| Occidental Square Park |
Occidental Park, also referred to as Occidental Square (north of S. Main Street) and Occidental Mall (south of S. Main Street), is a 0.6 acre (2,400 m2) public park located in the Pioneer Square district of Seattle, Washington.
Created in 1971, the park consists of the Occidental Avenue S. right-of-way between S. Washington and S. Jackson Streets, in addition to half a city block between S. Main and S. Jackson Streets. It is the site of the former Carrollton Hotel, run by a Japanese American family and described in Monica Sone's memoir Nisei Daughter, which was demolished in 1956.[1] [2] The former Waterfront Streetcar bisected the park, running along S. Main Street. The park is in the heart of Seattle's largest art gallery district, and several galleries face onto Occidental Mall. The Downtown Seattle Association began "activating" the park with summertime seating and activities in 2015 under a public–private partnership, also bringing events to be hosted in the park.[3]
Occidental Park is the starting point for the "March to the Match", a five-block parade of Seattle Sounders FC soccer fans led by the Emerald City Supporters to Lumen Field prior to each home game.[4] [5] The park is also used for a weekly farmers' market and seasonal events managed by the Downtown Seattle Association.[6]
The Fallen Firefighters Memorial is a bronze sculpture group by Hai Ying Wu.[7] It was inspired by the deaths of four Seattle firefighters who died January 5, 1995[8] fighting a fire in the Mary Pang warehouse in Seattle's International District.[9]