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 late state senator's name to the site.

The park runs along A Street between 15th and 13th avenues, spanning Fairview and South Addition. Ellis represented Anchorage in the Legislature from 1987 to 2017, moving from the House to the Senate in 1993. He died in February 2022 at 61, and Gov. Mike Dunleavy ordered flags flown at half-staff in his honor.

Former state Sen. Tom Begich, who succeeded Ellis in the 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 named the 15th Avenue bridge over A Street the Johnny Ellis Rainbow Bridge in 2022, and the adjacent park for him as well. Anchorage Parks and Recreation worked with a group, Friends of Johnny Ellis, on a first phase of improvements — benches, signage and interpretive information — set for installation this year.

The rainbow bridge name honors Ellis' advocacy for LGBTQ+ and other underrepresented Alaskans across his three decades in the Legislature.