Landscape Information
Located on the corner of Main and Second Street in Seattle’s Pioneer Square neighborhood, the privately funded vest pocket park was completed in 1978. The design by Sasaki, Dawson, DeMay followed the successes at Greenacre Park and Robert Zion’s revolutionary Paley Park. Masao Kinoshita of the Sasaki office served as the primary designer, the same role he played on Greenacre Park.
The compact design is a modern interpretation of a Japanese garden. It was created to commemorate the birthplace of the United Parcel Service (UPS) and is managed today by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Unlike its New York City predecessors, which are only open on one side, the Waterfall Garden is visually open on two sides through a simple iron fence which also doubles as support for a canopy sheltering the garden’s upper-level perimeter. There are two primary elevations with the upper level providing intimate seating spaces, myriad water displays such as pools, cascades, and canals, along with granite benches, and moveable chairs and tables. The central feature is a dramatic 22-foot high waterfall constructed of natural granite boulders. The Annie E. Casey Foundation was created in 1948 by UPS founder Jim Casey and his siblings to honor their mother.
