Lee Springgate

A Miracle in Downtown Bellevue Lee Springgate

This is the story of Bellevue's extraordinary Downtown Park. Classic, traditional urban parks that draw inspiration from the great central parks of the world have become increasingly rare--particularly in emerging, edge cities throughout the United States. Bellevue's Downtown Park is the product of extraordinary leadership, innovative financing, creative partnerships and a design for the ages. It has helped define and shape a central business district, while simultaneously influencing the development of an entire park system. It has become a landmark and a source of pride and identity for the entire community. There are very few emerging, suburban cities that have had the foresight to acquire and develop a signature urban park within their downtown core. This book describes how this park was acquired, designed and developed over a period of thirty five years and why this was such a monumental achievement for both the City of Bellevue and the urban park movement within the United States.