed = yes | name = | image = | built = | architect = Lawrence Halprin, Angela Danadjieva | architecture = Brutalism | designated_other2_name = Washington Heritage Register | designated_other2_abbr = WHR | designated_other2_link = Washington Heritage Register | designated_other2_date = October 25, 2019 | designated_other2_number = | designated_other2_color = #FFE978 | designated_other3 = Seattle Landmark | designated_other3_date = May 18, 2022 | area = | added = December 19, 2019 | refnum = 100004789

Freeway Park, officially known as Jim Ellis Freeway Park, is an urban park in Seattle, Washington, United States, connecting the city's downtown to the Seattle Convention Center and First Hill. The park sits atop a section of Interstate 5 and a large city-owned parking lot; 8th Avenue also bridges over the park. An unusual mixture of brutalist architecture and greenery, the 5.2 acre park, designed by Lawrence Halprin's office under the supervision of Angela Danadjieva, opened to the public on July 4, 1976, at a cost of $23.5 million. An expansion of the park that stretches several blocks up First Hill, including a stairway and wheelchair ramp, was opened in 1982.

The park is also a cultural landscape and a precedent setting park that, according to The Cultural Landscape Foundation, helped define a new land-use typology for American cities. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 19, 2019, having been listed on the Washington Heritage Register in a unanimous vote on October 25; it was also declared a Seattle Landmark by the city's landmarks preservation board in a unanimous vote on May 18, 2022.

The park's unique architecture has made it famous among parkour enthusiasts. The World Freerunning and Parkour Federation listed Freeway Park second on its list of the seven best parkour locations in the world.

History

A series of crimes, in particular a murder on January 18, 2002, briefly gave the park a reputation as a haven for crime and led to calls for a radical redesign. Many at first attributed the dangers to the design of the park. A neighborhood group formed under the name Freeway Park Neighborhood Association (FPNA) collaborated with the city's parks and recreation department to produce an "activation plan" for the park, published in 2005 as "A New Vision for Freeway Park". The report has concluded that the park's problems could be remedied by numerous small changes: increased security patrols, better lighting, pruning back of certain plants, and above all increased use, both in terms of organized events and simply encouraging more convention center visitors to use the park. The strategy, only partly implemented , seems to be succeeding: according to David Brewster of the FPNA, crime in the park is down 90% compared to that of 2002. The park was renovated in 2008 and renamed to honor civic leader Jim Ellis.

Gallery

Image:Seattle - Freeway Park c. 1970s.jpg|Brutalist fountain, Freeway Park, circa 1970s. Image:Seattle Freeway Park 10.jpg|The park winds its way down First Hill, offering both a staircase and wheelchair-accessible ramps. Image:Seattle Freeway Park 24.jpg|Brutalist fountain, Freeway Park. Image:Freeway Park canyon.jpg Image:Freeway Park miles of squares.jpg Image:Freeway Park waterfall.jpg Image:Freeway Park geometry.jpg Image:Freeway Park warning sign.jpg

References

References

1. (2020-04-13). "Annual Report 2019". Freeway Park Association.
2. "Freeway Park - Seattle Parks and Recreation". [[City of Seattle]].
3. (November 5, 2019). "Seattle's Brutalist Freeway Park is reviewed for National Register and approved for renovation". [[The Architect's Newspaper]].
4. (May 20, 2022). "Freeway Park in downtown Seattle declared city landmark". [[KIRO-TV.
5. (December 20, 2019). "Weekly List 20191220 - National Register of Historic Places". [[United States Department of the Interior]].
6. Beckner, Chrisanne. (September 2019). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Freeway Park". [[United States Department of the Interior]].
7. Easton, Valerie. (July 27, 2008). "In the concrete jungle, Freeway Park will offer respite once again". [[The Seattle Times]].
8. (2005). "Freeway Park/Past, Present and Future?".
9. Parham, Sam. (February 18, 2020). "The 7 Best Parkour Locations in the World".
10. Mudede, Charles. (August 22, 2002). "Topography of Terror". [[The Stranger (newspaper).
11. (January 2005). "A New Vision for Freeway Park". [[Project for Public Spaces]].
12. Brewster, David. (August 16, 2005). "Freeway Park". [[KUOW-FM.
13. Iwasaki, John. (July 19, 2005). "Improvements bringing people back to Freeway Park". [[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]].
14. Gilmore, Susan. (September 3, 2008). "Group pushing to rename Freeway Park". The Seattle Times.

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