As an open, public space in the middle of the densest neighborhood in the Pacific Northwest, Cal Anderson sometimes requires a little boost here and there to keep the park a great place to hang out in the city.
This year, the park is getting a ping pong table. The new feature makes its debut Wednesday night with a special exhibition of paddling skills:
Cal Anderson Ping Pong in the Park Day
Wednesday, June 3, 2015 — 5 to 7 PM
Cal Anderson Park Alliance is proud to be hosting a series of exhibition matches as WE WELCOME PING PONG TO CAL ANDERSON PARK. This will be the DEBUT of the latest and greatest addition to the park — a ping pong table! So, make a night of it. Bring the whole family, friends, dogs, kids and a picnic basket. We will also have snacks, drinks, as well as special balloons and games for kids.After the exhibition starring the Seattle University Table Tennis Club, the table will be open to public players. We encourage the pros to play with the public. FREE FUN FOR EVERYONE!
According to a representative for the Cal Anderson Park Alliance, the community group purchased the same style of outdoor table installed in Westlake Park last year. The table will be located on the cement area next to Cal Anderson’s restrooms and shelterhouse. Paddles and balls will be provided by CAPA if you’d like to play, or you can bring your own. The group is also planning to replenish the gear over the course of the summer.
The table joins a string of investments small and large in recent years to help keep the park busy with activities and make it harder for criminal activity or camping to take place.
Last year, in addition to a new concierge position to monitor the park, the city added patio furniture to the bathroom area where drug activity is frequently reported. The Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce is also working on a new lighting plan to try to make the park safer at night.
In the meantime, the summer events schedule is already underway in the park. Memorial Day Weekend brought a Garden Party Theater art event to Cal Anderson. The schedule for the annual Three Dollar Bill Outdoor Cinema series will be announced soon and Pride events will fill the park several times in June. Meanwhile, the Capitol Hill Garage Sale Day community lot will return to Cal Anderson again in 2015 — but not until August with the new date for the annual event.
Artist Paul Kuniholm Pauper’s Memorial Day Friday Garden Party (Images: CHS)
The Seattle Parks busker program has also returned to Cal Anderson and other area parks. Here’s a look at the upcoming schedule:
Buskers continued 12-2 Freeway Park: Kathleen Winters. 4-6pm at Cal Anderson Park: Ben Smith. #Seattle #live #music
— SeattleParksBuskers (@SeattleBuskers) June 3, 2015
As for the ping pong, here’s hoping the new table is more functional than this one. If you need to practice in the meantime, you can also stop by the Bullitt Center’s outdoor table at 15th and Madison.
That’s a very nice addition to the park. And I give it about 2 weeks before it’s completely trashed beyond all recognition, used a sleeping pad, and covered in graffiti and trash. Just kidding. I think.
That area by the restrooms in Cal Anderson is the Sun around which the Planets of Sketch orbit.
How does one get on the busker schedule? (And why only 2 hours a day for the whole park?)
Interesting idea.
Unfortunately, kidding or not, Roberto’s prediction, with the addition of human feces smeared all over it, is likely to happen.
Giving the community a reason to congregate in the area to reclaim it as a public space from the sketchy drug addicts is the point of locating it there. Hopefully it will help. In addition, Seattle needs to enforce the law against camping and shooting up drugs in the parks. Having great parks is an essential element of a dense, vibrant urban neighborhood. Instead Seattle has an unwritten policy of pushing social problems out of retail districts and into the urban parks. Europeans, Canadians, and pretty much any visitor from anywhere other than the west coast cities is appalled and dismayed that we tolerate this crap. It isn’t like this other places. I know it is a symptom of our broken American culture. Yes the root causes need to be addressed (lack of mental health care, lack of effective drug rehab programs, an inadequate social safety net, soaring housing costs, a prison system focused on punishment rather than rehabilitation, institutional racism and homophobia), but at the same time we need to keep the sketchy elements moving along. Letting drug addicts and the mentally ill camp in the park for weeks on end is helping no one. It is bad public policy.
Yeah, you’d think that the SPD East Precinct within eyesight of Cal Anderson would be able to accomplish some of those basic law enforcement goals.
But nope.
