Seattle shapes Central District Black Legacy Plan to honor local history across neighborhood parks

Seattle Parks and Recreation is advancing a new capital initiative aimed at honoring the Central District’s pivotal Black activists, entrepreneurs, and philanthropists through improvements to neighborhood open spaces.

Dubbed the Central District Black Legacy Plan, the effort will fund site analysis, community engagement, and prioritized capital investments to transform selected Central District public grounds into spaces of remembrance and cultural celebration.

The initial phase focuses on three key neighborhood parks named after prominent Black historical figures:

• William Grose Park (1814 30th Ave., at 30th Ave. & E. Howell St.) – Honoring the 19th-century pioneer entrepreneur and businessman whose 12-acre homestead helped establish the historic foundation of the Central District.
• Powell Barnett Park (352 Martin Luther King Jr. Way) – Named for the civic leader, musician, and community organizer who helped integrate local sports leagues and founded the Leschi Improvement Council.
• Judge Charles M. Stokes Overlook (2013 S. Judkins St., at 20th Ave. S. & S. Judkins St.) – Commemorating King County District Court’s first Black judge and state legislator.

If funding allows, the city plans to add up to two additional neighborhood locations to the project scope.

The city is currently seeking consultant teams to guide the initial planning and community-driven visioning phase, which will lay the groundwork for subsequent design development and construction. Seattle Parks and Recreation has placed a strong emphasis on community participation, actively encouraging proposals from first-time applicants and members of the Central District’s Black community to help shape the public spaces.

Meanwhile, construction is underway on the more than $11 million Garfield Super Block renovation, bringing a long-championed community vision to life at the Central District campus. Led by the Garfield Super Block Coalition in partnership with the city, the project reimagines the grounds surrounding Garfield High School and community center with a 0.34-mile “Legacy and Promise Promenade” celebrating the area’s rich multicultural history through public art, alongside upgraded multi-use sports courts, a new restroom facility, and the city’s first dedicated public parkour park.

Crews have already completed the synthetic turf infield at Playfield G1, installed key play equipment, and poured the southeast accessibility ramp, with pathway improvements advancing through the fall and a full project completion expected in early 2027.

While Seattle Parks and Recreation has not published an exact dollar figure for the Central District Black Legacy Plan, the initiative is supported by the Seattle Park District’s Park CommUNITY Fund.

For a municipal project of this scope, the initial 12- to 18-month planning and community engagement phase typically commands a consultant contract in the $150,000 to $350,000 range. Once planning is complete, the physical capital improvements, spanning interpretive art, landscape redesign, and infrastructure across three to five neighborhood parks, are likely to require an estimated $1 million to $4+ million in construction funding.

According to historical U.S. Census Bureau records and municipal housing analyses, the Central District’s Black population peaked around 1970 at roughly 70% to 73% neighborhood-wide, reaching nearly 90% in its most concentrated core tracts due to decades of redlining. Recent U.S. Census American Community Survey data and City of Seattle demographic reports show that share has dropped to approximately 10% to 14% today, driven by decades of gentrification, rising housing costs, and regional displacement.