Mollie Moisan Dootson
No, that isn't a giant spliff on top of this Hempfest staffer's head.
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Last summer, as the crowd swelled to more than 100,000 on the first day of Hempfest, the annual gathering of ganja enthusiasts at Seattle's Myrtle Edwards Park, festival organizers worried that the human sea pushing its way in and out of the narrow waterfront venue was becoming dangerously crammed. They say they cut the wire holding up a temporary fence and instructed the crowds to fold the panels over in order to avoid a crush. (The fence was in place to protect waterfront improvements underway as part of the then-unfinished Olympic Sculpture Park, which rises behind Myrtle Edwards and Elliott Bay.)
Early the next morning, in preparation for the festival's final day, they decided to move the fence farther out of the way, which required displacing some obstacles—namely five giant boulders and two logs that were on the park's newly regraded beach. They did the unauthorized landscaping with a miniature bulldozer called a Toolcat.
The beach, which was built to enhance public access to the water, was also created to provide habitat for juvenile salmon migrating from the Green and Duwamish rivers. Though no fish were harmed during Hempfest's lifesaving measures last summer, SAM officials say damage from the event—and the Toolcat—meant they had to start over and rebuild the riparian ecosystem.
The city was similarly nonplussed by the damages, and sent Hempfest a bill for $16,500. Hempfest organizers came back with an offer to pay for half—and a request for a permit to hold their 2007 festival, planned for Aug. 18–19 at Myrtle Edwards Park. "Our position is that it will happen and it will happen in that park," says Hempfest construction director John Davis. "If it doesn't happen there, the festival won't happen."
Davis says there simply aren't any other places that will accommodate the event. The festival, which started in Volunteer Park in 1991, outgrew Gas Works Park a few years later. Davis says urban parks like Magnuson are tough to come by because of parking, access, and neighborhood issues; and that larger, more elaborate venues like Seattle Center are simply too expensive. "Plus, at this point of the year, the advertising is already out," he says. "You can't just go back and change everything."
"In the front of everyone's minds is the issue of capacity," says Chris Rogers, SAM's director of capital projects and governmental affairs. "The big issue is public safety. It's a bad site for so many people. It's worth looking closely at. I think SAM would hope the city and others could be proactive in determining appropriate locations for appropriate crowds."
But Davis says SAM is just using the whole overcrowding thing as an excuse.
"Although they won't say this in any public forum, when it's just [SAM representatives] and us, they say, 'Look, we don't want you there, and we'll do anything to keep you out,'" he says, adding that this has been SAM's message since their first meeting, well before last year's event and the subsequent completion of the sculpture park.
(Last July, Hempfest sued the city and SAM for waiting until the eleventh hour to issue a permit for the 2006 event. Festival organizers withdrew the lawsuit after the city granted the permit in early August.)
No remnants remain today of the damage from last year's event, though on a recent walk through the park, SAM spokesperson Cara Egan points out the logs that had to be replaced. She says they were there to help nurture the sensitive habitat surrounding them and that there will likely still be fencing up this summer to protect the delicate young plants that line beach and walkway.
Last week, the city attorney's office met with SAM officials to discuss what protective measures could be put in place to ensure public and private investment in the sculpture park could be protected if the event returns to Myrtle Edwards.
In addition to whether Hempfest will get a permit for this year's event, the other issue is whether the festival would be allowed to use the gravel ramp and staircase that connects the waterfront park with the sculpture park. The city owns the right of way there, but leases it to SAM. Hempfest's organizers say use of this piece is critical to ensure enough space for the crowds to get in and out.
The bent fence and memories of the mini-bulldozer on the beach have not helped Hempfest's cause. Rogers, who headed up the sculpture park project for SAM, says a lot of people contributed to both the park and to the shoreline restoration. "We want to make sure that's safely protected," he says. "Assurances to provide those protections last year weren't met. That's why we're dealing with the damage issue."
But Davis counters that the damages were not Hempfest's fault. He says they'd warned the city beforehand that the placement of the fence and narrow ingress and egress was a risk to public safety. "The action that we took saved lives and saved the city and SAM millions of dollars in litigation," he says.
The city ordinance that created the sculpture park stipulates that the waterfront area below shall be available for special events and even names Hempfest as an example. The law also requires festival organizers to protect sensitive vegetation, artwork, and other improvements to the area. In addition, SAM has the right to close the park five days a year, but they must give advance notice.
