SEATTLE — Dog owners and those who love green spaces and walkable areas will have a reason to smile when Seattle opens up its newest dog park, off-leash area, and pedestrian thoroughfare in the Georgetown neighborhood in 2023.
Construction of the new project is expected to begin in the summer of 2022.
The green space is being afforded as Seattle City Light got approval from the Seattle City Council Transportation and Utilities Committee to transfer a 46,000-square foot plot of land over to the Seattle Department of Transportation and Seattle Parks and Recreation. The area was the former Georgetown Flume site, which is located between the Aero Motel and the Boeing campus.
The site once transported water from City Light’s Georgetown Steam Plant to the Duwamish River.
The plant stopped operating in 1975.
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As for the future project, it will connect Georgetown to South Park, creating a walkable and bikeable space, including 80 new trees and a play place for pets.
“Creating an off-leash dog park in Georgetown and walking/biking trail that connects Georgetown and South Park has long been a goal of the Georgetown community. We are excited that this land transfer, in addition to the funding agreed to by Seattle City Light, Seattle Parks Department, and SDOT, will allow these to become a reality in our neighborhood,” said Kate Kohler, Georgetown resident and co-chair of the Georgetown Open Space Committee.
Seattle Parks and Recreation will get the eastern piece of property while SDOT gets the western piece.
In return, City Light will receive a “street vacation” in the area, which is “a mechanism to allow a private use of the right-of-way, based on public benefit.”
“This is a win-win situation — the street vacation allows City Light to meet our operational needs at the South Service Center while the land we’re transferring will support these long sought-after improvements for the Georgetown and South Park communities,” said Debra Smith, general manager and CEO of Seattle City Light.
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