Freeway Park

Freeway Park, officially Jim Ellis Freeway Park, is an urban park in Seattle that links downtown to the Seattle Convention Center and First Hill. It sits over Interstate 5 and a city-owned parking lot, with 8th Avenue bridging above. Designed by Lawrence Halprin's office under Angela Danadjieva, the 5.2-acre park blends brutalist concrete architecture with lush greenery. Opened on July 4, 1976, it cost $23.5 million to build; an expansion adding a stairway and wheelchair ramp onto First Hill came in 1982. The park is a recognized cultural landscape and a precedent-setting urban space that helped define a new land-use typology for American cities. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2019 and declared a Seattle Landmark in 2022. Its striking architecture has made it a world-famous spot for parkour enthusiasts—the World Freerunning and Parkour Federation ranked it second among the seven best parkour locations globally. Visitors can explore the unusual mix of structures and greenery, enjoy the elevated views, and experience a unique slice of Seattle's urban design.