A memorable feat was accomplished when Seike Japanese Garden was moved from its location on Des Moines Memorial Drive to the Highline SeaTac Botanical Garden.

Now this 45-year-old living work of art - a place where harmony and tranquility meet - appears larger than life on the big screen.

The Seike Garden: An American Story is a fascinating documentary that chronicles the five-year effort to relocate the garden.

It profiles the garden's history, challenges faced by the cities of Burien and SeaTac, and cooperative efforts by local governments, non-profits and private citizens to it from under Sea-Tac International Airport's third runway flight path.

The film, which covers the garden's journey from the beginning of the project to its new home at the Sea-Tac Community Center, 13735 24th Ave. S., also recalls the physical challenges of relocating and replicating.

Seike Japanese Garden now sits on property leased by the city of SeaTac from the Port of Seattle.

SeaTac, Burien, the port, which operates the airport, and the state of Washington, together with many politicians and volunteers, diligently worked to make this happen.

The Seike Garden opens with a Shinto purification ceremony - banishment of evil spirits - at its new location on June 24, 2006.

Using interviews and images from the Seike family, photographs, 8 mm footage of the construction of the original garden, and recent still and motion photography, it details a fascinating array of social, financial and logistical hurdles involved in the challenging project.

Ken Slusher of Boulevard Park, an award-winning film maker who has lived his entire life in the Puget Sound region, was the producer, director and editor of The Seike Garden.

Slusher smiles when he recalls the first time he approached the garden on Des Moines Memorial Drive. There is one thing in particular, he will never forget - staring at the bamboo gate and sensing it was "symbolic."

Intrigued, he had to see more and slowly walked through the gate. "I was just blown away when I walked through that gate," he recalled. "It was magic to me."

Slusher looked about in awe and felt as though he had stumbled into paradise. He concluded that Shinichi Seike was a wise businessman.

Shinichi Seike, emigrated from Japan in the early 1920s and opened an import/export business in Seattle.

Like thousands of other Japanese Americans, the Seike family was interned during World War II.

Upon regaining their freedom, the family opened the nursery along Des Moines Memorial Drive just north of Sea-Tac.

In January 1961, the family, under the direction of Hiroshima designer Shintaro Okada, constructed a quarter-acre Japanese garden as a memorial to their middle son Toll, who was killed in action while serving with the U.S. Army's 442nd Regimental Combat Team in Germany during World War II.

Construction, which was completed that June, required strenuous labor. Three people mixed the concrete - there was no cement mixer - and much of the work was done with shovels.

The beautiful sanctuary was accessed through the parking lot of the small nursery run by brothers Ben and Hal Seike.

Slusher remembers that when it became apparent a few years ago that the Seike Garden would either have to be relocated or sold because of the third runway, the cities of SeaTac and Burien began contacting grant and private funding sources.

Former Burien City Councilman Stephen Lamphear was instrumental in the process.

Slusher applauds Lamphear for being "one of the first people to let others know it was going to be gone." Word traveled fast. Former Burien City Manager Gary Long became interested and talked to others at Burien City Hall, as well as SeaTac City Manager Craig Ward.

Local and state officials soon offered assistance.

Lamphear comments in the movie about the delicacy of moving such a masterpiece and remembers how the features in the garden, including the location of every stone, had to be mapped out.

Mountains and water are the two themes in Japanese gardens, and these themes - along with tradition - had to be preserved. There was a strong sense of protectiveness and nurturing throughout the process.

SeaTac and Burien leaders especially wanted to keep the garden in the Highline area, and worked with horticulturalists to get a fair price.

Appraisers estimated it would cost $1 million to move the garden. After all, two trees were worth $50,000.

Don Brooks of Kabota Gardens stepped up to the plate and volunteered as a consultant. Surprisingly, the garden was moved for approximately a third of the quoted price.

Slusher then filmed the garden and its relocation, giving one copy to the family and presenting another to Burien City Hall.

The movie was 10 minutes long.

But he was asked by the city of Burien to reduce its length by three minutes so it could be used for fundraising.

Slusher also wrote a grant that he presented to 4Culture and was awarded $3,000 for his project.

Still, he admitted, he could not have finished the movie, without the help and donations of so many. Footage for the documentary took approximately two years to compile.

The Seike Garden; An American Story recently premiered at SeaTac City Hall, followed by a question-and-answer session with Slusher. The event was well received by an audience that was larger than expected.

The film has also been shown on Burien and SeaTac's government access cable channels.

The Highline SeaTac Botanical Garden is managed by the Highline Botanical Garden Foundation and funded and maintained by a partnership between the Foundation and SeaTac. Burien contributes additional maintenance funding for the Seike Garden.

The garden is located at the SeaTac Community Center, 13735 24th Ave. South.