Kubota Garden Improvements
Updated: March 6, 2025
Spring 2025
Kubota Garden is a public American-Japanese garden in South Seattle that started as a beautiful vision of Fujitaro Kubota, a Japanese emigrant. You are invited to learn more about Fujitaro's story.
Kubota Garden Foundation and Seattle Parks and Recreation (SPR) invite you to learn more about several projects currently underway. The 55th Ave S Sidewalk Improvements, Parking Lot Expansion, and Visitor Center projects are in various stages of planning and design. These projects are in response to the growing number of visitors at the Garden and aim to create a welcoming, gracious, and culturally significant experience at the Garden.
Current Projects:
55th Ave S Sidewalk Project
Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has begun work on their 55th Ave S project adjacent to the Garden. This project will help establish formal sidewalks and drainage, helping with pedestrian access and flooding and debris entering the Kubota Garden’s koi ponds and Mapes Creek. Learn more on SDOT’s project webpage.
Parking Lot Expansion Project
The Parking Lot Expansion Project will help alleviate visitor capacity issues and increase accessibility. The project will include stormwater improvements with rain gardens to filter sediment before it enters the Garden ponds. Additionally, an updated Gathering Plaza will provide a larger accessible, pedestrian-friendly entry that includes a small kiosk with information about the Garden. The design and permitting process is currently underway.
The Parking Lot Expansion design is funded by the Seattle Parks District Major Projects Challenge Fund. Construction of the project is not currently funded and is anticipated to cost roughly $2.8 million.
Kubota Garden Visitor Center
The 1990 Kubota Garden Master Plan identified the need for a Visitor Center to provide services that would improve the visitor experience. With yearly increases in visitorship, as well as meeting the expectations of garden visitors, the need to provide additional facilities has gained importance. The new facilities would be located within a natural, historic, and culturally significant landscape with its structures designed to be secondary to the Garden setting. The anticipated primary uses would include a welcoming space with a reception/exhibit area and a small gift shop, a meeting room to accommodate program events and indoor exhibitions, restroom facilities, refreshment service, outdoor courtyards and decks for informal gatherings, and an office space.
Planning, programming, and early design efforts for the Visitor Center have begun and we anticipate holding a community meeting later this year to share the progress.
The current Visitor Center planning phase is funded by a $500,000 King County Parks Capital and Open Space Program grant. SPR and the Kubota Garden Foundation are working together to secure additional funding sources.
Recently Completed Projects:
Kubota Stormwater Study
The stormwater study for Kubota Garden is complete and the findings are fascinating! View the Stormwater Master Plan here. Interested to learn more?
The stormwater study was the first step for improving the cleanliness and visual water quality in the ponds of Kubota Garden, by finding ways to reduce and treat the volume and velocity of stormwater flows. Current maintenance practices require dredging of silt and sediment from the ponds. We are developing environmentally responsive solutions to improve the water quality of the ponds while maintaining base flows into Mapes Creek.
This effort was funded by the King County WaterWorks Grant Program, managed by the Kubota Garden Foundation, and is a collaboration with King County, Seattle Public Utilities (SPU), SPR, and many neighborhood stakeholders.
Kubota Garden Restroom
SPR is happy to announce that construction is completed, and restrooms and picnic areas were opened to the public in May 2023.
Funding for this project was provided by the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program (WWRP) grant for $500,000 and the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) grant for $500,000. Additionally, the Seattle Park District Major Projects Challenge Fund provides $100,000 with the Kubota Garden Foundation providing additional volunteer labor.
Kubota Temporary Nursery
This is a small fenced-in holding nursery for native trees and plants that is used to restore SPR owned natural areas in south Seattle, as well as housing some plant materials that require shade for use in Kubota Garden.
This development of a temporary nursery harkens back to the history of the garden being a working nursery and landscaping business. The plant deliveries will utilize the large service gate on 51st Ave S; watering and maintenance staff will park on the street and use the pedestrian gate. These gates will remain locked to maintain the overall security of the garden.
The Kubota Garden Perimeter Wall
A community-initiated project, the Seattle Park District Major Projects Challenge Fund provided matched funding for design/construction of an expansion to the existing ornamental wall. The project was completed in fall of 2019. The ornamental wall continues the wall built (primarily by volunteers) over the past 15 years. The wall is the same height and has the same beautiful roof and stucco finish as the wall of the entry gate. The additional wall helps secure and protect this Kubota Garden while enhancing the experience of the more than 65,000 people who visit this urban sanctuary each year.
Master Plan Update
The Kubota Garden Master Plan Update was completed at the end of 2019 and is a wonderful reflection on the history of the Kubota family, the historic and newer garden spaces and looks ahead as visitorship increases each year. How to identify and preserve the design intent behind these historic gardens is thoughtfully considered, and a first glimpse of the Visitor Center or Restrooms is included as we need to plan for increased visitors, climate impacts and respecting the history of the garden.
Community Participation
The Master Plan Update involved many people from the community. A summary of the community participation and links to the work during the masterplan update process can be found below.
Open Houses and Input Opportunities for the Kubota Garden Master Plan Update: June 17 and June 23, 2018
Kubota Garden Master Plan Update: October 13, 2018
Project Documents
- Preferred Concept Plan - February 2019
- Master Plan Update Video Presentation
- Kubota Garden Master Plan Update Workshop Sessions Summary
(May 7-9, 2018) - Kubota Garden Master Plan Update Schedule
(July 16, 2018)
For more information about the garden and the Kubota Garden Foundation visit http://www.kubotagarden.org.