Why does the city continue to deny use of this downtown Olympia space?
A recent request by a homeless services group to use Artesian Commons, a downtown Olympia park shut off from the public since 2018, has again forced the city to answer why there are no real plans in sight for the space.
Instead, the park remains surrounded by chain-link fence.
Walker Stephens is the founder of Ho Ho Hobos, a “seasonal outreach project,” that entails selling Christmas wreaths made by people experiencing homelessness. All the proceeds go directly to the makers.
Late last month, Stephens emailed the city’s parks director Paul Simmons asking permission to use Artesian Commons for the project this year and was denied.
Use of other public space would be OK, such as Percival Landing, Simmons told him, but that’s not what Stephens wants.
Artesian Commons on Fourth Avenue East started out as a parking lot in downtown, and it’s also the site of the historic Artesian well built more than 100 years ago. In an effort to save the well and manage the activities that occurred in the space better, the city purchased the lot and turned it into a park in 2014.
In response to an inquiry from The Olympian on Oct. 7, Simmons said the city had invested many resources into keeping the space safe and clean, but it essentially became “a failing and unsafe park.” The park was often staffed with rangers and park ambassadors, and events were held frequently to keep the general public interested in the space.
Simmons said ongoing challenges at the park included sex trafficking, drug use and dealing, vandalism and more. At one point several parks employees allegedly received death threats from people who frequented the park, which led to the space being closed in 2018. Simmons said the city was spending more than $250,000 a year to keep up the space.
Stephens responded to Simmons on Oct. 4 and said they were denied use of the closed-off park last year, too. But the reason was there wasn’t an “appropriate amount of time to execute successfully,” according to the email. Stephens said he figured asking the city in August about a project slated for December would have been enough time this year, so he questioned the validity of last year’s reasoning.
“It’s very disappointing that your department will not consider using publicly owned infrastructure for public good, and instead want to see it remain a locked, disused blight on our community,” Stephens wrote.
Ho Ho Hobos has taken place at Percival Landing in previous years, but it isn’t an ideal location, Stephens said. With little coverage and security, the group has to haul in wreaths and equipment and pack it all back up at the end of the day, just to repeat the process the next day.
“The past two years this process has completely exhausted our organizing capacity, needlessly tapped all our volunteer resources, and significantly impacted our ability to do the important work,” Stephens said.
Simmons told The Olympian that the city is “very supportive” of repurposing the park and reopening the space, but only when the city has had a chance to think it all through. He said there is currently a budget enhancement request for 2023 that would support city staff in the planning process.
Simmons said it’s difficult to work out partnerships with Ho Ho Hobos because they’re not a formal organization and don’t meet some requirements for permitting commercial activities in city parks. But he wants to see them succeed and is open to discussing another location other than Percival Landing or Artesian Commons.
Stephens wrote he felt the city’s attempts at working with them still feel disingenuous, after continuously being denied access to some public spaces for a project that brings good to the community. He said in the past, when they’ve been denied permission for places, they’ve set up anyway. They haven’t ruled that out as an option for this year, but they’d like to work it out with the city instead.
“What we’re trying to do is make wreaths during the holiday season; we’re not trying to be difficult or confrontational,” Stephens wrote. “But unfortunately, we’ve also learned, through years of experience, that we have to assert ourselves in order to do our work.”
This story was originally published October 13, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
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