Friends of Magnuson Park

Mission

The mission of Friends of Magnuson Park is to protect and preserve the Sand Point Naval Air Station Historic District and to share the history of Magnuson Park, from its pre-contact use by the Duwamish People through its significant role in early Seattle aviation and military history to the present day.

Description

WHO WE ARE & WHAT WE DO

For nearly 20 years, Friends of Magnuson Park has been an all-volunteer non-profit focused on saving the historic buildings within Magnuson Park. Our successes in advocacy can be seen in the designation of the former Sand Point Naval Air Station buildings within the Park as both a Seattle Landmark Historic District and National Historic Place.

The preservation work continues, but today Friends also curates exhibits within the Park, hosts events and free tours, grants academic scholarships to high school seniors living in the low-income housing at Magnuson and continues to build an oral history archive through its Sand Point Remembered program.

This year, we are focusing on:

- Capturing the history of Friends through Sand Point Remembered interviews with founding board members
- Researching the Japanese American story at Sand Point with support from a Kip Tokuda Grant
- Restoring historic signage at the main entrance of Magnuson Park 
- Installing historic exhibits at the Broadway Bound Theater and Arena Sports
- An inventory and preservation plan for NAS Seattle historic artifacts scattered around the Park
- Preparing for the long-awaited RFP of Building 41, the former gas station, and advocating for a Visitor Center. We are partnered now with the UW School of Architecture to envision the new space!

Recognition

We would like to thank 4Culture Open Doors, Kip Tokuda, Seattle Parks and Recreation, and all of our members and donors for their support of Friends of Magnuson Park.