Carkeek Park

Carkeek Park
Carkeek Park beach beyond the BNSF tracks. Esplanade NW in the distance
Type	Urban Park
Location	Seattle, Washington
Coordinates	47°42′46″N 122°22′42″W
Area	216 acres (0.87 km2)
Created	1920s
Operated by	Seattle Parks and Recreation

Carkeek Park is a 216 acres (87 ha) park located in the Broadview neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. The park contains Piper Orchard, Pipers Creek (and its tributaries Venema Creek and Mohlendorph Creek), play and picnic areas, picnic shelters, and hiking trails. A pedestrian bridge across the main lines of the BNSF Railway connects to the Carkeek Park sand beach on Puget Sound. Park program activities are largely out of the Carkeek Park Environmental Learning Center.

History

The first "Carkeek Park" in Seattle was located on Pontiac Bay, Lake Washington, from 1918 to 1926, where Magnuson Park now stands. It was a gift from Mr. and Mrs. Morgan J. Carkeek, well-known builders in Seattle, Oregon, and Victoria, B.C. The Carkeeks were English immigrants, and their family upheld their Anglo-Saxon roots. The original park was removed to make way for a Naval Air Station. Morgan Carkeek then offered the city the proceeds from the sale to create a new park. This new park was located at the mouth of a creek called kʷaatəb in Lushootseed,, meaning "place where people are sent."

A century-old apple tree in Piper Orchard

Most of the current site was purchased by the City of Seattle in the late 1920s, with 20% donated by Morgan Carkeek, following a citizen petition that overcame strong city opposition. Over the years, the park took on different roles, including an outdoor performance venue, a farm for zoo animal feed, pasture rental, and a park with WPA Civilian Conservation Corps construction (1933–36, removed in 1938). It also briefly served as a U.S. Army camp in 1942 and later became the site of a sewage treatment plant, despite strong opposition from neighborhood groups.

In the late 1940s, bond funds allowed for the reconstruction of park facilities, including plans for a large equestrian academy and concession area to reduce chronic rowdyism. However, budget constraints delayed these plans indefinitely. An archery field was built around 1955 but was closed and moved to Magnuson Park in 1985. The sewage treatment plant closed in the early 1960s and was replaced by a Metro sewage pumping station near the beach parking lot.

Additional land was donated in 1953 but could not be incorporated until 1973, when the city raised funds to purchase the intervening ravine.

The park and environs were still rural when the park was established; further, most of the park is in a steep little canyon, so the park was spared all but minimal rural development as well as the surrounding boom of urban development. The full old growth forest (1,000–2,000 years old) was all clearcut relatively early (around the early 20th century); the predominantly maple-alder successional stage forest is today mature. Evergreens will gradually predominate. Typical trees include deciduous maple, alder, ash, and willow, with madrona, cascara, and evergreen Western Red Cedar, Western Hemlock, Douglas fir, pine, and spruce. Sedges, cattails, and other common indigenous flora fill out the understory and wetland areas, with particularly huge Lady Ferns along the ravine between 105th and 110th streets.

A chum salmon run on Pipers Creek was successfully restored in the late 20th Century. Peak season to see returning salmon is November. In autumn 2023, beavers took up residence on the creek near its outlet into Puget Sound, building a dam, altering the environment, and complicating the maintenance of the salmon run.

Environmental Learning Center

Wild Redflower Currant (Ribes sanguineum) blooming

In addition to the variety of program activities and environmental stewardship, the community-driven Carkeek Park Environmental Learning Center (ELC) is becoming a model for resource efficiency and protection of human health and the environment. Built to the highest standard of the U.S. Green Building Council, sustainable building features of the ELC include:

• rooftop rainwater harvest for flushing toilets and managing storm water. This is becoming dramatically more attractive for large buildings and as potable water is becoming scarce (and expensive);
• energy-efficient highly insulated building envelope, intelligent lighting, and natural ventilation (some is rediscovery: natural lighting and ventilation were common before electricity);
• solar electric (photovoltaic) panels provided by City Light's Green Power program
• 80% recycling or salvaging of demolition and construction waste;
• salmon-friendly landscaping, meaning drought-tolerant, native species and increased storm water infiltration;
• paints and coatings, adhesives, sealants, wood composites and carpeting which protect indoor air quality;
• recycled content products were used in construction: concrete, backfill, wood composite casework, insulation, and flooring; salvaged materials included peeler logs from a naval building in South Lake Union; and
• regional materials were preferred, supporting the regional economy and reducing the energy, waste, and pollution associated with transportation (one of the biggest components of fossil fuel and energy use).

Due to cuts to the City of Seattle's budget, the ELC closed in 2013.

See also

• Daylighting (streams)
• Vivian Carkeek
• Water resources

Bibliography

• "Carkeek Park". Seattle Parks and Recreation. 2006-08-08. Retrieved 2006-08-21.
  • This page has since been replaced by "Carkeek Park". Seattle Parks and Recreation. Retrieved 2007-07-31.
• "Carkeek Park Environmental Learning Center". Seattle Parks and Recreation. 2006-08-08. Retrieved 2006-08-21.
• "Carkeek Park Environmental Learning Center: Summer 2006" (PDF). Carkeek Park. Seattle Parks and Recreation. 2006-06-30. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 26, 2007. Retrieved 2006-08-21.
• Sherwood, Don (2003-06-20). "Carkeek Park" (PDF). PARK HISTORY: Sherwood History Files. Seattle Parks and Recreation. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 11, 2007. Retrieved 2006-04-21.
• "Sustainable Building & Development". Seattle Parks and Recreation. 2006-06-28. Retrieved 2006-08-21.
• "What is Environmental Stewardship?". Seattle Parks and Recreation. 2006-03-01. Retrieved 2006-08-21.

Further reading

• Seattle Parks and Recreation: Carkeek Park