We’ve reported previously about a community effort to get the under-construction Morgan Junction park (2/19/09 photo above) named in honor of the late veteran West Seattle Herald reporter Tim St. Clair, including a petition drive that’s just getting under way (WSB coverage, with downloadable petition form, here). Now, the Parks Department has just sent its official news release announcing the start of the naming process for this park (and another one in North Seattle) – read on:

Seattle Parks and Recreation invites the public to submit potential names for parks in
West Seattle and Northgate. Please submit suggestions for names to the Park Naming
Committee by Monday, April 6, 2009.

Here are descriptions of the parks to be named (some of the park names used below
are working titles):

Morgan Junction: A new park is being developed on newly acquired property at the
southwest corner of California Ave SW and SW Eddy St. Seattle Parks acquired a .2
acre property at 6140 California Ave SW on November 30, 2006, for a new neighborhood
park in the heart of the Morgan Junction urban village. Funding for this
acquisition came from the 2000 Pro Parks Levy and a matching grant from the King
County Conservation Futures Tax.

The Pro Parks Levy also provided the funding for planning, design, and construction
of the park. Parks held two public meetings and worked with the community to develop
a design for a piazza-like space with green edges, a U-shaped public gathering space
with seating, a central lawn, and a prominent tree located at the southwest corner
of the property. For more information, please visit
http://www.cityofseattle.net/parks/proparks/projects/morgan.htm

Northgate Urban Center Park:Located at the old King County Northgate Park and Ride Facility
at the intersection of 5th Avenue NE and NE 112th St., the Northgate community
recommended acquiring this site when the 1993 Northgate Area Comprehensive Plan was
prepared; the acquisition will be complete in April 2009.

The project includes the conversion of an existing 3.73 acre park and ride facility
into a new urban park. King County is relocating the Park and Ride stalls to the
transit center located south of the mall so there will be no loss of park and ride
spaces in the area.

The park will provide open space to serve existing and future residential
development in the area. After a series of public meetings and community input, the
phase one plan includes an open lawn for passive and active play, captured water
from a natural spring, and site drainage that will flow through a runnel into a wet
meadow, input from a local artist, walking paths, basketball, an all ages active
area, and benches and plantings. Parks anticipates that construction will begin in
the fall of 2009. For more information, please visit
http://www.cityofseattle.net/parks/maintenance/NorthGateUrbanCenter.htm

The Park Naming Committee is comprised of one representative designated by the Board
of Park Commissioners, one by the Chair of the City Council Parks and Seattle Center
Committee, and one by the Parks Superintendent. Criteria the committee considers in
naming parks include: geographical location, historical or cultural significance,
and natural or geological features. A park may be named for a person no longer
living (deceased a minimum of three years) who made a significant contribution to
parks and/or recreation. The Park Naming Committee will consider all suggestions and
make a recommendation to Parks Superintendent Tim Gallagher, who makes the final
decision.

Please submit suggestions for park names in writing by Monday, April 6, 2009,and
include an explanation of how your suggestion matches the naming criteria. Send to
SeattleParksand Recreation, Park Naming Committee, 100 Dexter Ave. N, Seattle,
WA98109, or by e-mail to paula.hoff@seattle.gov.