What If Seattle Covered I-5 With a 45-Acre Elevated Park?

This sounds...crazy, right? So crazy it just might work. At least that's what Patano Studio Architecture is proposing as part of concepts for the $1.4 billion Washington State Convention Center expansion. According to studio director Chris Patano, the overall idea calls for an expanded meeting facility, a hotel, a 20,000-seat arena and the 45-acre elevated park that would cover I-5 and connect Capitol Hill & First Hill to downtown Seattle. The $800 million project isn't the kind of thing Seattle usually, if ever, goes for. But as Patano told CHS, it's "an opportunity for people to think about things in the big picture." Given the exponential growth that Seattle is seeing right now in terms of population, housing and development, perhaps the stars could align for a massive cityscape-changing project such as this. We've certainly seen proposals like it before. However, in the shadow of much-delayed Bertha and Seattle seawall projects, it may be one megaproject too many. What do you think about the proposal? Let us know in the comments.

&3183; A 45-acre park over I-5? See architect's grand plan for Seattle [SPI]
· How about a 45-acre park along I-5? [CHS]
· $1.4 Billion Convention Center Expansion Up For Review [CS]