Salish Steps at Overlook Walk. Rendering by Field Operations, courtesy of the City of Seattle.
Donor Feature: The Nordstrom Family
Nordstrom team members tour the Seattle waterfront and explore the future of downtown.
Certain names have been inextricably linked to Seattle for generations, and Nordstrom is one of them. The company as well as individual members of the Nordstrom family have shown a deep love for and longstanding devotion to our city.
“Seattle has been Nordstrom’s home since 1901, and our commitment to this city, this community, and its people is steadfast,” says Erik Nordstrom, president and CEO of the company. In the fall of 2021, in the midst of the pandemic, the company committed $1 million to support Waterfront Park. “We believe in this city and the incredible assets we have here—assets that make Seattle a special place where people want to be,” Erik explains.
These sentiments are echoed by Bruce Nordstrom, the family patriarch, who is known to expound on his immense love for this place. Bruce and his wife Jeannie are longtime supporters of Friends of Waterfront Seattle, giving generously and recently stepping up with a second leadership gift to the Campaign for Waterfront Park. Jeannie, a longtime Friends board member, believes strongly in the power of Waterfront Park to serve as a catalyst for a reimagined downtown that will be here for generations. “Bruce and I made a second gift to the campaign to cement our commitment to not only building the park, but all it will take to care for it in the future,” she says.
The $200 million Campaign for Waterfront Park is the largest fundraising effort for public space in Seattle’s history, and members of the Nordstrom family understand that it’s going to take all of us—from major corporations to individual donors at every level—to realize a vision this big. “It’s a big tent—there’s room for everyone,” notes Jeannie.
A big tent is a fitting metaphor for Waterfront Park. This project is bringing people, organizations, and institutions together, building new partnerships, and deepening connections in enthusiastic support of this transformative new public space.“This is why projects like Waterfront Park are so important,” explains Erik. “Its very design is intended to keep us connected—to the landscape, to our city, and to each other.”
