Imagine a high-style park right here in Rainier Beach, dedicated to connecting with friends and neighbors over a robust game of chess, and honoring a local hero. Friends of Det. Cookie Chess Park invite you to review design drafts for the Det. Cookie Chess Park on Sunday, January 22nd, from 3:30 pm to 5:00 pmin the Rainier Beach Community Center Arts Room. The event will include free food, chess games for play, and the Det. Cookie Giant Chess Pop-Up Park.

The Detective Cookie Chess Park is proposed at Barton Place, Rainier Ave S, and 51st Ave S in Rainier Beach. Friends of Detective Cookie Chess Park, an ad hoc volunteer community organization, secured a planning grant from the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods in June of 2016, to honor the work of Seattle Police Detective Denise “Cookie” Bouldin. For over a decade, Det. Cookie’s Urban Youth Chess Club has taught hundreds of at risk South Seattle youth the values of patience, strategy, and consequences of actions, all through the game of chess – frequently at her own expense.

Last fall, the group hired the Rainier Valley firm of Johnson + Southerland as the chess park project landscape design firm. Johnson + Southerland will present proposed designs for the park at the meeting to secure community feedback. The event is sponsored by Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, Safeway, Seattle Parks and Recreation, Rainier Beach Merchants Association, Seattle Parks Foundation, and Detective Cookie Urban Youth Chess Club.

For more information, contact Maia Segura at maia@pennilessprojects.com or check out the Det. Cookie Chess Club on Facebook.