Join SUN Park Weed and Sweep Brigade

SUN Park

The SUN Park Team, which oversee the upkeep of the small corner pocket park located at the corner of NE 47th Street and 47th Avenue NE, invites the neighborhood to it's monthly "Weed and Sweep Brigade Work Parties" on the second Saturday and Wednesday from 9:30-11:30am.

"Stop by with your favorite garden tool to keep the park in shape," a volunteer told the Laurelhurst Blog.

The SUN Park location, planned, funded, developed, and maintained by Laurelhurst neighbors, was originally part of the site of a large 1920's Bungalow style house.   A developer purchased the property, demolished the home, then divided the original lot into three parcels.  Two houses were built on the subdivided lots.

In 2007, the Sun Park group, along with many in the community, attended a meeting along with City representatives, to save the third parcel, on the corner, from being developed.

The plot of land was purchased by a group of Laurelhurst neighbors and friends, through donations to the Cascade Land Conservancy (now Forterra, a nonprofit 501.c.3 organization whose mission is to conserve great lands and create great communities) in order to preserve the small open space from development and create a community park and native plant garden.  

In 2009, SUN Park, named for Saving Urban Nature, was finished and was completely funded by private donations.

The Friends of SUN Park maintain the plantings which include a variety of trees, shrubs, ferns, perennials, and groundcovers native to Western Washington. Identification markers provide information on the plants and "the ways in which their use represented the
first ‘grocery store’ and ‘pharmacy’ for local Native American cultures," a volunteer told the Laurelhurst Blog Staff.

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One of the Friends Of SUN Park gardening volunteers added:

SUN Park serves as a demonstration site for those interested in growing native

plants and learning more about the plants indigenous to the region. Gardening

with these plants creates a more nature landscape, promotes wildlife habitats,

and requires less maintenance.

To support SUN Park, contact Dixie Porter at dixiejoporter@hotmail.com or 206-383-0147  or Janice Camp at 206-849-5778.

Enjoy "great nature nearby" one of the volunteers told the Laurelhurst Blog.

Go here for more information.