Next time you go to the waterfront, you can check out Overlook Walk, a park with 20 acres of views, plant life and a brand new connection from Pike Place Market to the waterfront.
Construction started in 2019 when the City of Seattle demolished the Alaskan Way Viaduct. As of Oct. 4, the construction on Overlook walk is finally complete.
“It’s nice that we can walk downtown and not look at construction,” one Seattle resident told the Puma Press. “I feel like construction projects are oftentimes something you never think you’ll see the end of. So it’s nice to be at the end of a project and see the final products.”
Overlook Walk offers 360 degree views of Elliot Bay, the Olympic Mountains, Mt. Rainier and the Downtown Seattle Skyline. The park also directly connects Pike Place Market to the waterfront for the first time in Seattle’s history.
“It makes an obvious pedestrian connection so that people who are at the Pike Place Market can visibly see, ‘Oh, I can use this space,’” Angela Brady, director of the office of the waterfront and civic projects for the City of Seattle, said. “Not only can they use it to get down to the waterfront, they can get from the waterfront up to the market.”
Friends of Waterfront Park is a nonprofit organization that manages and operates programs at the park. FoWP started their work in 2012 to manage and care for the space after the city of Seattle finished construction. Shiva Shaffi, director for marketing and communications at Friends of Waterfront Park has been working there for six months.
“I think the whole project is really exciting,” Shaffi said. “It’s pretty audacious for a city to tear down a highway and build a public park. So it’s a really big deal and a really big moment for the city.”
According to the City of Seattle website, the Waterfront Park project is one of the largest public investment projects in Seattle since the 1962 World’s Fair, where the Seattle Space Needle was built.
“Parks are so important for community well being,” Shaffi said. “They’re public places for us to connect, and we’re so fortunate here to live in such a beautiful place…You have gorgeous views of the city, the water, the mountains. Just having free places to go and gather and connect is really important.”
Since 2020 when Pier 62 opened to the public, FoWP has brought in more than 100 programs every year, with 85% of those being led by Indigenous and people of color.
“I hope that this is a place that Seattle can feel pride in,” Shaffi said. “Our team here at Friends works really intentionally and diligently with different communities across the city, so that way they can see themselves reflected in the programming that we do.”
With commitments to accessibility, inclusivity and sustainability, Overlook Walk aims to be a park for all.
“I hope it’s a place where people feel that they can come and always have the time to get what they need out of it, whether or not they need a break from the hustle and bustle of the city, or if they want to come and meet a friend,” Shaffi said. “It’s a gathering place. I just hope it really becomes a vibrant reflection of this gorgeous city that we get to call home.”
