Address: 1321 SW 102nd Street

Area: 12 acres

Hours: dawn to dusk

Amenities: White Center Community Center, Mel Olson Stadium, children's play area with play structures, tennis courts, picnic tables and barbecues, picnic shelter, baseball fields, racquetball courts, restrooms.

Rentals:
For information on renting facilities at White Center Park (excluding the Community Center), please call 206-296-2959. For information about renting the Community Center, please call 206-296-2956.

King County's White Center Park may not be the biggest park in the King County Park System, but it's jam-packed with amenities and things to do. Not only does White Center Park feature a classic baseball stadium used by high schools and little leaguers, it's also home to historic White Center Park Community Center and recreation programs for teens and youth.

White Center Park covers about 12 acres of land right in the heart of the White Center community. Many teens and youth in the area are frequent visitors to White Center Park Community Center, which contains a gymnasium/auditorium and racquetball courts. The community center is used for a variety of King County recreation programs and can be rented for wedding receptions, parties, ceremonies as well as basketball and other sports. The gym/auditorium can accomodate up to 300 people. The large baseball stadium, known as Mel Olson Stadium, holds 1,200 spectators and is the home field for two high schools-Seattle Prep and Seattle Lutheran.

Many of the amenities at White Center Park are geared toward families and children, including a children's play area with swings and play structures. Picnicking is great at White Center Park at the rentable picnic shelter, and the barbecues and picnic tables available on a first-come, first-served basis.

For the active person, White Center Park has four outdoor tennis courts with lights, two racquetball courts, two baseball fields in addition to the stadium, and a grassy area that can be used for a variety of activities, such as Frisbee and a game of catch.

White Center Park was one of the first parks in the King County Park System, acquired in the late 1930's after the Washington State Legislature in 1937 passed a law authorizing counties to acquire parks for public use and enjoyment. This is the law that made county park systems possible, and the King County Park System was the first in the state. White Center Park Community Center is an historic log building, constructed after the park acquisition, one of eight "fieldhouses" built by King County between 1937 and 1940. In 1984 the community center was designated a historic landmark.