Peace Park (Seattle)
Peace Park is a park located in the University District of Seattle, Washington, at the corner of NE 40th St & NE Pacific St, at the northern end of the University Bridge. Built by Floyd Schmoe, winner of the 1988 Hiroshima Peace Prize, and dedicated on August 6, 1990, 45 years after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, it is home to a full-size bronze statue of Sadako Sasaki sculpted by Daryl Smith. After the statue was vandalized in December 2003, a number of people, including Sadako's family, requested the statue be relocated to the more heavily trafficked Green Lake Park. Ultimately the Seattle Parks Department decided the statue should remain in the Peace Park, and upon restoration was returned there in mid-January 2005.
The statue was vandalized again in September, 2012 but has been repaired.
Schoolchildren and others from around the city of Seattle and elsewhere frequently drape strings of peace cranes on the statue apparently following the Japanese custom of the 'Thousand Origami Cranes'.
External links
- Peace Park page at World Peace Project for Children
- Seattle Peace Park, information on the official site of the City of Seattle.
- Sadako statue on Daryl Smith's website portfolio.
- News account of 2012 vandalism.
Coordinates: 47°39′21″N 122°19′10″W / 47.65583°N 122.31944°W