It’s been almost half a century since Jimi Hendrix passed away. And now after several delays, a 2.5 acre park in the Seattle Central District neighborhood where Hendrix grew up is being developed. Currently, the City of Seattle and EERG Inc. are seeking a construction contract.
The plan for the site, which is near the Northwest African American Museum, will feature paths and plantings that, from above, look slightly like a guitar. The first phase will include “a new stairway and grand entrance at the southeast corner of the park, paved pathways, a chronological timeline of Hendrix’s life and career, rain infiltration gardens, a butterfly garden, and a performance plaza,” reported Curbed Seattle.
The second phase will include features like a performance space and a “sound wave wall” with silhouettes of Hendrix.
The Jimi Hendrix Park Foundation and the Friends of Jimi Hendrix have raised over $1 million dollars and were given $500,000 through the Seattle Parks and Green Levy Opportunity Fund Grant. “The importance of having a park about Jimi is really about honoring and memorializing him as a musician, and as an artist,” said Janie L. Hendrix, Jimi’s sister and director of the Jimi Hendrix Park Foundation. “He’s given so much to the world, which we continue to enjoy and listen to.”
