West Seattle, Washington
15 Tuesday
An update from SDOT‘s Marybeth Turner on the SW Genesee paving plan between 47th and 49th SW: She says they’re now looking at next Tuesday, “weather permitting,” and the work will probably take all day. SDOT says traffic will be able to get through during the work.
As first reported here in April, the redevelopment plan for The Kenney is undergoing some revision – changing into “something smaller,” as T.J. Lehman of West Seattle-based Euclid Development told the Morgan Community Association at their last quarterly meeting. As part of the changes, The Kenney has just sold some land. CEO Kevin McFeely confirmed to WSB not only that they’re selling 7022 46th Avenue SW (the quarter-acre parcel across SW Myrtle from The Kenney’s NE corner; the site holds an old house and was listed for just under half a million dollars), but that the deal is closing today. He explains that “the property no longer fits into our plans” because of the “retooling” of the redevelopment project. McFeely says he expects to be able to reveal more specifics on the downsized project by the end of next month. (Our 2-year archive of stories on The Kenney’s project can be browsed here.)
The stalled development on the southeast corner of 35th/Avalon will get going again, according to a report in today’s Daily Journal of Commerce. The DJC says “an entity” of Bellevue-based Longwell Company has paid $4 million cash for it. That’s all we know so far — all but the first paragraph of the DJC story is behind a paywall — but we’ll be gathering more information to add as we get it. The project stalled after its original owner, Michael Mastro, was forced into Chapter 7 last year. The DPD permit history for the site is here. 1:10 PM: Thanks to those who’ve sent the rest of the DJC story. While we cannot and would not cut and paste copyrighted material, we’ll note that they also report Longwell says the building will be apartments for the foreseeable future, with rents starting around $1,000, because they’ll have “high-end finishes.” The article also has an interesting tidbit, citing West Seattle’s apartment-vacancy rate at 5.4 percent.
Quick look at today/tonight highlights: Low-tide time again, -2.3 at 10:49 am (here’s the chart – gets even lower this weekend) … West Seattle’s first major high-school commencement ceremony of the month is tonight, Seattle Lutheran High School … Tonight’s the wine and jazz fundraiser for Chief Sealth International High School‘s Jazz Band @ EB Foote Winery in Burien – e-mail pdsampson@comcast.net to be sure tickets are still available … The rescheduled summer wine release at South Seattle Community College is today and tomorrow … Last day of “filing week” if you’re thinking of running for something (for local races, no surprises so far on the state list or county list) … Illusions Hair Design (WSB sponsor) hosts a special art/food/wine event tonight … The annual Seattle Playwrights Studio showcase starts tonight at ArtsWest … More details on the above – and more events – on the WSB West Seattle Events calendar page!
(Photo by Christopher Boffoli)
The monthly West Seattle Art Walk is more than a night for admiring art. At Youngstown Cultural Arts Center in North Delridge last night, it was also an occasion for borrowing it, as the Art Lending Library opened for the night. It’s been a year since the ALL made its debut – in this June 2009 story, artist Seth Damm explained it on video, and last night he was busy explaining it to prospective borrowers:
(Photo by Christopher Boffoli)
The Art Walk is also often a night for music. At wine shop Bin 41 (WSB sponsor) in The Junction, along with watercolors by Lee Copeland, we found Red Dog:
(Photo by Christopher Boffoli)
They played Appalachian music, while the Bin 41 team poured wine from South Africa:
(Photo by Christopher Boffoli)
Also in The Junction, another WSB sponsor, Mural Apartments, also featured live music – here’s video of the Velveteen Lotharios:
(Video by Patrick Sand)
In keeping with the building’s name, Mural’s lobby is meant as gallery space – you can even see art through the windows as you walk by on 42nd SW. Heading back west through The Junction, at CAPERS, featured artist Jennifer Ament has chosen to help wildlife through her imagery of it:
(Photo by Patrick Sand)
CAPERS’ Lisa Myers explains that Jennifer “is donating 20% of her art sales to the National Wildlife Federation for sealife rescue in the Gulf [of Mexico] through June 24th. … She has just released a heron, nautilus, sea fan and whale as part of her growing collection of linoleum cut prints.”
Ahead – more photos, including two examples of last night’s Art Walk spotlight shining on food:Read More
Early warning: About 3,000 homes in West Seattle will get something special on their doorsteps next week, and it’s something that local Windermere Real Estate agents hope you will use. Next Wednesday (6/16), they will distribute bags for a food-donation drive that’s part of their annual Community Service Day; then next Friday (6/18), they will return to the 3,000 or so homes where they left bags, hoping to find them filled with nonperishable food for the West Seattle Food Bank and White Center Food Bank. If you get one of the bags on your doorstep – point person Doug Baldwin says the volunteers will be hitting various neighborhoods – here’s the flyer you’ll find with it.
With the future of the now-vacant ex-Genesee Hill Elementary School building one of their area’s hottest topics, the new Genesee-Schmitz Neighborhood Council had Seattle School Board rep Steve Sundquist on its first-ever general-meeting agenda. By the time he spoke, about 50 people were at the meeting, held at West Side Presbyterian Church. And before it ended, the group had elected its first official slate of officers. Toplines after the jump:Read More
Kitty Harbor, a nonprofit shelter and adoption facility on the south end of Harbor Avenue just before The Bridge, is open again for the summer, and getting ready to go into its second weekend. Jess Cliffe e-mailed WSB to share photos and this report :
It was a really successful weekend – we adopted out nearly 30 cats and kittens, all to great homes. … On top of all of our adoptions, we had a number of people from West Seattle come in to drop off donations, and offer to volunteer or be foster homes. It’s great to see the community coming together to help out animals in our area.
