Gas Works Park

Gas Works Park occupies about 20 acres on the south edge of Wallingford, a land mass the City of Seattle says projects 400 feet into Lake Union with 1,900 linear feet of shoreline. The Seattle Gas Light Company opened a gasification plant here in 1906. Natural gas arrived in 1956 and the plant shut down later that year. The city bought the land for a park in 1962.

Landscape architect Richard Haag designed the park and reused the industrial towers instead of clearing them. It opened to the public in 1975. Seattle designated it a city landmark, and the National Register of Historic Places listed the park in 2013. The towers remain part of the Lake Union skyline.

Seattle Parks warns that lake sediment here contains hazardous substances. Swimming, fishing, wading, and launching boats from the park are prohibited. A play barn, kite hill, and sundial sit above the old works, and the Burke-Gilman Trail runs past the parking lot. The sources below are a Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board briefing and the Parks page.