In addition to the above comments, I find it dismaying that the park grounds have deteriorated through lack of attention of the Parks Dept. In addition to yearly cleanups by volunteers, appointments were made with maintenance supervisors and walk throughs were done noting puddles and ruts in the walkways, malfunctioning water feature,
polluted wading pool and one of the few benches in the shade found missing , the poor park has suffered through some rough times and I’m hoping folks continue to nurture it. (at least they replaced the bench and I noticed some new gravel on the walks).
Didn’t legitimate Park workers have to physically go over to the East Precinct recently after having called for assistance with an incident there because the police were a no-show? Methinks that priorities have to be sorted out before trying to attract decent people who might really enjoy a ping pong table — those priorities being that people can enjoy the Park without having to fear being robbed, attacked, witnessing somebody shooting up, or being vomited on by some resident low-life.
I was just in Bryant? Park in the middle of NYC and charmed by the ping-pong, the readers’ casual quiet library, I don’t even know how much other stuff. They did seem to have employed people there looking after it. (con: $$!!, pro: employed person, nice park!)
Well said. Why do our police not enforce the laws other than parking tickets on Capitol Hill?
Why can’t we get the police who are based one block away to simply walk on foot around our neighborhood? Why won’t our police engage with our citizens as part of our community to serve our needs?
Mystic….there are foot and bike officers in the park every day. Your anger needs to be directed at the city attorney’s office. You could have 100 cops in the park at all times. Every one of them could take enforcement action. If that enforcement action is not followed up on it becomes a joke. We’ve reached that point in Seattle.
They do walk the park and around the neighborhood. I have seen on several occasions police in the parks enforcing rules. One female officer was taking a verbal beating by several rule-breakers. Her professionalism and ability to remain calm in the situation was impressive.
While violators in the park are rampant, police can’t be in all places at all times with the limited resources placed upon them. They have to choose their battles and i doubt they have little idle time on the job.
It’s rare to go to this park anymore and not witness some kind of scene. The other day I saw a knife fight and several of us called the police. They came but only chatted with a guy who was doing some artwork and left.
They did not even approach the drugged out pile of humans that were fighting.
Thank you Mr Alex for great images of my sculpture Pop Up Memorial Day Weekend! We had a wonderful time, and the park was the PERFECT setting for my artwork. I’d like to thank Seattle Parks staff for helping create this project. And the expectation that the public will ruin the ping pong table is just passive pessimism. If we all participate in the ping pong purification program, it WILL work. The journey of a thousand smiles begins with a single topspin.
I just saw some guys playing beer pong in Cal Anderson this evening on a makeshift table. That gives me hope that the park is finally safe for white males age 25-40 to play alcohol based table games. It’s the gilded age of park recreation, folks.
they should put a Shake Shack in the park
Call 911 to report illegal activity in the park every time you see it. Unfortunately the police department determines staffing and allocation of resources based on the number of 911 calls, so if the community wants better policing on Capitol Hill and in Cal Anderson, we need to demand it. Otherwise the problems are pushed up here from the downtown business district and pioneer square because they are much more vocal.
I WAS THE SEATTLE 18 AND UNDER TABLE TENNIS CHAMP IN 1963. I WILL BE UP TO CAL ANDERSON PARK TO SEE IF I AM STILL CHAMP??? BY THE WAY I GOT BEAT IN THE SEAFAIR TOURNAMENT 21 TO 4 BY A 14 YEAR OLD ASIAN KID FROM VANCOUVER, CANADA IN 1963. ALSO I GOT BEAT 21 TO 4 BY GHANAIAN 14 YEAR OLD GIRL IN TOURNAMENT IN GHANA WEST AFRICA IN1974. THAT WAS VERY DAMAGING TO MY MALE EGO??? I AM HOPING TO RECOVER AND BE BE CHAMP OF CAL ANDERSON PARK . I AM STILL ANGRY ABOUT THOSE TWO EMBARRASSING DEFEATS BUT I CAN’T GIVE UP SO BEWARE??? Omari Tahir-Garrett, VIETNAM VETERAN, WORLD TRAVELER, HISTORY TEACHER AND CANDIDATE FOR SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL POS. 9
Website: OmariForCityCouncil
Website: AFRICATOWN / CHINATOWN NEWS DIGEST