Mediaboss Marketing

(Images with permission to CHS)

The Black Lives Memorial Garden has been cleared from Capitol Hills Cal Anderson Park.

Seattle Police blocked off streets as city crews cleared the gardens structures and plots from the fenced-off area on the south end of the park on Wednesday morning of the quiet holiday week.

There were no reports of garden supporters or protesters during the work and no reported arrests. The garden was established by volunteers and demonstrators during the Black Lives Matter and CHOP protest in the summer of 2020.

In October, the parks department pulled back on plans to remove the garden as crews faced off with garden supporters and the Black Star Farmersorganizers.

Seattle Parks has maintained the garden needed to be removed for a planned turf restoration project in the parks grass bowl area that officials said is needed to host gatherings and large events as part of its intentional design as a natural amphitheater and proximity to electrical and water hook-ups. Seattle Parks says it has offered to work with the group that helped shape the initial garden and that stewarded the space over the years to relocate the garden in the park or move it to another location including a space behind the Rainier Community Center.

Black Star Farmers said the garden should remain where it was created in June 2020. Forceful displacement of community projects like BLMG is consistent with violent state projects like imperialism, colonization, and gentrification, the group said in its call to action asking for public support against moving the garden.

Earlier this month, two people were reported arrested in a conflict with police as a homeless encampment was cleared from the other end of the park. In November, cops and a clearance crew moved campers out of the Black Lives Memorial Garden area.

Community groups involved in reshaping Cal Andersons uses in the wake of CHOP have spoken out against the citys decision and the Cal Anderson Park Alliancecommunity group says it did not ask for the city to restore the amphitheater bowl grass.

UPDATE: The parks department has issued a statement on the removal and says encampments were also cleared:

BECOME A CHS SUBSCRIBER Subscribe to CHS to help us pay writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. Become a subscriber at$1/$5/$10 a month.

Read the original post:
City clears Black Lives Memorial Garden from Cal Anderson Park - CHS Capitol Hill Seattle News