A
Community project to rebuild Flo Ware Park into a safe neighborhood
playground and community gathering place, commemorating the
life-long works of Flo Ware, a black community activist, in the Leschi
community and Central District of Seattle, Washington
The plans to improve the park are designed to attract larger
and more diverse groups of people to this underutilized park through enhancement
of safety, maintenance, and design features.
Rededication of Flo Ware Park - Saturday May 8th, 1pm-5pm
Program 1pm-2pm
Black History Month Celebration - Saturday, Feb
28th, 1pm
Neighborhood Grand Opening of Flo Ware Park -
January 31st 11am-1pm
New Park to Open Soon!
Pictures of the Park Progress - November 2003
New
Park Plan!
Neighborhood
Celebration to receive $250,000 from
Pro
Parks Levy Opportunity Funds
We have received an
additional $20,000 from Safeco - thanks ever so much for supporting Flo
Ware Park and the community.
More
about the design for Flo Ware Park
"Flo
Ware (1912-1981) was the quintessential activist, known in
Seattle for raising a strong and logical voice on behalf of
children, the elderly, and the poor. After her death,
there was an outpouring of feeling from the Central Area
community that she be memorialized. In 1982, the small urban
park on the southeast corner of 28th Avenue S and South
Jackson Street was named in her honor."
(from
Mary T. Henry Article) "Flo
Ware was black, and she was there to speak of justice for
black people. She spoke of her cause in articulate fashion,
telling it like it is, to the discomfort of many a powerful
public figure."
(from
Carl Heller letter, 1982)
"Many people have values. Her strength was that she
believed in her values enough to act on them. In some societies, such a person
would be considered dangerous."
(Bob Royer)
More
about Flo Ware
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Flo Ware Park has been in disrepair for
some years. The principal behind the project to rebuild Flo Ware
Park has been that the more ideas
and participation from the community, the more genuinely the new design will represent the desires
and vision of the neighborhood. See
how we're doing on raising the funds to rebuild Flo Ware Park.
There are many ways
that you can help.
After more than a year of planning
and consultation with the neighborhood, we have an approved plan, and
are moving into the next phase: finding the money to pay for the
renovation. Friends of Flo Ware Park have begun raising the needed
funds, which are estimated to total about $500,000. The committee
has applied for several grants. See
how we're doing with grants!
Success in attracting grants will be
gauged by the level of community participation in giving towards this
project. Than means that every $5, $10 or $20 gift or more is
counted as participation by the community. Whatever amount of giving
you can do will make a big difference! Let's make Leschi an even
better neighborhood for children. Please participate in this
project.
Donation
Form
"Flo Ware was known
to be a very secure person with little interest in material possessions,
but her concern for the less fortunate caused her to spend countless hours
on their behalf. She represented Seattle in numerous national conferences
on programs from Head Start to projects in support of the aged. She served
on innumerable national and local boards and received over 75 awards for
her community work.
"She was an
organizer of the Central Area School Board and the Foster Parent
Association. She spearheaded the Meals on Wheels Program for the elderly
and from 1968 to 1979 had a radio talk show on KRAB. She also
started the Central Area Senior Center."
(from
Mary T. Henry Article)
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