In April 2023, we bid farewell to the Burke-Gilman Playground, a pleasant and unassuming playground off Sand Point Way.  Just fourteen months later, on June 8, 2024, we joyously welcomed Pathways Park, an innovative, inclusive play area “where fun knows no boundaries.”

Pathways Park is seven years and close to $6 million dollars in the making. It started with a sweet boy named Elijah Del Reischl, born to a family in the Bryant neighborhood: parents Bryan and Paige, and older brothers Jaxon and Wesley.  Eli, who had Down’s syndrome, was known for his big heart and unequivocal love for his fellow humans. His mom, Paige, is oft quoted as proclaiming: “Eli’s superpower was inclusion.”  In fact, his first sentence, done with “his talker” assistant, was “I want to love.”  

From the time he was an infant, Eli attended the Experimental Education Unit (“EEU”), an early childhood school through the University of Washington’s Haring Center in partnership with Seattle Public Schools. Eli attended alongside his typically developing brother, Wesley.  At EEU, the Reischls found an entire community, including many students with disabilities and their families.  They all began to wonder: why had they had never met before EEU?

This wondering led the Reischls and other families to notice how “so many people are simply excluded from community.”  For instance, where the majority of children feel free to go to a nearby playground, library, or park, there are simultaneously many others who do not feel safe and included in these public spaces.  Exclusion is not always intentional, but it certainly exists, even in places designed for everyone.   And these families wanted to do something about it. Paige smiles, “selfishly, we wanted to make the world better for Eli.”

The community zeroed in on an inclusive park, noting that “nature is where we build our best community.”   And, as Paige describes, a “‘best community’ can’t exist if there are groups of people missing from it.”  From this concept of inclusion, “Eli’s Park Project” was born.  The group may have been inspired by their desire to include “people with disabilities, especially physical disabilities,” but it quickly realized how many other marginalized groups have been excluded from community.

Through their outreach, Paige and the team “kept hearing that outdoor places aren’t safe for whole communities of people, like the LBGTQ community and teens of color.”  Paige succinctly explains, “we can’t think about ableism without thinking about racism. If we don’t hold space for the multiple identities that people have, then we can’t really create meaningful change.”   From these conversations, the group started to broaden their understanding of “inclusion.”

Eli passed away just shy of his fourth birthday, and by then Eli’s Park Project was a force. Through the Magnuson Community Center, seven young black teenage women “just kept showing up” and rapidly became teen advisors to the inclusive park project.   They empathized with the EEU families’ uncertainty about showing up in the world. Paige describes the philosophy as, “oh you’re not sure how you’ll be treated in the world? We understand that.”  

The group worked with “genius” landscape architects from SiteWorkshop. Paige recalls how this “incredible team” brainstormed, created, and designed with the community at the center throughout the entire process. She respects how they "made draft after draft and would always bring the design back to the community and the message back to inclusion. They would even show up to meetings and conferences talking about the importance of love in landscape architecture.” One reason this park is so special is because of the way SiteWorkshop led the project by listening.   

These teen advisors. landscape architects, and EEU families partnered with the City of Seattle, the Seattle Parks Foundation, and countless individual supporters. Funds were raised, awareness was heightened, and momentum gained- all to eventually unveil Pathways Park.

As you explore the new, pristine area, it becomes clear that very little about Pathways Park is a coincidence. Even its location is notable. Pathways Park is nestled in a cul-de-sac surrounded by housing designed for low-income families, close to Seattle Children’s’ rehabilitation department and the Ronald McDonald House.

Poetically, the park features two pathways that intertwine and cross over on their way to various features- because there is always more than one way to get to a destination. One path provides an easily accessible route no matter one’s physical abilities, while the other path sets forth a more challenging approach. The paths lead to “pockets of play” designed for every single body and types of play. There are swings, sure— in addition to a typical swing, there are swings that hold more weight or multiple bodies for those who need a caregiver to partake. There are spaces for spinning, climbing, and sliding of all abilities. There are places for respite when the stimulation of active park play becomes too much. Overarching it all, Pathways Park contains thoughtfully developed sensory experiences, including a sensory garden that is open to visitors touching, tasting, and smelling the plants enveloping them. The garden will feature a “berry-filled walk and a perennial garden.”

As intended, Pathways Park is inclusive beyond physical differences.  For instance, Paige shares a touching vignette from the opening ceremony party.   The DJ and their wife, who identify as part of the queer community, were moved by the presence of the rainbow snags (large oak trees that have been treated with rainbow collars) that you can see from the road. Paige describes, “the DJ said, with tears in their eyes, ‘it’s clear that we belong here, too.’”   When you explore the park, you cannot miss the gorgeous art pieces and carefully selected quotes. These pieces leave no doubt that, as Paige says, “this is a space for everyone.”

In exchange for creating this historic celebration of humanity, the teams of people who tirelessly advocated for this park have one simple request: “We hope you'll come as you are— and accept everyone as they are.”