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(Image: Matt Mitgang)
(Image: Matt Mitgang)
Seattle Parks crews backed off and Seattle Police stood by after a small but spirited crowd of supporters gathered Tuesday morning to stop the removal of the Black Lives Memorial Garden from Capitol Hill’s Cal Anderson Park.
The early morning standoff played out around the so-called “sun bowl” area of the park where heavy equipment had been rolled in for the removal of the garden that was established during the Black Lives Matter and CHOP protest in the summer of 2020.
(Image: Matt Mitgang)
CHS reported here earlier this month as Black Star Farmers organizer Marcus Henderson and supporters have rallied to stop the parks department from a planned “turf restoration” project in the bowl that officials is needed “to host gatherings and large events” as part of its “intentional design as a natural amphitheater and proximity to electrical and water hook-ups.”
Seattle Parks says it has offered to work with the group that helped shape the initial garden and that has stewarded the space over the years to relocate the garden in the park or move it to another Seattle Parks location including a space behind the Rainier Community Center.
Tuesday, police stood by and an arrest van was dispatched to the park but there were no confrontations with the group gathering in the garden area. An arrest made nearby for property damage was related to man reported throwing objects in the roadway and not related to the garden standoff.
Black Star Farmers says the garden should remain where it was created in June 2020. “Forceful displacement of community projects like BLMG is consistent with violent state projects like imperialism, colonization, and gentrification,” the group said in its “call to action” asking for public support against moving the garden.
(Image: Matt Mitgang)
Community representative groups involved in reshaping Cal Anderson’s community uses in the wake of CHOP have spoken out against the city’s decision and the Cal Anderson Park Alliance community group says it did not ask for the city to restore the amphitheater bowl grass.
A leading participant in the community meetings following CHOP is calling on the city to listen to community demands.
“The park, the neighborhood, and the city will be worse off for this move and I suspect you all will continue to be affiliated with other institutional bullies for your shortsightedness,” University of Washington Urban Design & Planning researcher Keith Harris wrote in his message to city officials in a thread shared with media. “But you have the opportunity here to really see what the community thinks, rather than assuming based on some years-old, half-assed, online effort. I think we can do better than this.”
Meanwhile, supporters of the garden are ready to dig in.
“We will be holding the ground,” an update to @blackstarfarmers promised Tuesday morning as the heavy equipment arrived.
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