Advocates say the demolition will affect a structure which architects “around the world recognize as a precedent-setting project for postindustrial parks.”
SEATTLE — The city of Seattle has begun preparation for limited demolition at Gas Works Park’s historic industrial towers, according to a spokesperson.
Seattle Parks and Recreation spokesperson Christina Hirsch told KING 5 Wednesday that “we are beginning mobilization today,” adding that the work is in early stages and will not be especially visible until next week. Video of Gas Works Park taken on Wednesday did not indicate that any removal had yet begun, nor were crews obviously visible.
The project involves the selective removal of piping, catwalks, ladders and support systems from tower structures within the park, according to city records.
A structural engineer hired by Parks concluded the identified appurtenances lack structural integrity and that removing them would not affect the stability of the towers themselves, according to Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections spokesperson Bryan Stevens.
SDCI filed — and was subsequently granted — a hazard correction order requiring the city to address the issue by May 15.
In response, Parks applied for a partial demolition permit March 31 and sought approval from the Landmarks Preservation Board on April 1.
“The Board tabled its decision and reiterated its repeated requests for more information that SPR continues to not provide after five meetings with the Board since last September,” a spokesperson for Historic Seattle said.
Under city law, limited removal of landmark features can proceed without board approval if necessary to address urgent health and safety risks and if other options have been exhausted, Stevens said.
Advocates say the board’s concerns draw from its desire to preserve late designer and University of Washington professor Richard Haag’s work, considered among architects to be a premier example of landscape architecture, a design principle that focuses on creating places that are both “meaningful and functional,” according to the UW.
Haag, a former Bainbridge Island resident who died in 2018, was acclaimed for his “innovative environmental and ecological design solutions,” the UW said.
He was a recipient of the American Society of Landscape Architect’s President’s Award for Design Excellence for his work at Gas Works Park.
“In preserving many of the structures of the old gas plant, Haag designed one of the first postindustrial parks commemorating the industrial past,” writes a UW blog author. “As Haag advocated his vision for the park, the public slowly came to appreciate the towers of the plant as modern sculptures. Landscape architects around the world recognize Gas Works Park as a precedent-setting project for postindustrial parks.”
Wednesday’s action follows years of incidents tied to the towers. An ongoing lawsuit against the city cites three deaths and at least 11 serious injuries from falls since 2008.
That includes the July 2025 death of 15-year-old Mattheis Johnson, who fell about 50 feet from the structures.
His family filed a nuisance lawsuit against the city, arguing officials knew the towers posed a danger but failed to act.
“You have an attractive nuisance,” said attorney Karen Koehler, who represents the family. “This structure is decrepit and falling apart.”
The May 15 deadline comes weeks before the city is scheduled to be in court in that case.
Koehler said the city is acting only now because of legal pressure.
“It could have done this a long time ago, decades in fact,” she said. “The city is now trying to hurry up. And I think, try to get this work done before the hearing, so it doesn’t have egg on its face.”
Preservation advocates are also raising concerns about the process.
Historic Seattle said the city may be bypassing the Landmarks Preservation Board by invoking an emergency safety exception.
“The timing of the hazard correction order is suspicious,” the group said in a statement. “These appurtenances do NOT in and of themselves pose a hazard or imminent threat. Trespassing is an illegal act. The City seems more motivated to make a lawsuit go away than to be a good steward of its landmarks.”
Some parkgoers questioned whether removing parts of the towers will stop people from climbing them.
“People who want to get on top of these things always will,” one visitor said.
City officials maintain the work is necessary to address what they describe as an imminent safety risk.
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