Dean Wong

Five new granite stones with etchings representing Scandinavian countries were installed last week in Bergen Place, thanks to a group of volunteers dedicated to giving the park more of a Nordic theme.

Friends of Bergen place was formed earlier this year to clean up the park's kiosk, add the granite sculptures and do other improvements.

A total of $5,000 was donated to Friends of Bergen Place from city funds allocated by Department of Neighborhoods toward the granite project. Friends of Bergen place raised another $7,000 in contributions from its membership and the Ballard community.

The granite slabs weight 450 to 600-pounds each and were installed by apprentices from Brick Layers Local #1.

Artist James Cole made a design for a 32-inch by 54-inch piece of granite which will be placed at the north entrance of the park.

Cole is a marine artist and historian who does pen and ink drawings, along with paintings. He is a member of the Norwegian Commercial Club. He made a sketch of an ancient Bergen waterfront from the 15th and 16th centuries with fishing vessels, etched into the granite by Quiring Monuments.

The other four granite stones feature Scandinavian traditional embroidery and weaving patterns, representing the remaining Nordic countries.

"Each Scandinavian country has a different design. They are very nice," said Cole.

The designs are etched on flat stones bordering the granite pieces. The surface of the granite pieces themselves are jagged and rough on purpose. They were also designed to discourage skate boarders from riding on top of them.

"I'm very happy. They (stones) are meant to look like mountains, fjords and seascapes," said Charles Regan, a stone supplier who did the some of the stone fabrication.

Each Scandinavian design pattern is from embroidery designs found in books at the Nordic Heritage Museum.

Kris Snyder took the pictures of the embroideries to Hewitt Architects where graphic drawings were made for plywood templates. The designs were hammered by hand to make the patterns.

The names of each Scandinavian country is etched in English and in its native language.

During the installation process, a mistake was found on the Swedish word for Sweden.

The correct spelling should have been Sverige. The "v" was replaced by an upside down "A".

The granite stones made the news on several television stations and one daily newspaper after the spelling error was discovered.

Marianne Forsblad, director of the Nordic Heritage Museum was interviewed at Bergen Place by KING television regarding the typo.

She told the News-Tribune and the television reporter the mistake was minor in significance to the new stone additions to Bergen Place. The mistake will be corrected.

"This is wonderful. This is great, it's beautiful," said Forsblad as she walked around looking at the five pieces of granite along with the etchings.

Victoria Sangrey, coordinator of Friends of Bergen Place said it was exciting to see the granite finally being added to the park.

"They turned out better than I thought," said Regan.

The park's distinctive mural, depicting scenes of Scandinavian heritage has been removed temporarily for minor restoration work.

The six sections of the mural are in good shape and needs some small touch up work like replacing rusting screws and one-inch pieces of wood.

Friends of Bergen Place would like to put the mural back before next year's May 17 Syttende Mai Celebration.

In 2004, the Seattle Parks and Recreation Department finished a $27,600 renovation of Bergen Place. Not included in the park design was the flagpole, bearing the flags of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland. That pole is now in the parking lot a Viking Bank a few blocks away.

Sangrey says a proposal will be submitted to the parks department for a new flagpole, mural installation and a new Bergen Place sign.

Artist Jennifer Dixon was chosen to do a controversial public art project for Bergen Place as part of the 2004 re-design. She came up with a series of five sculptures mounted on poles called the "Witness Trees."

Long time Scandinavians were disappointed by the "Witness Trees," which Dixon designed to honor the history and legacy of Ballard. She chose to do this with abstract sculptures.

Cole became involved in Friends of Bergen Place because he said he was angry about the Witness Trees.

Now Cole says the granite stones are a good beginning for the park.

When it opened in 1975, Norway's King Olav helped dedicate the park. His son, King Harald came to the dedication of the mural in 1985.

Since Friends of Bergen Place was formed, the group with over 60 members, has been conducting work parties to clean up the park.