Bergen Place

Bergen place is a small park in the Ballard area of Seattle. This park celebrates the historic contributions of Scandinavian Americans, their cultures and the relationship between Seattle and her sister city of Bergen in Norway.
The park is at the intersection of Leary Ave., 22^nd Ave. and Market St. forming a triangular shape. One of the first things you notice are the very large modern sculptures of installation of Witness Trees. The witness trees have elements of Nordic mythology, Native American heritage and maritime history. They dwarf all of the other elements of the park.
In 2005 they installed five granite, rune-​like stones carved by artist James Cole with traditional Scandinavian weaving and embroidery patterns. Each stone features the name of a different Nordic country carved both in English and in the country’s native language.
At the far end of the park are all of the flags of the Scandinavian nations… Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Finland and Denmark. The flags are flying very close to the end of the park where the murals are.
The panel on the left symbolizes the relationship between the city of Seattle and the city of Bergen in Norway. In the mural you can see a young Norwegian and American girl holding hands symbolizing the friendship between the two countries, cities and our people. Behind the two girls you can see the gifts exchanged by the two cities, Seattle sent a totem and Bergen sent us the flag of the city of Bergen.
Ballard’s ties to the past are represented in the center Panel and portrays the city hall of Ballard from 1890 –1907 and a parade of children.
The lumber and fishing industries are portrayed in the left and right panels. There is also an image of Pastor Haavik blessing the fleet as it heads out of Fishermans Terminal shown in the far right panel. The Fisherman’s Memorial is also depicted behind the image of the pastor.
The mural was dedicated in 1995 by the King and Queen of Norway.
The park is a nice place to sit and relax it there really isn’t anywhere to get out of the sun and sit in the shade. There is a curved series of benches and you can also sit on the rune stones.
Since place to sit and people watch in Ballard or meet friends.

If you’re a grown up, Bergen Place offers a nice place to eat your lunch, drink a cup of coffee, or hang out with a friend. If you’re a kid, the only thing you really need is there — space to run around in a circle. True story.
I like the location of Bergen Place. When I’m there, I feel like I can see everything that is cool about Ballard. Some have talked about the poor choice in art — I’m not disagreeing. Although, I do like the mushrooms. Bergen Place lacks the modern style of many spaces but that’s okay with me. I like the feel.
Another benefit of Bergen Place is the proximity to places I love to shop and eat at — across the street is Cupcake Royale, around the corner is Full Tilt, down the street is KuKuRuza, just to name a few. On occasion, you can also find food vendors hanging around.
During events like the Ballard SeafoodFest, Bergen Place gets a lot of action. It’s been used differently over the years — sometimes as a place where Ballard Market sets up, a site for a stage, an eating area. The place looks different during times like that and it really seems to come alive. Or… maybe that’s the lutefisk talking.
Sitting outside, licking an ice cream cone and people watching at Bergen Place? That’s a good day.

If you like to watch drunks yelling at each other, then this is the place for you! My friend actually saw someone peeing in this «park» in the middle of the day. I love cities, and the weirdness that comes with them, but I wouldn’t recommend eating in this park.

Fugly.
I remember this park when it looked somewhat more reasonable because of the absence of the ignorantly executed, poorly done «art» that graces the Leary Way side. I have never seen such a bad juxtaposition of art and place. Who did these «artists» boink to get that ($ 250K) gig?
These are the same nutters that made the inept «sculptures» that now grace the Ballard Bridge, which also do not harmonize with their surroundings in either style or scale. Seriously, I could have taken a welding torch, some old car parts and tin cans and come up with something better.
The canopy that used to be here actually served a purpose. It’s a busy area and (as some transplants from California who snottily «re-​designed» this disaster failed to notice) it rains a lot here. I don’t recall if the bus stop is still next to this park on Leary, but it helps if you have a place nearby to rest your ass AND stay dry.
You can tell if a park works right by the fact that a variety of people use it. On that note, it’s a fail. The space is not user friendly. The transients (whom I have nothing against, btw) do appreciate the long benches.

Dammit! I forgot about that place again when I visited Seattle for the 2^nd and 3^rd time! Well. When I returned to Seattle for the 3^rd time, it was raining… so I tried not to stay out too long…
But I still wanna have a coffee and a pantry and people watch at Bergen Place!

This place has a name AND is classified as a park?
Huh.
Didn’t know that. Thanks C-​dogg.
PS– Dante’s sells hot dogs here. Snag a salty hog and have a sit on a ‘poo’d’ on bench.
Good times all around.

Ask me this 5 years ago, and it still would have been 3 stars, but for completely different reasons.
Currently, the «décor» here makes me want to vomit a tad. The sculptures are not to my liking. That’s just me.
Additionally, you will not find someone with a job hanging out here. Hubby and I got some sandwiches from other coast and came up here to eat them. It was difficult to find a place to sit that had not been peed on or had been commandeered by a homeless person.
Plus 1 star for good people watching.
Plus another for not getting accosted by the residents of Bergen Place for money.
Yeay Ballard!

When giving directions in Ballard, it is always fun to say: «Turn right at the ummmm… giant phallic mushroom sculptures?» For that reason alone, Bergen Place gets an A+ in my book.

They’ve totally revamped this tiny urban retreat in the last couple of years and it’s a great place to hang out and eat your lunch on a sunny day. Big, cool tree sculptures, a long curving bench, textured concrete platforms, a pagoda with all the latest neighborhood notices and lots to gawk at on Market and Leary streets, though now that the landscaping and plants are really kicking in it’s harder to see the street. I’ve spent almost every sunny lunch hour here for the last couple of years.