By Angela Mele
Some of our favorite projects integrate science and design to create public places that are not only sustainable, but that also tell stories about relationships between people, land, water, and technology in the Pacific Northwest.
In August, we celebrated the grand opening of one of these places: the newly expanded Feriton Spur Park on a rail trail called the Cross Kirkland Corridor. Hosted by the City, this event brought several of our project partners and community members together for an unveiling of the park’s new offerings including a caboose café, pickleball court, fruit and flower gardens, splash area, restrooms, and amphitheater.
One focal point of the park’s expansion is a public artwork designed by Watershed’s Amber Mikluscak, a senior landscape architect and artist. “Kalakala in Flight” incorporates pieces of a historic ferry, known as the Kalakala, which was partially built near the park’s site in the 1930s.
A VESSEL OF BYGONE ERAS
Here is a glimpse of the Kalakala’s many incarnations, from art deco icon to party boat to abandoned fish cannery.
Crowds cheered as the Kalakala was towed to Seattle’s waterfront in 1998. But financial support ran dry, and the damaged ferry was moved to Lake Union where she was seen as an eyesore. The Kalakala was auctioned off again, moved to Neah Bay, then in 2004 moved to Tacoma. Time passed, and so did a state law regarding removal of abandoned vessels. The Coast Guard declared the ship a hazard to navigation.
The City of Kirkland acquired a wheelhouse, doors, a rudder trim, and pieces of stair railings. They also bought a section of windows from the bow of the ship for future public art.
In 2019, while The Watershed Company and partners were designing the Feriton Spur Park expansion, the City arranged for our team to visit the salvaged remnants and consider how they might find new life in the park. We were honored by the opportunity to create an artwork that both brings people together and instills the park expansion with a unique sense of place.
REIMAGINING THE KALAKALA
Watershed artist and senior landscape architect Amber Mikluscak, share how she conceptualized the final sculptures:
Q: How do you hope people will perceive or experience “Kalakala in Flight?”
A: During the Kalakala’s service as a ferry, people would see it all the time: crossing the water, parked in harbors. It was both commonplace and iconic. I hope that through its reimagining, in its new form and location, it’ll regain that day-to-day familiarity. I hope people form a new kind of relationship with it.
Q: Over the years, many works of art have been made about the Kalakala, or at least have been imagined and considered. How did you come up with the idea for this series of sculptures?
A: We tested a lot of ideas, but the most informative thing was to create paper maquettes—tiny models—that could be manipulated and cut up. Today, we’re used to seeing images of the wreckage of the boat. But in its heyday, you would have noticed its impact on the water; the reflections and movement. There’s a beautiful photo of passengers looking out of its round portholes as the sun set. It made me think of how light and water would interact with the boat. The documentation about the boat's history says that “Kalakala” means “flying birds” in Chinook, so I was also thinking about how shorebirds glimmer, drag their feet on the water, create a wake. And the Kalakala’s art deco form is shorebird-like, to me.
The newly installed sculpture now creates a lively gathering spot within the larger public space—itself a revitalization of land shaped by an ebb and flow of industry, transport, and recreation.