Ribbon cutting opens Johnny Ellis Rainbow Bridge Park in Anchorage's Fairview

A ribbon cutting Tuesday afternoon opened the Johnny Ellis Rainbow Bridge Park in Fairview, four years after the Anchorage Assembly attached the former state senator's name to the site.

The park runs along A Street between 15th Avenue and 13th Avenue, spanning Fairview and South Addition. Ellis represented Anchorage in the Alaska State Legislature from 1987 to 2017.

Former state Sen. Tom Begich, who succeeded Ellis in the Alaska State Senate, attended the opening. "Johnny dedicated decades to serving Alaska, giving a voice to those too often unheard and bringing people together," Begich said in a post about the event. "This park is a fitting tribute to his legacy."

The Assembly passed AO 2022-110 in 2022, naming the 15th Avenue bridge over A Street the Johnny Ellis Rainbow Bridge and the adjacent park for him as well. Anchorage Parks and Recreation says on its project page that it worked with the group Friends of Johnny Ellis to select amenities and improvements for an initial phase of placemaking. The page describes the project as one that will add amenities, signage and placemaking elements to honor the late senator, with the selected amenities and improvements marking that initial phase.

That partnership gives Friends of Johnny Ellis a direct role in choosing amenities and shaping how the memorial park is experienced. Residents of Fairview and South Addition, meanwhile, live with the park's design, signage and naming as part of their local streetscape.

The rainbow bridge name references Ellis' advocacy for LGBTQ+ and other underrepresented Alaskans during his three decades in the Alaska State Legislature.