New Facilities Open on Elliott Bay Trail, Honoring Indigenous Roots
Seattle's newly overhauled Elliott Bay Trail and linear park through Belltown and Uptown is replete with nods to the land's Indigenous Coast Salish heritage. Project architects explained their design touches on a recent media tour commemorating the project opening last week, just in time for the FIFA World Cup.
Indigenous architect Alfred Waugh, of the Chipewyan Nation in the Yukon, principal of the British Columbia-based firm Formline Architecture + Urbanism designed the new amenities building in Centennial Park. Riffing on the Coast Salish longhouse, the building is built of yellow cedar and red cedar, and it hosts a public bathroom, concession space, plenty of covered seating, and a gathering circle with a firepit intended to host salmon bakes.
The Suquamish Tribe was given naming rights on the new amenities building, which they dubbed haʔłali (pronounced roughly: hah-thlah-lee).
“The Suquamish Tribe is happy to take part in celebrating the re-opening of Myrtle Edwards and Centennial Parks and appreciate being part of the design process. Our tribe’s Culture Committee suggested the name haʔłali for the new park building which means ‘the good place’ in Lushootseed, the mother language of Suquamish,” Suquamish Chairman Leonard Forsman said in a statement. “This transformation of the waterfront has indeed made it a good place for reflection, recreation, and learning more about our ancestral waters.”
https://www.theurbanist.org/new-facilities-open-on-elliott-bay-trail-honoring-indigenous-roots/