Elliott Bay Connections

Arrows indicating to scroll down.

Land Acknowledgement

The Seattle Waterfront is situated on the land of the Coast Salish Peoples, who have resided here since time immemorial and continue to thrive.

With respect and humility, we acknowledge the history of the waterfront, the dispossession of land from the Coast Salish people, and, most importantly, the strength and resilience of the Native people and their culture through this history to the present.

This acknowledgment serves only as a first step in honoring the land that we occupy and the first peoples of this land.

An old black and white photograph of the Seattle Waterfront showing many canoes docked along the shore, lots of people and wooden houses in the distance.
Photo Credit: University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, A. Curtis 25180, NA698.

Elliott Bay Connections (EBC) Goals

The EBC project’s goals include:

  • Connecting the parks of Elliott Bay with a new greenway between Waterfront Park and Olympic Sculpture Park
  • Connecting people to Myrtle Edwards and Centennial Parks by restoring and revitalizing these parks
  • Connecting people to the Salish Sea by expanding places to touch the water
  • Connecting people to each other by helping make the Elliott Bay waterfront a welcoming place for all

Before

After

Beach coves in Myrtle Edwards Park have expanded in size and accessibility.
Photo Credit: Built Work Photography

Public-Private Partnership

EBC is a public-private partnership to connect, restore and revitalize public parks and spaces along the Elliott Bay waterfront from Waterfront Park (at Pier 62) to The Beach at Expedia Group (just before Pier 91).

The EBC project is fully funded by private philanthropy and is being delivered in partnership with the City of Seattle and the Port of Seattle. Private funding has underwritten the full costs of creating the new greenway and the revitalization of Myrtle Edwards and Centennial Parks. The EBC project is also fully underwriting all the costs of maintaining the parks and greenway and caring for their new landscapes for the five full years after opening. The Downtown Seattle Association (DSA) serves as the EBC project’s implementation partner.

Donors to EBC include Melinda French Gates, MacKenzie Scott, the Diller - Von Furstenberg Family Foundation and Expedia Group.

EBC Project Overview

The EBC project was announced in August 2023 with the goal of restoring and revitalizing Myrtle Edwards and Centennial Parks and constructing a new greenway in time for June 2026 when Seattle would host the FIFA World Cup™.

The EBC project kicked off with community engagement, followed by design, review, permitting and construction.

Community engagement began in Fall 2023 and continued throughout the design process, including the final design presentation presented in a public meeting for feedback in October 2024. Community engagement included multiple public presentations of the design, online surveys and meetings with neighboring residents and businesses, as well as responses to individual questions sent via email and phone messages throughout the entire project. The public’s suggestions and feedback were incorporated into the parks and greenway design.

The greenway was designed for people of all ages and abilities to walk, bike and roll between Waterfront Park and Olympic Sculpture Park.
Photo Credit: Built Work Photography

Construction of the new greenway started in February 2025, and construction in Myrtle Edwards and Centennial Parks began in March 2025.

Opened on April 21, 2026, the greenway runs along the eastern edge of Alaskan Way for ¾ miles from Waterfront Park (at Pier 62) to the Olympic Sculpture Park (at Pier 70). The greenway was designed as a multi-use trail, which invites pedestrians, recreational cyclists, and people using wheelchairs or scooters to continue to travel along the waterfront in green. The multi-use trail features new lighting, benches, and wayfinding signage. The greenway’s new planted landscapes include more than 15,000 new plants, and 121 trees (including 52 new trees).

Improved paths and new plantings make the parks more appealing than ever.
Photo Credit: Built Work Photography

Myrtle Edwards Park (City of Seattle) and Centennial Park (Port of Seattle) re-opened to the public on June 4, 2026. These two parks together comprise 16 acres of public space extending for more than a mile along the Elliott Bay shoreline. The EBC project’s restoration and revitalization of these parks creates a unified experience of nature. The parks’ improvements respond to the public’s requests for more access to water, more green, improved accessibility, and the addition of necessary park amenities.

Acres of new plantings of native species, meadows and grass include 74,000 new plants and a total of 1,200 trees. Existing beaches have expanded. Bike trails and pedestrian paths have been improved, including lighting on the bike trail, pavement repairs and regrading and new maps and wayfinding. The new park features include a children’s exploration area, and natural wood seating and picnic tables throughout. Accessibility has been improved throughout the parks, including accessible paths, accessibility to new areas, including beaches and the children’s exploration area as well as accessible seating and restrooms. A new amenity building, named haʔłali (in Lushootseed, translated as “the good place”) includes food, beverages and restrooms.

See Parks and Greenway page for more information about plantings and improvements.

Construction

EBC construction in the parks began in March 2025 with the demolition of the existing cinderblock concession building.
EBC construction on the greenway began in February 2025 with the removal of the trestles of the obsolete trolley tracks.
The EBC construction team moved earth and rocks to make the beach coves more inviting.
Close to 74,000 young plants have been added to the parks.
Photo Credit: Sellen Construction

Construction of the greenway started with the demolition of obsolete trolley tracks in February 2025 and was completed in April 2026, including the new path and plantings. Construction and planting in Myrtle Edwards and Centennial Parks began in March 2025 with the demolition of a cinderblock restroom facility. When the parks re-opened in June 2026, establishment fencing was installed to protect the 74,000 new plants and acres of freshly seeded lawns and meadows while they grow and establish roots.

The EBC project maintained public access to the parks during construction. A shared multi-use trail was open from March 2025 to June 2026 while construction and planting continued.

EBC construction was completed on time thanks to exceptional partnership and collaboration with public agencies including the Port of Seattle, The City of Seattle (including staff in Seattle Department of Construction & Inspections, Seattle Department of Transportation, Seattle Parks and Recreation, Seattle Office of the Waterfront and many other departments), King County, and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Washington Department of Ecology, US Fish & Wildlife Services, and US Army Corps of Engineers.

Partners also included BNSF and the Louis Dreyfus Company.

Project Team

The DSA serves as the EBC project’s implementation partner. The EBC project team is based in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest.

Scroll to top of page. Back to top