SEATTLE — It was a reopening 15 months in the making.
Ballard Commons Park was once the site of one of Seattle's largest homeless encampments. The City of Seattle closed the park in December 2021 with the goal of cleaning it up and turning it back into a space for everyone.
But will it last?
Seattle City Councilmember Dan Strauss started off his speech at the reopening celebration on Saturday by thanking the Seattle Parks Department.
Strauss said he believes the way the department went about cleaning up this park means that change will be lasting. He praised new programs as part of the new approach.
"In 2020, we didn't have the Unified Care team, the Hope team, the Regional Homelessness Authority. All three of those programs have been built since," Strauss said. "Ballards Common Park used a census, a needs assessment and took the time to place people with the resources that met their needs. This was different than what we've done in the past, 72 hours and one type of shelter offered for everyone."
Despite the optimism from Strauss, others expressed frustrations with how the park was cleaned up.
"I'm told that we're disrupting the events here," one protestor said into a megaphone. "Sweeps disrupt people's lives.. sweeps literally kill people."
A group of protestors at Saturday's grand opening event said they are firmly against how the city removed the people who called this place home.
"They lost all of their belongings, thrown into a dump truck, and forcibly kicked out," another protestor said.
Download our free KING 5 app to stay up-to-date on news stories from across western Washington.