Viretta Park is a

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 urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

in the Denny-Blaine neighborhood of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, located at the foot of E. John Street at 39th Avenue E. and stretching down to

Lake Washington Boulevard Lake Washington Boulevard is a scenic, approximately , road through Seattle, Washington, that hugs Lake Washington for much of the route. There are views of the lake, small sections of rainforest, meadows, and views of the Cascade mountains. A ...

. It was named by Charles L. Denny after his wife, Viretta Chambers Denny. It is located to the south of the former home of

Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – ) was an American musician. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter, and a founding member of the grunge band Nirvana (band), Nirvana. Through his angsty songwriting and anti-establis ...

, where he was found dead.

Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...

fans gather at the park on the anniversary of Cobain's death (April 5), and to a lesser extent on his birthday (February 20), to pay tribute to him.

Kurt Cobain Memorial

The park's wooden benches, serving as the de facto memorial to Kurt Cobain in Seattle, are covered with

graffiti Graffiti (singular ''graffiti'', or ''graffito'' only in graffiti archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written "monikers" to elabor ...

messages to the

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

icon. There has been much speculation over the years on whether the name of the park should be changed to "Kurt's Park", due to the late rock icon's large fan base. Kurt Cobain Bench Viretta Park

Howard Schultz controversy

The first version of the group Friends of Viretta Park was formed by area neighbors during a dispute with former neighbor and

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational List of coffeehouse chains, chain of coffeehouses and Starbucks Reserve, roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gor ...

CEO

Howard Schultz Howard D. Schultz (born July 19, 1953) is an American businessman and author who was the chairman and chief executive officer of Starbucks from 1986 to 2000, from 2008 to 2017, and interim CEO from 2022 to 2023. Schultz owned the Seattle SuperS ...

, who formerly lived to the South. Schultz later moved to a new residence.

Viretta Park Repair

In 2010 a group known as Viretta Park Repair was formed; according to its website its purpose was "to repair and restore Seattle's Viretta Park and... create a memorial for Nirvana's singer/songwriter Kurt Cobain who died next door to the park". Its first work party was scheduled to take place on Kurt Cobain's 44th birthday on February 20, 2011. Volunteers came from all over the Western United States and Southwestern Canada. The next series of scheduled work parties, scheduled for March 13, 2011 and April 5, 2011, were shut down by

Seattle Parks and Recreation Seattle Parks and Recreation (officially the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR)) is the government department responsible for maintaining the parks, open spaces, and community centers of the city of Seattle, Washington. The department maint ...

Superintendent Christopher Williams after a neighbor complained about memorial events - and a sculpture - that did not exist, but which were actually scheduled for

Aberdeen, Washington Aberdeen ( ) is a city in Grays Harbor County, Washington, United States. The population was 17,013 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city is the most populous in Grays Harbor County and the region's economic center, bordering t ...

. Acting Parks Chief Christopher Williams sided with the neighbors in blocking any attempt to have any memorial to Kurt Cobain in the park, despite recent additions to

Jimi Hendrix Park Jimi Hendrix Park is a park in Seattle, Washington named in honor of musician Jimi Hendrix, who was from Seattle. The park was named in 2006, and the opening of the park was announced in December, 2011 at the Northwest African American Museum ...

in Seattle and a memorial sculpture in

which had the approval of Aberdeen's Mayor. Since then Viretta Park Repair has been given the green light to hold additional work parties. A second work party was held on June 4, 2011 where volunteers removed invasive holly and blackberry bushes, laid burlap and covered the area with bark mulch.

External links

Viretta Park (Seattle)
at

HistoryLink HistoryLink is an online encyclopedia of Washington (state), Washington state history. The site has more than 8,100 entries and attracts 23,000 weekly visitors. It has 500 biographies and more than 14,000 images. The non-profit historical organi ...

Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation
*https://web.archive.org/web/20060927131251/http://www.seattle.gov/parks/history/VirettaPk.pdf

{{Nirvana, state=collapsed Parks in Seattle Kurt Cobain

Kurt Cobain Memorial

Howard Schultz controversy

Viretta Park Repair

See also

Further reading

Howard Schultz Controversy

Viretta Park Repair

External links