Inclusion in the Olmsted System of Parks & Boulevards

Denny Blaine Park (as it is now named) is referenced as the water terrace at the North End of Denny Blain-Lake Park in a revised preliminary draft of the 1903 Olmsted Report, sent near the end of July 1903 from John Charles Olmsted to E. F. Blaine, Chairman of the Board of Park Commissioners. In that report, the water terrace location serves as an anchor-point where the proposed pleasure drive running northward along Lake Washington from Bailey Peninsula (Seward Park) then transitions to lead northwest towards Washington Park (rising up through what is now Lakeview Park). Olmsted further recommended “all the land between these streets and the lake in the Denny-Blaine subdivision should be acquired [by the city]”; where these streets refers to the length of 39th Ave (the street “next west of the lake”) as shown in the 1901 plat.^[7] The park (water terrace) is included in the 1908 map of the Olmsted System of Parks, Boulevards and Playgrounds^[8] and the 1928 map of the Seattle Park System.^[9]

The 1909 Annual Report by the Board of Park Commissioners, which celebrated the history of the Park Board since its founding in 1884 and success to date implementing the 1903 and 1908 Olmsted reports, included Denny Blaine Park in their list of fully improved parks. The same report also honored the service of retired commissioner Blaine, “father of the Seattle Park System,” who had served from 1902 to 1908.^[10]

In 2016, Denny Blaine Park was added to the National Register of Historic Places as part of the multiple property submission for Seattle's Olmsted Parks and Boulevards (1903–68).^[11]

Features

The seawall with a wharf either pre-existed or was built shortly thereafter (by 1903), with records of maintenance (only) being provided by the parks department in a 1908 letter and reports through 1916. Additional features evidently included a boat facility, an oval shaped lagoon with narrow passage to the lake, a small rustic shelter, and paths, lawn, and landscaping.^[12]

In 1917, the water level dropped by 9 feet after the anticipated Montlake Cut connecting Lake Washington to South Lake Union was completed, leaving the seawall "high and dry" with a gently sloping beach that became usable after removing exposed debris and smoothing. The seawall remains today as reminder to the original shoreline, and the beach area is reached via the two sets of stairs that had been built into the seawall as depicted on the original plat of 1901.^[13][14]

Around the time Whitney Place was renamed, the turnaround was paved as part of an L.I.D. project.^[15]

It is said the actor John Wayne rented the house to the South, and, due to people peeping over the wall, a hedge was put in running along the South border of the park, above the lower beach levels.

Much of a renovation completed in 2004 involved the large middle bed just above the shoreline.

Neighborhood Park vs. City-wide Public Park usage

During the 1930s, after the beach began attracting use from those outside of the neighborhood and because the Park Board could not find monies for a lifeguard at this small beach, the Ostranders and other near-by eminent neighbors (“a veritable “who’s who” of Old Seattle”) filed complaints with the Parks Board and urged that bathing be prohibited. They even provided a sketch for a proposed sign that stated, “NO SWIMMING OR PICNICING (Parks Dept.) / Violators will be arrested” and listed alternate parks as "Madison Public Beach (1 mile) / Madrona Public Beach (1 mile)". The Park Superintendent rejected posting the sign and refused to disallow public bathing. Such refusal to treat Whitman Place as a neighborhood park (similar to a refused request by neighbors of Madrona Park) is consistent not only with the founding intention of Denny and Blaine, but also that park was maintained by public funds and that (as of 1932) the park had been transferred to Park jurisdiction.^[25]

Top-free and naked usage

Prior to 1990, the Seattle Police Department would periodically issue citations under a then-current lewd conduct ordinance (City of Seattle 12A.10.070), though many continued with their top-free or even naked usage as a form of self-expression or even protest. In 1988, in an article titled “The Cops and The Tops,” the Seattle Weekly reported that police were citing nude sunbathers at Denny-Blaine beach for “lewd conduct” for the second year in a row. “For many women, it’s a matter of pride, and of gender politics, so they have continued to swim shirtless despite the tickets and the police patrols,” the article says.^[26]

After the city dropped the lewd conduct ordinance in 1990 following a ruling against them in Seattle v. Johnson,^[27] simply being top-free or even fully naked in public was no longer illegal conduct — despite frustrations periodically expressed through neighborhood community associations or via direct calls to the police.^[28]

Create a play area for neighborhood children (proposed)

On November 9, 2023 Seattle Parks and Recreation announced a proposal to create a small play area in Denny Blaine Park for neighborhood children, to be fully funded by an anonymous donor.

During the presentation of this proposal to the Board of Seattle Parks and Recreation Commissioners, the following beneficial factors were cited: 1) availability of funding; 2) this area has one of the most significant gaps in play area coverage throughout the city of Seattle, defined by the ability to walk within 15 minutes; 3) it supports the youth initiative priority; 4) it addresses a nature deficit; and 5) it increases accessibility to the shoreline.^[29]

At the same time, the following challenges were also cited: 1) the site is currently used as a clothing optional (nudist) park; 2) the site is a historic Olmsted park, with classical forms that are reminiscent of Olmstead design; 3) the site would require improvements to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA); 4) the city would be obligated to reimburse the donor if the project is started but not completed, with the city then bearing the cost of all funds expended; and additional factors then raised during discussion: 5) there is limited shoreline access, so why put a kids area at this one (vs. at Madrona Beach); 6) the park has a long tradition of use by the LGBTQA+ community along with other clothing-optional users who will object to being displaced; and 7) the park serves the entire city, not just the neighborhood. An additional factor not addressed during the proposal presentation is what would be required to make the proposed play area compliant with regulations related to child safety (beyond ADA compliance), such as: lifeguards or other protection to keep young children from wandering into an exposed body of water, and structural changes to prevent children from playing on and falling off of the historic seawall which has an inviting wide ledge but a fall height of 6 feet on the lake-side of the wall.^[30]

During the presentation, the staff from the Parks department noted the next step is to gather community input before moving into planning. The attending commissioners stressed to the Parks Department that gathering this feedback was very important, including from the current users of the park.^[31]

As anticipated by the Commissioners, the proposed play area is generating a strong outcry from the LGBTQA+ community and others who value continued clothing-optional use at Denny Blaine Park. This response has included creating a Save Denny Blaine! information website, a petition to Halt the Construction of a Children's Play Area at Denny Blaine Park, and a Save Denny Blaine website page to contact elected officials.^{[32][33][34][35]}