Kerry Park is a small public

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside towns and cities. ...

and

viewpoint Viewpoint may refer to: * Scenic viewpoint, a high place where people can gather to view scenery In computing * Viewpoint model, a computer science technique for making complex systems more comprehensible to human engineers * Viewpoint Corporat ...

on the south slope of Queen Anne Hill in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

, Washington, United States. It overlooks

Downtown Seattle Downtown is the central business district of Seattle, Washington. It is fairly compact compared with other city centers on the U.S. West Coast due to its geographical situation, being hemmed in on the north and east by hills, on the west by ...

and is located along West Highland Drive between 2nd Avenue West and 3rd Avenue West. The park's view is considered to be the most iconic views of the city skyline, with the

Space Needle The Space Needle is an observation tower in Seattle, Washington, United States. Considered to be an icon of the city, it has been designated a Seattle landmark. Located in the Lower Queen Anne neighborhood, it was built in the Seattle Cente ...

prominent at the center,

Elliott Bay Elliott Bay is a part of the Central Basin region of Puget Sound. It is in the U.S. state of Washington, extending southeastward between West Point in the north and Alki Point in the south. Seattle was founded on this body of water in the 1850s ...

to the west, and

Mount Rainier Mount Rainier (), indigenously known as Tahoma, Tacoma, Tacobet, or təqʷubəʔ, is a large active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest, located in Mount Rainier National Park about south-southeast of Seattle. With a ...

in the background.

Description and history

The park encompasses and includes a railing and several benches facing south towards the skyline. A stairway on the west end of the park connects below to West Prospect Street and the Bayview-Kinnear Park, which has a small

playground A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people ...

. Kerry Park is named after the couple lumberman and business magnate Albert S. Kerry and his wife Katharine. They lived nearby, and donated the land to the city in 1927 "so that all who stop here may enjoy tsview." At the center of Kerry Park is '' Changing Form'', a steel sculpture by artist

Doris Totten Chase Doris Totten Chase (29 April 1923 – 13 December 2008) was an American painter, teacher, and sculptor. She was a member of the Northwest School. Chase had a substantial career as a painter and sculptor before she set off for New York, where sh ...

that stands high and was installed in 1971 with donations from Kerry's children. The sculpture is hollow and is popular as a play area for children and as a framing device for photographers. That view from Kerry Park encompasses downtown Seattle, Elliott Bay, the

West Seattle West Seattle is a conglomeration of neighborhoods in Seattle, Washington, United States. It comprises two of the thirteen districts, Delridge and Southwest, and encompasses all of Seattle west of the Duwamish River. It was incorporated as an i ...

peninsula,

Bainbridge Island Bainbridge Island is a city and island in Kitsap County, Washington. It is located in Puget Sound. The population was 23,025 at the 2010 census and an estimated 25,298 in 2019, making Bainbridge Island the second largest city in Kitsap County. ...

, and Mount Rainier. The view from the park is often used as the backdrop for television news segments on Seattle, as well as other media depictions of the city. Kerry Park was also featured in the opening credits of the 1999 film ''

10 Things I Hate About You ''10 Things I Hate About You'' is a 1999 American teen romantic comedy film directed by Gil Junger and starring Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Larisa Oleynik. The screenplay, written by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirs ...

'', and in ''

Frasier ''Frasier'' () is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for 11 seasons. It premiered on September 16, 1993, and ended on May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee (as Grub ...

'' as the view from the titular character's apartment.

References

External links

Night shot of downtown taken from Kerry ParkPhoto of sculpture, Changing Form
Parks in Seattle Queen Anne, Seattle {{KingCountyWA-geo-stub