Location: Central Seattle
Address: 352 Martin Luther King Jr. Way
Acreage: 4.4
Turn the kids loose at Powell Barnett Park, and they’ll occupy themselves for hours on all the impressive playground equipment. I especially liked the giant red spider net, which allows older kids to climb to a considerable height. The equipment is separated into one set for younger kids and one for older kids.
This park also has a large, flat lawn that would be great for Frisbee or flag football. There’s a summer wading pool for little ones. The full basketball court was donated by the Sonics several years ago, and as a sad reminder to fans, still has the Sonics emblem at one end of the court.
Powell Samuel Barnett was a revered local community leader. His impressive resume (according to a nice display at the park) includes helping to found the Seattle Urban League, local NAACP chapter and Leschi Improvement Council. He helped bring Little League to Seattle. He helped integrate Japanese citizens back into the community after World War II. He served on a bunch of non-profit boards. Oh, and he was also a star baseball player and musician.
If anyone deserves a park named in his honor, it’s this guy.
In 2006 the park got a much needed makeover, thanks to Pro Parks Funds and a Starbucks neighborhood grant. Powell’s granddaughter helped secure the funding.
#115 (Visited 2/10/10)