Once Littered And Scary, Cowen Park Is Reborn

RAVENNA NEIGHBORS got tired of the drug-dealing and noise and worked with the Parks Department, police and social-service agencies to clean up their park. Now it's a haven for children, and the neighborhood has reclaimed it.

The birds chirp, the grass is green and children play on the multicolored jungle gym.

A year ago, the sights and sounds of Cowen Park were gun shots, drug deals and scattered litter.

Neighbors surrounding the park in the Ravenna area of North Seattle complained of noise and trash, pointing the finger at transients who lived and slept in the park.

Frustrated, neighbors decided to do something about the problem. With help from police, city officials and city workers, the park has made a 180-degree turn. The drug dealers are gone. Children attend a day camp there.

The change was major, but it wasn't easy.

Conga drums could be heard throughout the night, neighbors say, and they watched drug deals from their porches and windows. Vans and campers, filled with people, would park around the perimeter of the park and stay for months. Trash was discarded on the street and park grounds.

"Last year was a nightmare," said Sue Baker, chairwoman of the Roosevelt Neighborhood Association's parks and open spaces committee. "I don't think we could have gone through another season like that."

Baker said she would see at least two drug deals while walking her dog through the park and often spotted people shooting up. Loose dogs chased children away and the transients taunted and threatened passersby.

"It was a hostile takeover," she said. "It was `We are going to take this over, and you go find your own park.' "

In the 18 years Baker has lived in her home, a block and a half away, she knew homeless youth slept in the park, but had never seen it turn into a meeting place or mixing area for transients.

"This was not a homeless problem," she said. "It was so dangerous that even the homeless people finally left."

Baker, who was then president of the neighborhood association, called a meeting at Roosevelt High School for community members to voice their concerns to city officials and propose solutions. More than 100 people attended, far surpassing Baker's expectations.

The neighborhood association formed a subcommittee, Friends of Cowen Park, to voice citizen concerns and demands. They wanted more police supervision, along with a clean and groomed park. And they wanted the homeless teenagers, who had been uprooted, to have a place to stay.

The Parks Department, Police Department, City Council and social-services agencies were called upon to help - and they answered.

"The community was watching to see if we'd do anything and I think we've come through for them, with them right at our side," said Margaret Anthony, director of the Seattle Parks Department North Division.

In February, Parks Department maintenance crews tore out shrubs that lined the park's perimeter and hid illegal activity.

Graffiti is now painted over the day it is found or the next day, Anthony said, and new vegetation has been planted.

Police made patrolling Seattle parks a priority, said Officer Deb Pelich. A mobile precinct - in the form of a large van - allows officers to patrol parks on foot and bike.

New playground equipment and lighting were recently installed.

The basement of the restrooms building, which was being used to store maintenance equipment, was cleaned up and is being used this summer for the Ravenna Eckstein Community Center nature day camp. Anthony said with 40 children on the grounds for six hours a day, the park no longer is a comfortable environment for illegal behavior.

"More of us are all working together," Pelich said. "And the community knows what we're doing. That's what's paramount."

Community members and city officials met with the University District Youth Center to discuss the needs for shelter and services for the homeless youth.

"We knew that by cleaning up the park we would be displacing these teens," Anthony said. "We wanted to think holistically about all of this and not just think, `Oh, too bad.' "

Since the cleanup, the youth have not returned to the park, having found other places to sleep.

"This proves the point we've been making all along in that what's needed is coordination of the departments and focusing of the resources," said Seattle City Councilman Nick Licata, chairman of the parks committee.

But perhaps most importantly, neighbors surrounding the park once again feel safe and at home.

"It is 100 percent better," said one neighbor, who asked to remain anonymous. "There's no reason why anyone can't use that park, including the homeless and the vagrants, as long as they use the same rules everyone else obeys."

Sara Gonzalez's phone message number is 206-748-5811. Her e-mail address is sgonzalez@seattletimes.com