"It's like a town square," said Alyne Fortgang, who’s lived in Seattle for nearly 50 years and visited Westlake Park hundreds of times for various events, rallies, protests and speakers.

But he left one project notably out of the speech: Westlake Park. The city of Seattle quietly started seeking feedback on building a new park, wedged between 4th and 5th, and Pike and Pine.

The DJC first reported in November on Seattle Parks Foundation and Seattle Parks and Recreation's project to improve and significantly upgrade Westlake Park. Landscape architecture firm Berger ...