Open our Wading Pool!
2011
With the support of the Leschi and Madrona community councils, and mom’s groups, the co-op at Central Community College, Seattle Parks and Rec, and numerous other community members and parents.
Implemented in Spring/Summer 2011, “Open our Wading Pool!” is a community-sourced project to reopen the Powell Barnett Park wading pool, located in the Central District (CD) neighborhood of Seattle. Initiated by Melissa Cate Christ and executed in collaboration with a network of community groups and municipal departments, the project re-activated a public space whose operation had been abandoned due to budget cuts. Through a series of events, poster campaigns, and grassroots outreach activities, an incremental engagement and empowerment of the local community was enacted, allowing the temporary occupation of an often overlooked but crucial public amenity, the humble wading pool.
Historically neglected, Powell Barnett (PB) Park was the site of a Starbucks-sponsored BOOM makeover in 2006 , transforming the 40 year old legacy of a community leader into a “destination park” which serves an ethnically and economically diverse range of Seattle residents and visitors. Despite the huge popularity of the park, the PB wading pool, a crucial summer component of a park/playground in full sun, was closed in 2009 and 2010 due to city budget cuts.
Led by Melissa, as both a landscape architect and a CD resident (with two toddlers), the project began as advocacy research into the neglected concrete basin in PB park. Over time, it became a grassroots, event-staging, outreach and fundraising effort which was able to successfully negotiate the opening of the PB wading pool on a weekly basis for the summer of 2011.
Supported by local community groups, the project consisted of a poster campaign, followed by the establishment of an online presence through a Public Places Facebook page and on the local blogs the CD news and the Madrona neighborhood blog.
The project staged a series of events: a “Wade-In” where we occupied the empty pool (the stars aligned for 65 and sunny in May – a near miracle in Seattle!) to raise awareness about the value of the currently squandered park space, and a fundraiser at a local pizza place (the owner’s son had splashed in the pool in previous years). In the end, eight Saturdays were funded through the raising of $4400 with over 60 donors, the majority of which were between $10-$50. Each open day was an event in itself, with BBQ’s, pool toys, music and high attendance. Average numbers were recorded at 169/day, putting the PB Wading Pool in the top five for average daily attendance. Due to a cool summer, the season was extended by two weeks across Seattle, fulfilling Parks and Rec’s commitment to us to open the PB pool for eight days and a sign that the City has begun to understand the cultural value of these humble concrete basins.
Spring 2012 update: On the heels of our success last summer, we plan to lobby for a more equitable distribution of city funding to spread the open days at pools across the city (rather than in 3 or 7 day clusters) so that the burden of private fundraising can be reduced/shared across the wading pool user base. Eventually, we want to see a shift away from building new spray parks and towards supporting and preserving the existing wading pools, many of which have been serving the community for 50+ years.
Summer 2012 update: Through a marketing campaign by ask.com, Powell Barnett Wading Pool was once again open Saturdays throughout the summer.
Summer 2013 Update : Lacking a sustainable funding model, Powell Barnett Wading Pool did not open during the summer of 2013.
Summer 2014 update: Seattle Parks and Recreation open a Facebook page just for Wading Pools and Spray parks!