Seattle's art scene showed its greener side last Saturday with the opening of the Olympic Sculpture Park (OSP), the newest opportunity for UW students to indulge their inner artistic wanderlust.

The park, which is nestled between Broad Street, Western Avenue and Elliott Bay, features works from the Seattle Art Museum's (SAM) collection of sculpture, works built into the fabric of the park, video projections, temporary installations and loaned works. It's also a beach right on the bay with a jaw-dropping view of both the city and the park's namesake, the Olympic Mountains.

"People who won't even walk across the street to view non-representational (abstract) art will come here because it's a great place to hit the beach, walk your dog or have a picnic," said Bruce C. Moore, who lives adjacent to the park space and has arduously documented the park from its humble beginnings.

The vision for the park grew in ambition as the project developed.

"Director Mimi Gates was interested in creating an outdoor venue for sculpture within the city," said Chris Rogers, director of capital projects at the SAM. "What it became was a park for art, but also its incredible open spaces also have a dramatic impact on our city's image and the waterfront."

Among the many pieces of art that adorn the park are works like Louise Bourgeois' Father and Son, which was created especially for the park; Alexander Calder's Eagle, which has rested at the Seattle Asian Art Museum until now; and Roy McMakin's Love and Loss, a piece which recalls hidden gardens of old where romance was abound.

One piece, Roxy Paine's Split, stands out amongst the rest. Split is a shining metallic rendition of a tree that is based on a detailed analysis of a tree's structure.

Not all of the park's artwork is purely ornamental, however.

Teresita Fernandez's Seattle Cloud Cover is a glass bridge that will actually serve as part of the park's meandering pathway.

There are also several benches throughout the OSP rendered in the form of disembodied eyes staring off into the distance, created by Bourgeois.

Many of the OSP pieces are interactive as well. Pedro Reyes' Capula XVI (obolo a), Capula XVII (obolo b), and Evolving City Wall Mural, 2006 are all part of his interactive series that he has installed around the world. Mark Dion's Seattle Vivarium serves as a learning lab on Northwest ecology.

The history of the park reaches back almost a decade.

In 1999 the SAM, in collaboration with the Land Trust Fund, purchased the last and largest plot of downtown waterfront property. The 9-acre plot, then covered in contaminated soil, was previously owned by Unocal and now offers Seattleites the only place with easy access to the waterfront.

"The land has gone from a flat, bio-waste-contaminated lot to a conceptual reconstruction of the waterfront," said Moore said.

According to the park's Web site, a 2,200-foot "Z"-shaped path stretches across the layout of the park. The path begins at city's edge at a glass pavilion that overlooks the park and provides its jaw-dropping views of the surroundings.

"The design is meant to slow down the transition between the city and the waterfront so people can really take it in," Moore said.

The path takes a viewer through three different emblematic Northwest settings, culminating at the water's edge.

The first zone is a dense temperate evergreen forest, the second a deciduous forest, and the third a waterfront garden providing aquatic terraces for fish and plant life.

As the continuous "Z" shape of the path winds its way to the water, it eventually forms the BNSF Railroad bridge, traversing right over the railroad tracks and Elliott Avenue and offering visitors a unique vantage point of the traffic below.

Perhaps the feature that possesses the greatest potential for public attention is the glass and steel pavilion at the park's city edge. The structure contains a café as well as room for educational programming. Adjacent to the pavilion is an outdoor amphitheatre offering the opportunity for musical and dramatic productions.

Many people were involved in the OSP project, ranging from donors to designers to construction firms.

The park posed an engineering and architectural challenge that eventually led to a great sense of accomplishment for those involved.

"For me this project was one of a rewarding collaboration between engineers and architects," said Drew Ganges, one of the lead civil engineers involved with the project. "We worked in a very close tandem with each other, more so than any other job I've worked on. It was lock step from the beginning."

One major issue for project was how to make the park's many elevation changes possible.

"The biggest challenge was how to find a cost-effective way to achieve the meandering, downward-sloping path down to the coastline and the earth-retaining system needed for this," Ganges said.

Ganges said a system similar to those used in highway construction was woven into the structure of the park to achieve this effect.

All those involved with the construction of the park came away from the project thoroughly satisfied, despite the challenge.

"It's better than I could have imagined," Ganges said. "Way better than it looked in the drawings."

Although the park serves many purposes and caters to all types of patrons, one common purpose seems to saturate its existence.

"We hope that [the park] becomes a catalyst for how we reshape and think about our downtown waterfront, so that it is more publicly accessible," Rogers said.

Reach reporter Camden Swita at features@thedaily.washington.edu