A celebratory parade and groundbreaking will launch construction of Washington Park Arboretum's Pacific Connections Garden on Thursday, Oct. 11, at 11:30 a.m. Public participation is welcome.
Celebrants will shake gourd rattles as they accompany a carved cedar column that will be transported across the Arboretum and used to support the planned Pacific Connections interpretive shelter. Community leaders, public officials, volunteers, neighbors and school children are among those who will participate.
The groundbreaking follows an Arboretum Foundation fundraising campaign that resulted in a $2 million gift to Seattle Parks and Recreation, which will oversee construction. The Pacific Connections Garden is a key phase of Washington Park Arboretum's 20-year plan for renewal and includes five vignette gardens featuring plants of Pacific Rim regions, a welcoming meadow, trails and an interpretive shelter. This is the first new garden at Washington Park Arboretum in more than two decades.
The Pacific Connections Garden is the latest phase of the Arboretum Master Plan. This plan is a new, 20-year, comprehensive plan to renew Washington Park Arboretum, its plant collections, grounds, visitor amenities, education resources and facilities. The plan was developed with extensive community participation and is designed to fulfill the Arboretum's mission of conservation, education and recreation in the decades ahead. The Pacific Connections Garden features native plants of Southeast Australia, New Zealand, China, Chile and Cascadia (Pacific Northwest).
The celebratory parade will begin at the Arboretum's Rhododendron Glen and proceed to the Pacific Connections Garden site near the intersection of Arboretum Drive East and Lake Washington Boulevard. Parking is available at the Graham Visitors Center, 2300 Arboretum Drive, and at some small lots along the northern section of Arboretum Drive and on Foster Island Road.
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