FOLLOWUP: ‘Community review’ next Tuesday for Nantes Park plan

Last month, we reported on the Admiral Neighborhood Association getting a preview of planned additions to Nantes Park (5062 SW Admiral Way). Today, the date was announced for a “community review” of the plans, in the context of an anniversary for the sister-city relationship the park honors. From the city’s announcement:

Mayor Jenny Durkan of Seattle and Mayor Johanna Rolland of Nantes, France signed a joint proclamation committing to a continued partnership between Seattle and Nantes and celebrating 40 years of the Sister-City relationship: “Our cities are places of experimentation and knowledge, incubators of creativity. They can be a source of proposals in many areas. We, the Mayors of Nantes and Seattle, are committed to sharing our experiences, fostering constructive dialogue, working together within the framework of our public policies, by 2030, and developing partnerships between Nantes and Seattle in all areas that can contribute to the well-being of our communities, and respect and protection of the fundamental values of freedom and equality that inspire us.”

The City of Seattle, through Seattle Parks and Recreation and the community, reaffirms its Sister-City relationship with Nantes, France with the launch of the Nantes Park Beautification Project to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Sister-City relationship.

Nantes Park, located at 5062 SW Admiral Way in West Seattle, will get a facelift that includes a paved loop walkway with embedded French art, temporary French art installations and student-submitted art tiles along the seat wall. The project, led by the Seattle-Nantes Sister City Association (SNSCA) in partnership with the Admiral Neighborhood Association and funded by the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, the City of Nantes, the West Seattle Garden Tour and volunteers, will transform the park into a fun, family-friendly, and accessible communal area reflective of the sister-city relationship.

The SNSCA is collaborating with Claude Ponti, beloved and prolific French children’s author and illustrator, on art for the park. Ponti’s experience with the Jardin des Plantes and the Parc de la Beaujoire in Nantes will highlight French-influenced art in the Seattle’s Nantes Park, symbolizing the intersection of the two cultures through the Sister-City relationship. Nantes Park will also represent Ponti’s first art installation to be showcased in the United States.

“We are thrilled to work with Monsieur Ponti. He has created more than a dozen whimsical, interactive works of art in the Jardin des Plantes in Nantes that capture the attention of children and adults alike. Interacting with his fantastical creatures sparks imagination and creative play,” explains Susan Kegel, President of the Seattle-Nantes Sister City Association.

The park will also feature art-tiles lining the seat wall. The art tiles will showcase art submitted by students in Seattle and Nantes who participate in the Passe Partout high school exchange program between the two cities.

A community review is scheduled for Tuesday, March 30th at 7 pm. This is an opportunity for SNSCA to gather feedback on designs and for the community to provide input on the final art installations that will be featured in the park. Please visit the SNSCA website for more information on participating in the community review. …

The Nantes Park project is part of a year-long celebration on both sides of the Atlantic recognizing the 40th anniversary of Seattle’s sister-city relationship with Nantes. This spring, look for the release of a special Seattle-Nantes Sister City beer created in an international colla-beer-ation between Seattle’s Lantern Brewing and Nantes’ Bubar. This celebratory beverage, brewed and bottled in each city from a common recipe, will be a gose-style beer featuring Washington State cranberries and Guérande salt from the Nantes region. To capstone the year-long program, Seattle will welcome the delegation from Nantes in fall 2021 to celebrate the grand re-opening of Nantes Park and discuss ideas for future partnerships.

The Nantes community will be celebrating with a “Seattle Orchard” in the Jardin du Grand Blottereau, a sound installation at le Muséum by La Maison des Etats Unis, film screenings, lectures and much more. …

The link and phone number for participating in next Tuesday’s meeting can be found here.

jed March 25, 2021 (4:31 pm)

sorry to be a downer, but as someone who lives near Nantes Park, there are so many other locations nearby that could be transformed into a community space with incredible views, like the end of Olga street for example, or the end of Grayson. Instead, we have a bunch of resources put into a park that no one will ever go to because it’s on a busy arterial. If the park offered a path through to the neighborhood instead of a wall of blackberries, then at least it would get some foot traffic. No one wants to sit in a park next to a busy street unless it has a view.

mrsB March 25, 2021 (9:27 pm)

I’m also a neighbor and I totally agree with Jed. It’s a complete waste of resources to do anything more to this easily overlooked and realistically unattractive “park”. Perhaps keep the weeds down but that’s all. It’ll never be used, it really has no purpose.

Diane March 26, 2021 (9:11 am)

I live across the street and have seen kids play over there and people sitting and talking. I think it’s nice to have a small space in the middle of a busy area to stop and chill. It’s also by a bus stop if that matters I don’t know. But anyway I appreciate the small park.

BigB March 30, 2021 (10:18 am)

A new skatepark at that location would be perfect.

RoRo April 5, 2021 (11:03 am)

Lived in West Seattle since 1994, and no idea where Nantes Park is? Sorry. Does seem that if Seattle was taking the whole sister city matter seriously, wouldn’t it be better to relocate to an outdoor space better situated to honor the relationship?

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