Everett parking space becomes park space
Published 11:36 pm Friday, September 18, 2009
EVERETT — At least one parking space in the city served a different purpose on Friday.
People, containers of fruits and vegetables, chairs, and tables filled one of the spots outside the Sno-Isle Natural Foods Co-op and The Sisters Restaurant on Grand Avenue.
Volunteers from the group Transition Everett were responsible for maintaining the little temporary park throughout the day. They were participating in an international movement to turn parking spots into public parks and other social spaces.
Park(ing) Day is an annual event that began in 2005 and was organized by Rebar, a San Francisco art and design studio. This year, temporary parks in New Zealand, Norway, Poland, South Africa and South Korea were added to the list of 274 Park(ing) Day locations at www.parkingday.org.
Tranistion Everett had the only registered location in Everett. Other registered locations were in Bellingham, Seattle and Wenatchee.
“(Rebar) put out some guidelines that allowed people to create whatever type of space they want,” Eric Goodman, a Transition Everett volunteer said. “We’re doing a local gardening theme to show what you can do in a really small space like this.”
Goodman said he first heard about Park(ing) Day two years ago after reading a newspaper article.
“I just thought, ‘That’s a really cool thing. I’d like to do that sometime,’” he said.
He approached city officials about the possibility and obtained a permit to use the space from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. He asked permission of surrounding business owners. Thus, the daylong park was born.
Goodman hopes the idea will catch on in Everett and other cities.
“I would love to do it again next year and I hope that other people will come out to participate in other locations,” he said. “Hopefully we caused people to think a little bit about what we might do with our space.”
Amy Daybert: 425-339-3491, adaybert@heraldnet.com.
