The site of the Morgan Junction Park addition, at 6311 California Ave SW, where a car repair shop, dry cleaner and convenience store were all once located, has been adopted by skateboarders who have, apparently on their own, built a series of concrete structures, used for skaters including small halfpipes, ramps, and other spots to do tricks. 

Seattle Parks Rachel Schulkin said, "Unfortunately, this site is not safe for public use of any type and we’ll have to remove any skate equipment and re-lock the site.  SPR has submitted for a grading permit (6924009-GR) to remove the hazardous material left over from the former dry cleaner.  Included in the removal of HAZMAT will be some landscape improvements.  We anticipate completing this work and opening the site to the public Spring 2023."

The Seattle Parks web page for the site states:

In 2014, Seattle Parks and Recreation purchased the .47-acre property at 6311 California Ave SW, north of Morgan Junction Park, to expand the park and provide additional open space for this high-density neighborhood. The area is fenced off but the DIY spirit of the skate community has driven some thus far unidentified people to build their own recreation spot. 

Karen O'Conner with Seattle Parks said the park expansion has been on hold through the pandemic as they further state on the web page for the project:

"Seattle Parks and Recreation and the City of Seattle are experiencing significant losses in revenue as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the summer of 2020, Seattle Parks and Recreation had to suspend capital project work and we were forced to suspend this project along with many others. The decision to suspend these projects is based on reviewing the projects through the lens of equity, health and safety, and whether or not they support an essential function. We are thankful to the community for their partnership and for their understanding. We will work to secure funding in future budget cycles."

The issue with the site is that the soil must be remediated. That means the unauthorized activation of the site could mean that the people spending time on the site, potentially disturbing the soil, could be at risk.

The Friends of Morgan Junction Park Facebook page notes that, "1,733 cubic yards of contaminated soil will be removed and replaced with clean fill. That’s a hole approximately 60’x 60’ and 12 feet deep, and is by no means unusual when remediating former dry cleaning sites."

The remediation funding is available but the permits remain in the offices of the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections where they await approval.

A March 2020 report by Pacific Groundwater Group

concluded that the "estimated cost" to remediate the soil there would be $679,000.

Quoting from the report: 

"The proposed remedy is a targeted source area soil excavation with groundwater monitoring, in-situ remediation, and environmental covenant. The excavation is conducted as part of the construction project to convert the Site into a park and involves the removal of the existing pavement. Excavation permanently removes the source area soil using heavy machinery to load soil into trucks for offsite disposal. Confirmation samples are collected from the sides and bottom of the excavation to confirm removal; additional excavation may be performed based on confirmation sample results. The remedial alternative includes post-excavation groundwater monitoring consisting semi-annual monitoring for five years, then bi-annual monitoring for up to 25 years. If there are eight consecutive rounds of monitoring (either semi- annual or bi-annual) with no CUL exceedances, then groundwater monitoring may end. Post-excavation soil gas sampling will also be conducted to assess that the removal of both the source of vapor and the pavement that trapped it is an adequate measure to address vapor hazards.

The proposed remedy costs an estimated $679,000 as summarized in Table 5. Cost estimates are preliminary and are not quotes for services."

The cost of the park construction itself according to the Seattle Park District is $1,260,000 for planning, design and construction which is expected to be included in the 2023 list. There are three designs that have been developed.

The Morgan Community Association monthly meeting on Oct. 19 at 7 pm via Zoom is expected to discuss the park and have updates on both the future of the site and its current status.

The State Department of Ecology said when contacted said that if the site is fenced off and notice of contamination posted, people should not be on the site at all. 

Seattle has a long history of Do-It-Yourself skatepark construction. Mark Hubbard, who rose to international fame through his West Seattle skatepark construction company Grindline started that way. He and friends constructed a concrete bowl under the Schmitz Park Bridge in 1992 that the City forced them to close. 

Today a DIY skatepark under the road way at Hanford and Marginal Way remains popular.  There are two other West Seattle skateparks too, one at Roxhill Park off SW Barton Street and a 15,000 foot park at Genesee and Delridge Way which ironically was built by Grindline in 2011.

A grassroots effort to keep or develop some form of skatepark on the site has launched a petition on Change.org despite the need to remediate the site and the public polling on highest and best use for the site and funds for design already spent.

That petition can be found here.