The family of a 15-year-old Ballard High School student who fell to his death at Gas Works Park has filed a nuisance lawsuit against Seattle, seeking to force the city to address the dangers posed by the park’s looming tanks and structures.
The lawsuit, filed by the family of Mattheis Johnson, notes his was the third death resulting from falls off the rust-covered complex of old tanks, pipes, ladders and cracking towers at the park since 2012. Dozens of less-serious fall injuries have been reported since the city opened the park in 1970 on the site of a coal gasification plant, operated by Seattle Gas Light Co., which ceased operations in 1956.
The park is a Seattle landmark and the site of concerts and gatherings, including the annual Lake Union Fourth of July fireworks display.
The lawsuit alleges Gas Works poses a serious threat to park visitors and that the city itself has declared the plant’s repair an emergency. It says funds are available to repair the structure and ameliorate the risk to park visitors, but the repairs remain on hold while two city departments argue over the structure’s future.
Following Johnson’s death in July, Seattle Parks and Recreation declared an emergency and proposed removing all climbable surfaces, which reach heights of 50 feet and are ringed with catwalks, platforms and ladders.
However, the city’s Landmarks Preservation Board in October rejected SPR’s proposal, emphasizing the features have historical value and are integral to the park’s designation as a Seattle landmark and its listing on the National Register of Historic Places. The board wants to explore other alternatives, such as security cameras.
“The city’s internal squabbling is an embarrassment to this city,” said attorney Karen Koehler, whose firm, Stritmatter Law, filed the lawsuit pro bono — for free — on behalf of Johnson’s parents and brother. The city’s inaction is “a slap in the face to this grieving family and shows reckless disregard to the safety of our community,” Koehler said.
Tim Robinson, a spokesperson for City Attorney Ann Davison, said the city has no comment on the lawsuit.
The city has fenced off the giant cracking tower and other structures at the park, but that hasn’t stopped the adventurous from scaling the fence and climbing on the towers and tanks, which remain a hazardous waste site.
According to police and news reports, Johnson was attending an outdoor “pop-up concert” on July 10 and was climbing on the structure when he fell 50 feet.
Johnson is at least the third person since 2012 to die after climbing one of the structures at the 19-acre park.
Lucas Voss-Kernan, a 19-year-old from Massachusetts, fell from a fuel tank and died while visiting Seattle on a road trip in May 2012, The Boston Globe reported at the time. Zoe Jelinek, 20, of Seattle, died after falling about 50 feet from the park’s main tower in 2022, according to the Seattle Police Department and an obituary.
Others have been hurt in similar falls, including a 22-year-old man in 2008 and a 19-year-old man in 2013, according to Seattle police.
Koehler said the structure attracts children and young adults “like the pied piper,” and the city needs to overcome the interdepartmental stalemate and address the issue. “The edifice at Gas Works Park is designed to be climbed” but is not safe, she said. “Enough is enough.”
