After selecting Murase Associates to design the planned Jimi Hendrix Park at 24th and S Massachusetts, park planners organized a series of public meetings to gather public input. Now, the community will get its first peek at the final park design August 10 at the Northwest African American Museum which is adjacent to the future park.
From the city:
Butterflies and guitars, flowers and music, sun and water, and creative use of color will be reflected in the final design concept of Jimi Hendrix Park to pay tribute to the legendary Seattle rock star.
The community is invited to get a first peek at the final design concept at the Aug. 10 meeting, beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the Northwest African American Museum, 2300 S Massachusetts St.
Compiled from three initial concepts, the final design will be unveiled for the community and the public at the third and final public event on Wednesday, Aug. 10. The evening celebration of the collaborative design process will include a presentation and formal unveiling by consulting landscape architects from Murase Associates, and an opportunity for the public to make final comments.
The three-month design process solicited ideas from the community and generated at a brainstorming session in May, focusing on images and icons that define and articulate Hendrix’s legacy. Dozens of comments from community members have advocated intimate gathering spaces and performing opportunities, adequate connections to surrounding neighborhoods, functional walkways and seating, and colorful plantings. Scott Murase said the design concept incorporates a variety of landscape and structural elements inspired by Hendrix’s writings, music and art that will transform the Central District park into a living tribute to the Seattle native.
Before becoming a park, the property served as a parking lot next to the old Colman School, and now is a swath of turf adjacent to the Northwest African American Museum.
The non-profit Friends of Jimi Hendrix Park is leading the development process, which envisions a space that will motivate youth and others to achieve in music and art, and strengthen the cultural pulse of the Emerald City as a primary focal point for multi-cultural events, gatherings, and activities for the community.
Funding for the design work and construction of the park development comes from the Parks and Green Spaces Levy, which awarded $500,000 to the project last December, and from a $76,000 Neighborhood Matching Fund grant. Fund-raising activities by the Foundation, such as benefit concerts and online donations, will raise matching private money for park development.The mission of the Jimi Hendrix Park Foundation is to create a community space inspired by the electrifying music and story of Jimi Hendrix – a gathering place for individuals of diverse backgrounds and ages – to celebrate cultural heritage, experience community pride, and enjoy innovative educational programming in partnership with the neighboring Northwest African American Museum.
In 2006, Seattle Parks and Recreation renamed the 2.5-acre neighborhood space Jimi Hendrix Park, with the goal of turning it into a community gathering space honoring the Seattle-born artist’s extraordinary life and musical legacy.
More information is available at www.jimihendrixparkfoundation.org and on Facebook.
Seattle Parks and Recreation http://www.seattle.gov/parks/projects/jimi_hendrix/
Below are the three design concepts presented at the last meeting. The final design will likely incorporate elements that were popular from each.
Oh goodie, a park named after a known drug addict. What a great example for our youth.
Agree with jpg. Someone please explain the logic behind this?
The logic behind naming a park after Jimi Hendrix? He grew up nearby and is an unparalleled music legend.
yes he was a great musician but he was a drug addict too. naming a park after him only deifies him more to our youth and for all the wrong reasons.
It is supposed common knowledge, and wrong, that Jimi Hendrix was a drug addict. Like many in the 1960s, he used drugs such as LSD and marijuana, neither of which are addictive. More supposed common knowledge, also wrong, that he died of a drug overdose. Actually, according to reports, he had taken prescription sleep medication given to him by a female friend at bedtime. Best not to rely on others for medication, especially if you don’t know the proper dose. It is my understanding that during the night, possibly due to use of alcohol (legal) he aspirated, and because of the effects of the sleeping medication was not of a cognitive state to effect clearing the blockage that resulted, and died from asphyxiation. There are plenty of conspiracy theories regarding his death as well, but drug overdose is not among them. A tragic end for one of the most talented musicians the world has ever seen and heard.
He had a work ethic I guarantee very few people could match. Please don’t spread your ignorance to the youth, as you are doing them diservice by spreading rumors, lies and perpetuated gossip. He was not a drug addict. He has touched many lives during his lifetime and legacy. I started listening to Jimi when I was 10 and Im now 45– drugs never entered my enjoyement of his gift of music– he in fact was a positive influence on my life. Try staying away from the ficton and discover the genius of the man- You’ll be better for it. Thank you Janie Hendrix for keeping Jimi’s legacy going strong for new generations to behold and enjoy. Jimi Hendrix adds to one’s quality of life for ALL THE RIGHT REASONS. Lets enjoy this wonderful Park- in Jimi’s honor
Your ignorance preceeds you. Most famous authors, leaders, artists and musicians all took illegal substances that were considered illegal at the time. So I guess we ban all of these books, park names, currency with pictures and names on them, etc. etc.
Jimi Hendrix lived in London where he became famous because the US music company executives at that time, could not handle that type of talent and musical ability, so far ahead of the times, comming from a black musician. It was not the old sterotypical blues/jazz/soul they were used to. Jimi went to Finch’s pub on Portobello Road near where one of his girlfriends lived had some pints and got pain killers (mandrex) for a bad headache he had. He went back to his girl friend’s flat where he ate the painkillers and layed down. Too much beer and mandrex caused a bad reaction and his girl friend called an ambulance. The attendents in the ambulance held his head down and he chocked to death on his own vomit. Portobello Road was heavily populated with West Indians and hippies and the rather racist London Police regularly hassled and beat up the West Indians that lived in the Ladbroke Grove Portobello Road area. There is a history of riots (like today)in the late 1960’s there against police brutality. To the ambulance attendant Jimi was just another trouble making black. There was prostests after Jimi died calling it a deliberate killing of a black man.
So thats the short story. I suggest that you, jpg, try and get some sort of education before you make the absurd remarks that you have made. Or, is it because he is black that you have a problem with this?
What are some biographies on Jimi Hendrix you recommend? I’m 23 yrs old and I’m barely starting to really dig him and his music. I wish I had paid more attention when I was a kid.
No offense intended, bruceleefan, but you are STILL a kid!
Dig him & his music now! Eschew his lifestyle.
He is part of Seattle’s history…
hey bruceleefan, go to u tube and look at his collection of performanaces. I last saw him live at the Atlanta Rock Festival in 1970. He played the star spanged banner at midnight on the 4th of July. When I live in London I knew friends of him (post his death) and had a girl friend who used to live above the flat he had his medical emergency in. Last year there was a Hendrix festival at the Aferican American Museum and his brother Leon Hendrix and lots of childhood friends were there. I would find out where and when Leon is playing and go hear and talk with him. Very open guy.
Fuck you you stupid piece of shit. Jimi Hendrix was a better person than you will ever be. Kill yourself.
Being a kid in America is not what it used to be.
So what. Thomas Jefferson was a drug addict, slaver, gang member. What black people are doing today is no different.