SEATTLE — Seattle’s new, elevated waterfront park opens Friday, connecting Pike Place Market, downtown neighborhoods and the waterfront.
Located where part of the Alaskan Way Viaduct once stood, Overlook Walk ? considered by some to be Seattle’s next landmark ? includes a public park complete with benches, amphitheater-style seating, a canopy cover, kids play space and greenery.
The park stretches from the Pike Place MarketFront seating and retail area to the roof of the Seattle Aquarium’s new Ocean Pavilion (a series of tropical exhibits that opened in August) and descends directly with sloped pathways to the waterfront promenade.
Though the park opens Friday, some of its features, like public art installations and a concessions area, are slated to debut later this year or in 2025.
The top of Overlook Walk was once where the Alaskan Way Viaduct carried a portion of Highway 99. Now, Seattleites and visitors can enjoy 360-degree views of the Olympic Mountains, Elliott Bay, Mount Rainier, T-Mobile Park, Lumen Field and downtown Seattle.
The Friends of Waterfront Park is hosting an opening celebration from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday. The free event will feature music from KNKX host Abe Beeson, entertainment including stilt walkers, craft activities like lantern-making, fire pits and food trucks at Overlook Park and Pier 62.
A convertible indoor space that can be opened up during nice weather will eventually provide food and drink options near the Pike Place Market entrance. Down at sea level, two public art pieces will be installed: a large, Coast Salish basket-inspired sculpture by Indigenous artists group the MTK Matriarchs and a kinetic structure playing with light and shadow with puppetlike figures by visual artist Ann Hamilton.
Overlook Walk’s opening marks a significant step in the massive transformation along Seattle’s waterfront, which began in 2017. The whole Waterfront Park project will include 20 acres of public space and is scheduled to be fully complete and open to the public next year.
The price tag for the Overlook Walk is about $70 million, while the budget for the full waterfront development project is over $800 million, paid for by the city, the state, private donors and a special tax on downtown property owners assessed through a local improvement district.
Many of the project’s new sites are already up and running. Among them is Pioneer Square Habitat Beach, which opened last year and offers a sandy, 200-foot-long nature refuge of native plants near Colman Dock. Pier 62, which opened in 2020 and now hosts a full calendar of public events, and Union Street pedestrian bridge, which has provided a shortcut to Seattle’s waterfront since 2022, are also part of the project.
