No opening date yet for Seattle waterfront playground
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A key feature of Seattle's revamped downtown waterfront — the rebuilt Pier 58, which includes a new playground — still doesn't have a firm opening date, city officials tell Axios.
Why it matters: The main playground features, such as a giant climbable jellyfish, have been in place for months.
- But the area can't open until workers finish installing final touches like safety rails — and getting some of those materials has been a challenge, city officials say.
Catch up quick: Earlier this year, officials with the Office of the Waterfront and Civic Projects told Axios they were hoping to open the playground and the adjacent plaza on Pier 58 in late spring or early summer.
The latest: Now that it's June, they say the project is still on track for a summer opening, but they won't say exactly when.
- "We are not ready to give a specific date or month but will be giving people plenty of notice," Jeanette Ordoñez Baker, a spokesperson for Waterfront Seattle, wrote in an email to Axios on Friday.
Between the lines: Getting fabricated metal products, such as handrails and joint plates, has been difficult in recent months due to "volatile market conditions," Iris Picat, another spokesperson for the city waterfront project, wrote in an email to Axios in late April.
- Project officials did not immediately respond to an inquiry Wednesday about whether the Trump administration's expanded tariffs — particularly on steel and aluminum — may be a factor in the difficulty completing the final elements of Pier 58.
Yes, but: The Associated General Contractors of America said in a presentation last month that "higher tariffs will raise costs" and "may disrupt supply chains."
What's next: City officials plan to hold a grand-opening celebration for the fully renovated waterfront sometime after Pier 58 is finished.