Seattle's Parks: Then and Now

Seattle is home to over 400 parks and open areas as well as over 6,200 acres of park land. Some of them are massive while others are so tiny you might not even know they're parks.

So many of them have changed drastically since they were first created and we decided to take a look back to see the ways they've been "renovated" over the years. Some parks have changed more than others. You'll see what we mean.

B.F. Day Playfield - B.F. Day Playground in Fremont is named for the neighboring B.F. Day School you can see in he background. The school itself was named for Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin F. Day, Fremont realtors who donated a section of their 160-acre farm in 1892 to become the school and playground. It's another case where the more things change the more they stay the same.

Green Lake - When people visit Green Lake these days, they see the monolithic cement amphitheater looking out on the lake and wonder, "What the hell is that for?" The Aqua Theater was built in 1950 for Seafair to be the home of the Aqua Follies and their "swimusicals." Built to a capacity of 5,600 seats, it would later go on to host concerts for Led Zeppelin and The Grateful Dead, amongst others. In 1970 the theater was dismantled and re-purposed, though it still remains a great spot from which to watch lake life unfold.