Landslide Update: The Dismantling of Gas Works Park Officially Underway
On April 22, 2026, the removal of Gas Works Park’s character-defining catwalks, ladders, stairways, and braces officially began, following an emergency order from the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI), in the process circumventing the approvals normally required by the Landmark Preservation Board. This development is the culmination of a nearly two-year long effort mounted by the City of Seattle to alter the exterior of the park’s historic “Cracking Towers.”
Gas Works Park—a nineteen-acre park designed by world-renowned landscape architect Richard Haag—has been open to the public since 1976. The park was built on the location of a former coal gasification plant that was in operation in the first half of the twentieth century. Although the City of Seattle had initially intended to demolish the former plant’s industrial towers, stacks, pipes, and sheds when developing the site into a park, Haag instead incorporated them into his design as a reminder of the city’s industrial history. This decision cemented the park as a global icon of post-industrial design, and it was later designated as a Seattle landmark and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2013.
In July 2025, following the tragic death of a fifteen-year-old Mattheis Johnson, who illegally scaled one of the towers and fell to his death, the City of Seattle issued an emergency declaration to modify the towers and make them unclimbable, despite preexisting fencing around the gas works and extensive signage prohibiting trespassing. Seattle Parks and Recreation (SPR) came before the Landmarks Preservation Board on September 17, 2025, with a proposal to strip off the so-called “pedestrian appurtenances” from the towers. The Landmarks Board voted against the proposal in October 2025 and again in January 2026, citing that the proposal did not present an adequate master plan for the long-term preservation, safety, and longevity of the park.
The removal of any of the character-defining features of the former industrial plant was also strongly opposed by the Gas Works Park Alliance (GWPA), a coalition of individuals and organizations, including landscape architects Laurie Olin and Barbara Swift, the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation, Historic Seattle, and The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF), determined to maintain the integrity of Haag’s creation.
However, sidestepping the Landmarks Preservation Board and the Certificate of Approval process, on March 30, 2026, the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI) issued an emergency exemption to approve the removal of the Cracking Towers’ “pedestrian appurtenances.” A construction permit was subsequently issued to Seattle Parks and Recreation on April 14th for the “partial demolition/deconstruction” of the towers’ ladders, catwalks and stairways, and associated supports, with the stipulation that the removals be completed by May 15, 2026. The move came mere weeks before a nuisance lawsuit filed by Johnson’s family against the City of Seattle goes to court.
Although it appears the May 15 deadline has not been met, the removals process did commence on April 22, 2026, and is expected to be completed over the course of two months.
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Gas Works Park
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