FOLLOWUP: Repairs expected by year’s end for arson-damaged Riverview Playfield comfort station

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(WSB photo of fire’s aftermath, June 2016)

Some promising news about one of the stops set for Thursday night’s Find It, Fix It Walk in Highland Park. It’s the long-closed, arson-damaged restroom/storage building at Riverview Playfield. As we’ve reported previously, community members are concerned that the building has yet to be fixed and reopened, almost a year after last year’s arson -and at one point were told that it might be up to six years before repairs could be funded. But Christina Hirsch of Seattle Parks tells WSB that funding for repair and restoration has been secured. Hirsch told WSB’s Randall Hauk that the Seattle Park District has approved $202,000 for the work.

Parks will now work with city purchasing and contracting on details for the management of the project. Though there is no set deadline yet for completion of repairs, Hirsch says the hope is to finish by the end of the year. She adds that the schedule and scope of the project will be posted on the Riverview Playfield webpage as it becomes available. Meantime, portable restrooms will remain in place at the much-used fields until the permanent facility.

P.S. If you haven’t already seen it, the route, starting place, and other information about Thursday night’s walk – starting at 6:30 pm from Highland Park Improvement Club (where you can gather starting an hour before that) – is here.

6 Replies to "FOLLOWUP: Repairs expected by year's end for arson-damaged Riverview Playfield comfort station"

  • Alan May 23, 2017 (11:31 pm)

    Well, that is encouraging. Thanks for staying on this.

  • Melissa May 24, 2017 (6:25 am)

    Awesome news!!

  • Len May 24, 2017 (7:51 am)

    It’s ridiculous that it has taken this long to fix this structure.    The parks service cannot get its act together in this city.   Get it done.

  • Craig May 24, 2017 (8:03 am)

    The FIFI CWAT team heard this news from Andrew Sheffer of Parks  during the first CWAT meeting.  Funds are apparently being diverted from another project to make the repairs.   We all appreciate that Parks has committed to taking care of the comfort station within a reasonable timeline.

    On the Riverview Playfeild stop along the FIFi walk we’ll be addressing several other maintenance and safety concerns.  Additionally we’re taking the opportunity to acknowledge the long history of community stewardship of both Riverview Playfield and the West Duwamish Greenbelt and asking the City to work with the community towards and integrated park and Natural area with a trail that covers the span of the greenbelt. 

    Looking forward to working  with Parks and the many stakeholders following  an  impressive history of preservation and stewardship.  




  • Brandon May 24, 2017 (9:19 am)

    Perhaps if our Council focused on recreation and safety instead of collecting millions on soda taxes, oversight committees, banking protests,  homeless cleanups, drug injection sites, upzoning, etc.  It’s time for new leadership people.  

  • HungryKids May 24, 2017 (3:52 pm)

    Clicking on the Riverview Playfield link in your article, I was surprised to see that one (of the three) photos that the Parks Dept has posted isn’t even taken at Riverview.  Is it indicative of the level of interest that Parks takes in our neighborhood that they can’t even recognize pictures of it?
    If it was just an inadvertent mistake (I am sure they have thousands of photos) and they’d like to fix it, it’s the picture with the lush green trees and the finely crafted stone staircase in the background that doesn’t fit in!

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