Washington Park Arboretum

Washington Park is a public park in Seattle, Washington, USA, most of which is taken up by the Washington Park Arboretum, a joint project of the University of Washington, the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation, and the nonproft Arboretum Foundation. Washington Park also includes a playfield and the Seattle Japanese Garden in its southwest corner. The entire length of Arboretum Creek is within the park.

To the north is Union Bay; to the west are Montlake and Madison Valley; to the south is the Washington Park neighborhood; and to the east is the Broadmoor Golf Club.

Lake Washington Boulevard E. runs north and south through the park, parallel to the creek. A secondary road, for most of its length named Arboretum Drive E. and for a short northern stretch named E. Foster Island Road, runs along the Arboretum's eastern edge. E. Interlaken Boulevard and Boyer Avenue E. run northwest out of the park to Montlake and beyond. State Route 520 cuts through Foster Island and the Union Bay wetlands at the park's northern end, interchanging with Lake Washington Boulevard just outside the arboretum entrance.

The land upon Washington Park Arboretum has been developed is owned by the city, but the Arboretum is operated primarily by the University of Washington.

History

Washington Park was developed on land that had been logged by the Puget Mill Company for sixty years. In 1920, the parcel was split in two. The eastern 200 acres (0.8 km²) were developed as the Broadmoor Golf Club by a group of businessmen that included E. G. Ames, general manager of Puget Mill. The western 230 were given to the city, who developed a park and arboretum on the site.fact|date=February 2008contradict-other|Seattle Parks and Recreation|date=February 2008

Highway construction impact

The potential impact of the recent plans to reconstruct and expand State Route 520 and replace the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge have raised concerns among Arboretum staff and park users. [ [http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/transportation/290568_arboretum31.html "Tranquil Arboretum caught in 520 storm: Public balks at 6-lane road so close to park] . By DEBERA CARLTON HARRELL, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 2006-Oct-31.] As the members of the Arboretum community noted in their collective letter to the Washington State Department of Transportation, "Native plants, wetlands, and wildlife ... would be affected not only by the taking of land but by the looming shadows created by roadways in various proposals". [ [http://depts.washington.edu/wpa/abgc/files/ABGC_SR520_postion_paper.pdf Position Statement from the Arboretum and Botanical Gardens Committee] to WSDOT Environmental Manager, September 15, 2006. Accessed online August 30, 2007.] Among the alternative proposals is the "Arboretum Bypass Plan," building the new elevated highway over Union Bay on a more northerly route than the current one. [ [http://depts.washington.edu/wpa/520.htm Washington Park Arboretum: 520 Bridge ReBuilding Plan Updates] ]

ee also

* List of botanical gardens in the United States
* North American Plant Collections Consortium

References

External links

* [http://depts.washington.edu/wpa/ Washington Park Arboretum: Center for Urban Horticulture, College of Forest Resources, University of Washington]
* [http://www.cityofseattle.net/parks/parkspaces/japanesegarden.htm Japanese Garden]
* [http://www.cityofseattle.net/parks/parkspaces/washingtonparkplayfield.htm Parks department: Washington Park Playfield]
* [http://www.iokui.com/photography/arboretum2002 Some photos in and around the arboretum]
* [http://www.seattle.gov/parks/history/WashingtonPk.pdf History of Washington Park (and Arboretum)] , including several hand-drawn maps, on the site of the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation.