Originally published October 19, 2007 at 12:00 AM | Page modified October 19, 2007 at 2:04 AM
Land buy to double size of Hing Hay Park
Hing Hay Park, the most prominent gathering spot in Seattle's Chinatown International District, will double in size under a deal announced...
Seattle Times staff reporter
Hing Hay Park, the most prominent gathering spot in Seattle's Chinatown International District, will double in size under a deal announced Thursday by Mayor Greg Nickels.
Dewey Potter, a spokeswoman for Seattle Parks and Recreation, said the city is purchasing a parcel immediately west of Hing Hay Park from David and Karen Wong for $3.1 million. The deal is expected to close by the end of the year.
Money from Seattle's Pro Parks Levy and King County's Conservation Futures Levy was used to acquire the property on the northeast corner of Sixth Avenue South and South King Street, Potter said.
After the deal closes, the city will work with the community on developing the site, she said.
The U.S. Postal Service operates a station there that many elderly residents rely on. City officials say they've committed to keeping a post office in the neighborhood even as they expand Hing Hay Park.
"The City and I thank the Wong family for their willingness to sell the property to expand the park," Nickels said in a statement. "Hing Hay is an important and vital gathering place for this growing neighborhood, and with this additional land, the park will be able to grow along with the community."
The park has been a popular square for both Lunar New Year lion dances and political protests. Drug dealers and prostitutes have been known to frequent the park as well, and city officials say they hope to address that problem by having a visible presence of downtown park rangers.
The rangers would ride bicycles through downtown, be knowledgeable about the history of the parks and be able to radio police if they observed violent crime.
Nickels' proposed budget would pay for six rangers, along with surveillance cameras in Hing Hay, Victor Steinbrueck Park and Occidental Square, Potter said.
Nickels sought money for rangers last year, too, but the City Council nixed that in favor of hiring more police.
Sanjay Bhatt: 206-464-3103 or sbhatt@seattletimes.com
Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company
NEW - 12:17 AM
Big demand, grim outlook for state Basic Health Plan
Flood fears dampen business, home sales
Nicole Brodeur: Homeless woman bent on giving
Portland cafe's specialty: medical-marijuana tokes
Thousands of tax-refund checks undeliverable

PNW Magazine | Easy As Pie
A little friendly competition between professional pie-baker Kate McDermott and The Seatttle Times' Kathleen Triesch Saul is handled with great taste.
- Illegal workers quietly let go
- Sprouts, raw fish on attorney's 'do not eat' list
- Jerry Brewer | Jerry Brewer: Seahawks can't lean on the Hutch Crutch now
- Woman stabbed by stranger in North Seattle
- Tattoos at Mill Creek church pierce skin, soul
- UW, WSU once again meet to see who's worse
- Food-safety lawyer's wish: Put me out of business
- Husky Football Blog | Ranking the Pac
- Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
- Tugboat sinks at Seattle waterfront pier
- Illegal workers quietly let go
408 - Climate change speeds up since 1997 Kyoto accord
215 - Metro won't cut bus service after all
160 - New Husky recruit: Enes Kanter
106 - Bellevue residents blast new bikini espresso stand
96 - Middleton says Huskies "plan on scoring at least 50 points'' Saturday
86 - Tattoos at Mill Creek Church pierce skin, soul
85 - Seattle woman charged with knife attack on boyfriend's ex
77 - Jerry Brewer: Seahawks can't lean on the Hutch Crutch now
75 - Senate Democrats split on health bill's fate
58
- Sprouts, raw fish on attorney's 'do not eat' list
- Tattoos at Mill Creek church pierce skin, soul
- Food-safety lawyer's wish: Put me out of business
- Illegal workers quietly let go
- Architects, chefs find 'kid' within to build Gingerbread Village
- Rediscovering Moab, 'the most beautiful place on Earth'
- Hutch gets $10M from Bezos family for immunotherapy research
- UW, WSU once again meet to see who's worse
- Children in home day care watching hours of TV, study says
- Taste | The Great Pie Bake-off pits friends and fruit





