West Seattle Blog… | FOLLOWUP: Nantes Park improvements and artistic options – your input needed

By Jason Grotelueschen
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

Additions and improvements with an artistic focus and international flair will soon be coming to a small park in West Admiral.

At an online community review meeting on Tuesday evening (as we’ve previewed here), attendees discussed the proposed plans for Nantes Park (5062 SW Admiral Way), which was founded in 2006 in honor of Seattle’s “twin town” relationship with Nantes, France. The start of the Beautification project in Nantes Park This year is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the partnership between Seattle and Nantes with the following goal: “The project will transform a small, rarely used pocket park into something that is fun, family-friendly, accessible and the sister reflects the city’s relationship with Nantes, France. “

The project organizers want to hear from you: if you missed the meeting, this online survey is still open but will soon be closed.

Plans for temporary art installations and permanent walkway improvements were unveiled on Tuesday Susan Kegel |, President of Seattle-Nantes sister city association (SNSCA) with the support of the project manager Pam Kliment of Seattle Parks. Go here to see the presentation.

In February, Kegel gave an earlier version of the presentation to the Admiral Neighborhood Associationas we have reported here. In 2019 we shared details about an SNSCA survey that was looking for information about the project Seattle Department of Neighborhoods Grants, the last of which was announced last November. Financing was also provided by a West Seattle Garden Tour Grant to support the creation of artificial tiles and from the City of Nantes to support French-inspired designs. The art tiles will feature designs by students in Nantes as well as students in Seattle (inclusive) West Seattle High Schoolwho has an established exchange program, and Bishop Blanchet High School).

The concepts for the park will initially focus on temporary art installations (around a year) as well as longer-term embedded art inspired by the French writer / illustrator Claude Pontiwho has created 12 art installations across Nantes. At Seattle Parks’ request, the project would involve paving a walkway (in the same way it was originally designed in 2004, but is barely visible today because it was not permanent). Artistic elements would be included in and adjacent to the walkway and seat wall areas of the park.

Temporary installation concept options, as described by Kegel, include:

Door pots: “The story is that they are a mutant variety of plant that is endemic to cities where they grow over doors and gates and make comments about passersby.” The idea for Nantes Park would be that the pots could either be on the floor or on the concrete seat wall.
Plant mimicry: “The poles are a random mutation (I think Ponti likes mutations …) of a bamboo-like variety of grass that has developed the ability to grow faces on their tips that scare birds away so they don’t nest in the foliage and rear loud young ones that make mess. They are not edible and should not be fed, but you can take their picture. “In Nantes Park these would be bars with“ faces ”that could be made in a joint workshop.

Embedded art options for the walkway include “creature footprints” (bronzed or stamped) that run through the park, possibly in “fake holes” that could be commissioned by local chalk artists. Around the park there would also be signs with information about the footprints (they believe the prints were made by quirky creatures with French names) as well as details about the Seattle-Nantes connection and the stories behind the Ponti-inspired art.

Kegel said much of the momentum of the project and the 40th anniversary celebration stalled last year due to COVID, but this year they plan to move forward and involve the community. The group is hoping to do a weed hunt in the park in May / June, followed by a community art workshop to make the “faces” in July (kids could make their own art faces to take away). She added that the group plans to take part in the Admiral Neighborhood Art Walk this summer and will raise funds in the spring / summer to help fund “extras” for the park.

If COVID allows, Kegel said all construction for the temporary sculptures, walkway, and artificial tiles would take place this summer and be completed by September, with an inauguration in October. The sculptures would then stay awake for at least a year, after which the walkway and permanent installations would remain. The project will also add new plants to the park.

The meeting ended with a Q&A and discussion. Highlights below:

Attendees Brenda Walden, who had seen the earlier Nantes presentation at the ANA meeting in February, said she really liked the designs but was amazed at the persistence of the improvements beyond the “year-long buzz” of the art projects (she added, that some ideas, like chalk art, are good in the short term but would obviously wash off). Kegel noted the concrete path with the animal footprints, the art tiles and the information signs as examples of longer-term items. Walden agreed that these were positive elements, but asked if the long-term plan for the immediate area around the park will be precisely “representative of the relationship with Nantes”. Pam Kliment from Parks replied that the goal is certainly to have many of the long-term installations representative of Nantes and of a “French connection” as a whole.
Participants also discussed ideas to separate the park from the busy traffic on Admiral Way. Ideas include a fence or hedge, but they would require additional maintenance. Kliment said “it’s a complicated place” with the busy artery next to it, which can make visitors nervous, especially with younger children. Kliment added that it is parks policy not to cordon off their parks and that they must also be careful to create fences / hedges behind which people could hide and cause problems. Kegel agreed that these ideas could be considered in the coming months and agreed to concerns about safety.
Attendees Use Dippenaar applauded the “whimsy” of the designs and efforts to make them accessible to children and to involve children and adults in the designs, but agreed with Walden that more durable items could be a good thing. Dippenaar wondered if there were inexpensive ways to pay homage to Ponti, e.g. B. Quotes in the park. After completing the year-long art installation, a small play area for children should be added to match the theme (a castle or a tower). Kegel said ideas like adding quotations are entirely possible; Things like having a dedicated play area would be great for families in the area, but would require more thought to incorporate into the park.
Kegel said much of what was possible with previous park planning was due to grants. Regarding the neighborhood grants, “the great thing about the grants is that they are given out every year” and could be available for neighborhood groups to make further improvements to the park in the future.
Kegel emphasized that her association is fully committed to helping with the ongoing clean-up work in the park and the repair of vandalism. Attendees Mary Batterson, who was involved in various cleanups in the neighborhood, asked about trash cans in the park (noting that the park had a bin when it opened). Kliment responded that trash bins could certainly be discussed as part of a wider discussion about property maintenance for the park and what that occupation would be like. Batterson said she was concerned about things she saw in the park, like discarded needles and dirty diapers, and Kegel / Kliment agreed that such things should obviously not be part of a family-friendly park.
Attendees Wesley Jones, who lives near the park, noted that the main use of the park now appears to be dog owners. Jones added that while a paved walkway, while he is not a dog owner, it would make it less desirable for people to bring their dogs.
Walden added that perhaps at some point the park could include something like a bike rack for local cyclists visiting the park.