Boeing Family Gifts $1.5M to Seattle Hospital for Expansion

William Jr. and June Boeing bestowed a $1.5-million gift for Seattle Children’s Building Hope critical, cancer and emergency care expansion. Approximately $1 million will go toward funding the expansion’s greatest needs. The remaining $500,000 will help support a new rooftop terrace that will provide patients and their families a calming environment geared toward reflection and emotional healing.

To honor the Boeings’ gift and their family’s eight-decade commitment to Children’s, the Building Hope ground level outdoor park will be named the William Boeing Park and Garden Walk. The space will include benches and outdoor art surrounded by colorful native plants.  

William Boeing Sr., who founded The Boeing Company in 1916, began the family’s legacy of support for Children’s by making crucial donations in the 1930s. Anonymous at the time, the donations helped the hospital remain financially stable. William Boeing Jr. has since followed his father’s example and he and his wife have been steadfast supporters of the hospital’s mission.

The terrace will be located on the Building Hope rooftop and will feature a deck that is easily accessible from the new cancer unit. It will include potted plants, small trees and shrubs of multiple species that will bloom year round. In addition, it will highlight expansive views of the surrounding area, benches and other resting spots for healing and relaxation. It will also be surrounded by a green roof planted with sedum and grasses that will grow three to four feet tall and wave in the winds creating a comforting visual experience. The rooftop terrace gift is expressly from June Boeing and can be partially attributed to her passion for gardening.

Building Hope will open in April 2013 and will include 80 private rooms for cancer and critical care patients, as well as a new emergency department. The expanded facility will allow the hospital to handle its large volume of patients while delivering superior care to members of the community and surrounding regions.

The William Boeing Park and Garden Walk will be accessible when the building opens. The rooftop terrace is expected to open late 2013.

Photos courtesy of Seattle Children’s.