Volunteer Park

On March 3, 1910, The Seattle Daily Times reported that ideas for extensive improvements of City property had been submitted to the Park Board by J. C. Olmsted. A $2,000,000 bond issue was being put to the voters in the following week. If passed, Volunteer Park would receive the majority of funds to improve the grounds. The highly touted design included construction of a conservatory at the northern crest of the park.Seattle residents awoke Sunday morning, September 22, 1912, to newspaper headlines which read, Park Conservatory Nearing Completion: New Improvement at Volunteer Park Will Be Thing of Joy and Beauty.A panoramic photo of the Volunteer Park Conservatory appeared prominently on the page, showing the magnificent structure, all intact but for its 3,426 glass panes. The article praised the forward-looking Park Commissioners who were able to see the future value of the Conservatory as an asset to the City of Seattle.As the Volunteer Park Conservatory approaches its 100 year anniversary, it remains as unique today as it did in 1912. From the beginning, the Conservatory’s mission was to educate, collect and conserve threatened plants and to transport visitors beyond the open green spaces of the Park to another world that examines connected environments and plant species from around the globe. This philosophy continues today.