Ballard Commons is set to reopen in early 2023, over a year after the city cleared out a homeless encampment at the park.  Seattle Council Member Dan Strauss, who represents District Six, said the park is scheduled for a grand re-opening sometime in 2023.  "While I wanted to reopen the park sooner, some important work had not been completed in time for a summer reopening, and I am excited the planning for the grand reopening has begun," Strauss wrote in an update published in December 2022.  Ballard Commons has been closed since December 2021, when the City of Seattle conducted a homeless encampment sweep. The sweep came after neighbors and businesses nearby voiced their frustrations about safety concerns. The city offered temporary housing for the people at the encampment. Since then, the park has been fenced off as the city worked to make improvements. "Success is not clearing a park," Strauss said. "Success is getting people inside, success is changing the way our neighborhood looks feels, and operates. I’ve long said that our parks, our libraries, and our buses should not be homeless shelters because we need shelters and housing operating at the scale of our crisis. We need real, lasting solutions tailored to move people inside and, once there, stay on a path toward permanent housing. This is one of my top goals as a City Councilmember, and I am proud to be working with so many different entities to lead this work." READ THE FULL STORY: https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/seattle/ballard-commons-park-reopen-early-2023/281-c265f0e8-1b92-4c5d-bf70-294de011865d