Grieving family drops lawsuit over Gas Works Park death

The family of a 14-year-old Ballard High School student who fell to his death at Gas Works Park last year has dropped their lawsuit against Seattle after the city pulled down part of the park's looming tanks and structures to discourage people from climbing on them.

The lawsuit, filed by the family of Mattheis Johnson last October, noted that Johnson's was the third death resulting from falls off the rust-covered complex. Following the resolution of an ongoing conflict between Seattle Parks and Recreation and the Landmark Preservation Board - which saw the removal of several ladders, catwalks and platforms, some 50 feet in the air - the family opted to dismiss the nuisance claim, said attorney Karen Koehler, whose firm Stritmatter Law had taken on the lawsuit at no cost.

In addition to the three deaths, the structure has been the site of dozens of less-serious falls since the city opened the park in 1975 on the site of a coal gasification plant formerly operated by Seattle Gas Light Co., which ceased operation 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 family's lawsuit alleged Gas Works posed a serious threat to park visitors and that the city itself has declared the plant's repair an emergency. It claimed funds were available to repair the structure and ameliorate the risk to park visitors, but the repairs remained on hold while the two city departments argued over the structure's future.

Following Johnson's death on July 10, Seattle Parks and Recreation declared an emergency and proposed removing all climbable surfaces.

The city's Landmarks Preservation Board in October rejected the Parks 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.

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 was the third young person to die on the structure since 2012.

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.

In 2016, the city studied the structure and determined that the climbing elements should be removed. Selective pruning was performed as a short-term solution but was ineffective.

The family, which brought the unusual nuisance lawsuit in October, filed a motion for summary judgment last month asking the court to rule that the structure posed a dangerous nuisance and to order the city to take action. The city began tearing down climbable surfaces on April 22, according to Koehler, just days before the motion was set to be heard. Remediation was completed on Tuesday, and the family moved to dismiss its claim, she said.

"The Johnsons' nuisance lawsuit proves that a community does not need to stand by helplessly when a city abdicates its responsibility to protect its young, Koehler said.

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