Kaixo Corner
The City of Boise alongside Capital City Development Corporation (Boise’s renewal agency) is working to bring a new public space to downtown Boise that recognizes and celebrates the history, contributions, and culture of the diverse populations from the property’s historic Boise neighborhood.
Slated to open in Summer 2025, the new park will bring a gathering space, which will include seating, lighting, a small stage, and integrated public art honoring and celebrating the history of immigration in Boise, to an important part of our city’s downtown.
The parcel located at 521 W Grove Street sits adjacent to Boise’s Basque Block. For nearly four decades, the Letemendi family ran a boardinghouse there that housed hundreds of Basque immigrants. Meanwhile, immigrants from Japan, China, Ireland, Germany, and many other countries lived on surrounding blocks, forming a rich tapestry of language, food, and culture.
Naming the park “Kaixo Corner” (kie • sho) – meaning "hello" in Basque – bridges the art’s emphasis on other immigrant cultures with the site’s Basque history and proximity to this dynamic community.
About the Project
In January 2022, CCDC purchased a 0.21-acre parcel located at 521 W. Grove Street to create a public park space that celebrates the multicultural aspects of the Old Boise Neighborhood. The following year, in January 2023, CCDC, together with Boise Parks and Recreation and the Boise City Department of Arts & History, kicked off the 521 W. Grove Street project with a public outreach effort aimed at gathering feedback to guide the design of the future park site and public art. The project design team has since been diligently developing and guiding the project forward and, in the process, selected Hua Design Studio through a Call to Artists to provide public art for the space.
The Old Boise Blocks on Grove Street is an area of the Old Boise neighborhood on the east side of downtown where focused investment—both public and private—is underway. Several new residential buildings have been completed adjacent to the new park’s location, bringing residents back to the neighborhood. Additionally, a new hotel and commercial spaces have been built nearby. The new park space will serve as a public amenity and gathering place for nearby residents, employees, and visitors to downtown Boise.
The project masterplan has been approved by the Parks and Recreation Commission, City Council and City of Boise Design Review.
View the Preferred Site Design
For more information, visit CCDC’s website.
Groundbreaking Ceremony
About the Public Art
In December 2023, the City of Boise executed a contract with Huameng Yu and Louis Chinn, a multidisciplinary artist team based in Murphys, California, with over 25 years of professional experience throughout the country as well as internationally. Since then, the artists have completed extensive research and design work in collaboration with the public space design team to develop public art concepts that will bring light to a unique tapestry of voices that have been both visible and hidden from modern memory.
When the park opens to the public in the summer 2025, park visitors will enjoy four individual art elements, which together will tell a comprehensive story of migration, culture and ecology: Ancestral Pillars and Storylines, concrete pillars and paths that reference the earlier history of the neighborhood, leading to a Sky River shade structure that highlights the water that drew people to this area and neighborhood, and culminating in mountain Dreamscape, brass mountains that suggest a culturally diverse future.
Learn more about the artists:
•louischinn.com
•misstangq.com
Project completion estimates are subject to change due to volatility in the construction industry. Current challenges include material availability, rising costs, supply chain disruptions, staffing shortages and more. Boise Parks and Recreation will update project timelines as needed if delays occur.
Send a Message to Parks and Rec
For other after hours park related emergencies (i.e. irrigation issues, restrooms), please call (208) 489-6640.