Check Out The Sun Park Memorial

SUN Park, a small corner pocket park located at the corner of NE 47th Street and 47th Avenue NE, has an addition of a memorial on granite stone.

The SUN Park location was planned, funded, developed, and is maintained by Laurelhurst neighbors. The plot 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.  

One of the Friends Of SUN Park gardening volunteers told the Laurelhurst Blog Staff:

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.

Go here for more information.