Urban Triangle Park
About
In December 2008, SPR purchased the 8,722 square foot site at Westlake and Lenora and redeveloped the Enterprise Car Rental site into parkland that serves the downtown businesses and residences. The design includes an open lawn, seating edge, lighting, ADA access, places for vendors, landscaping, other park elements and a new central custom play structure that references historical structures in this neighborhood, is fabricated and will be installed September 2023. The park opened in 2019 and has a nice gathering space for the populated South Lake Union urban environment.
Commissioned with funding from Seattle Parks and Recreation 1% for Art funds, Janet Zweig, created the public artwork, Escape Destinations, for the park. The sculpture was installed in late August. Administered by the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, the artwork consists of two signs that employ a bus-blind device to scroll through lighted names of fictional destinations from literature, games, film and comics. The artist’s process of collecting and editing the names was a long one, in which she developed extensive lists which were winnowed down to two hundred names: one hundred from children's sources and one hundred from adult sources; these will be displayed on the two signs respectively. In effect, the signs will re-name the park every day, often with a recognizable name, often with an unrecognizable mysterious name. It is the intention that after recognizing some of the names, people will research the ones they don't know and find something new to read or explore.