Camp Long Gateway Project: Honoring the life of Sheila Brown
The new Sheila Brown Gateway leading into Camp Long at 29th Avenue SW and SW Brandon Street.
Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association (DNDA) is happy to share with our community that the Sheila Brown Gateway Project at Camp Long is open for visitors!
The construction project honors Sheila Brown, who served as the director of Camp Long for 13 years. The gateway, which leads into the park, was funded through a community donation effort at the time of Sheila’s death from cancer in 2021 at 59 years old.
DNDA served as the fiscal sponsor of the project, which was initiated by Sheila’s family and completed by the City of Seattle. More than 125 community donors collectively contributed more than $41,000 to the Gateway Project.
The project includes a newly restored forest area and commemorative plaque dedicated to Sheila’s tenure as director of Camp Long from 2007-2020.
The project involved building a new gateway to Camp Long at the park’s side entrance at 29th Avenue SW and SW Brandon Street, replacing an old chain link gate. The entrance features a wrought–iron gate and stone pillars, echoing the pillars and gate at the park’s main entrance, which were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the 1930s.
Photo of Sheila Brown, a longtime leader in West Seattle’s environmental activism community.
During her long and impactful career, Sheila led and supported many environmental projects that endure to this day, including establishing the 4-H Challenge course at Camp Long and the Longfellow Creek Legacy Trail that runs through Delridge.
DNDA deeply appreciated Sheila as a community partner and inspiring person, and so did our friends at EarthCorps, The Common Acre, and many more organizations. She helped create the city’s Leaders in Environment, Equity, and Facilitation program to empower youth in communities of color to become environmental education leaders.
We encourage everyone to visit Camp Long and stop by the gateway to celebrate Sheila’s life and legacy.
– Written by DNDA’s Restoration Program Manager Ben Antonius