In fact, just today, we received a Facebook message from Melissa, telling us about three kittens she’s been fostering at her West Seattle home (photos here) – with adoption available through Kitty Harbor, which incidentally has a new website this year, as mentioned in previews last weekend – see it here. They’re open Saturdays and Sundays, 1-6 pm.
Tonight’s West Seattle Art Walk is only half over – you’ve still got lots of time to go visit at least a few venues (here’s the printable map). At Click! Design That Fits (WSB sponsor) in the Admiral District, for one, new paintings are in from featured artist Rachel Austin, like the one shown above – which, if you look very closely, actually incorporates an Alki Point map! It’s a cozy 5″ x 5″. There’s music, food and more, from Alki to Delridge to Fauntleroy and many points inbetween. Here’s our earlier preview; wsartwalk.com has even more highlights. We’ll have more photos to share later tonight.
Just in from SDOT:
Crews working on the Spokane Street Viaduct Project will close the intersection at First Avenue S and S Spokane Street for the weekend, beginning at 8:30 pm tomorrow (Friday, June 11). The intersection will be closed to all through traffic until early Monday (June 14) at 6 a.m. The closure is required to complete work on the water main under the roadway. The eastbound off-ramp from the Spokane Street Viaduct (from the West Seattle Bridge) to First Avenue South will remain open. Detours will be provided for north and southbound traffic on First Avenue.
That’s Mayor Mike McGinn at last night’s 34th District Democrats meeting, warning again that the city budget picture remains ugly. He also said the much-awaited (albeit nervously awaited, by many) midyear cuts are soon to be “rolled out” – and this afternoon, we’ve learned the “rollout” is set for Monday morning — city budget boss Beth Goldberg is scheduled to brief the City Council Budget Committee on the midyear cuts at 10:30 am Monday, according to the agenda just sent out. McGinn was at the 34th DDs’ meeting at The Hall at Fauntleroy along with Council President Richard Conlin and Councilmember Bruce Harrell – read on for notes on what else they said, including their answers to audience questions (besides the Admiral crosswalk Q/A we reported separately this morning):Read More
3 months after we first reported the impending arrival of The Beer Junction across 42nd SW from the north end of Jefferson Square, the sign is up … and proprietor Morgan Herzog is inside with … yes … beer!
We went in to check in on his progress toward getting the store open; he tells us that if all goes well, he might be open as soon as the end of next week. That would be ahead of the schedule he was hoping for when we talked to him in March! As for the beer, he mentions he’s particularly proud of having been able to procure Pliny the Elder.
Out of the inbox, forwarded by a few folks (thank you!), SDOT’s Paul Elliott sent out this alert regarding the “low bridge” during the evening commute:
I just was told that we expect NOAA to bring two large vessels through the swing bridge this afternoon, probably about 5:30, but perhaps ten or fifteen minutes earlier. We expect the openings to last in the 25-30 minute range. Apparently we didn’t get notification until yesterday afternoon, hence this last-minute push to get the word out.
Also remember that SDOT sends word of imminent rush-hour low-bridge openings via Twitter, but this is an earlier heads-up in case you want to plot an alternate path/time to go home.
So reports the state Ecology Department, following up on the sheen sighted on the river on May 29th (WSB coverage here) – read on for their followup:Read More
(NOTE: Updated repeatedly since first publication; thanks to Nancy for the added research)
More than a few people requested a list of West Seattle establishments that plan to have the World Cup on their bigscreens as play begins this week (here’s the schedule) – and it also came up in the WSB Forums. So WSB contributor Keri DeTore started investigating. The following venues say they’ll be showing World Cup games during their regular business hours, unless otherwise noted – such as Abbondanza, Angelina’s and Beveridge Place Pub, which will be open some special hours for viewing. (For hours/contact info, we have linked establishment names to their website – except for those that do not have readily locatable sites, in which case we’ve used other online listings). Click ahead for the list (and let us know if there’s someplace we’re missing!):Read More
(Photo courtesy Historic Seattle)
The date is now set – two weeks later than previously projected – for the Landmarks Preservation Board to vote on whether to make West Seattle’s “Bloss House” an official city landmark. Board members decided in April (WSB coverage here) to proceed with consideration, but that’s no guarantee of designation. It’s a 95-year-old Craftsman home at (4055 SW Holgate), most notable as a largely unaltered example of the working-class bungalow that dominated so much of the residential construction back then. The two-part nomination document presented to the board (text here, photos here) includes a peek into West Seattle history as well as the background of the house itself. The designation vote is set for the board’s 3:30 pm meeting next Wednesday, June 16, on the 40th floor of the Municipal Tower downtown.
Today is the last day of classes at Chief Sealth International High School for seniors, whose graduation ceremony is coming up next week. And for one of them, Sabas Rousseau, this is a truly memorable day – as he got a big surprise: Cirque de Soleil performers and reps from Sun Life Financial showed up to give him a Rising Star $5,000 scholarship – which he didn’t know about in advance! Flanking Sabas in the photo are Sealth principal John Boyd and Sun Life’s Mark O’Connor. The surprise award was elaborately orchestrated – Sabas and a small group of his fellow seniors were invited to come see a special show in honor of their last day of classes – here’s a card-trick skit, in which Sealth senior Daniel Davis played the sidekick:
Sabas, by the way, is one of three area students receiving a Rising Star scholarship today – the only one from West Seattle. In addition to his academic achievement, Sabas is an active volunteer, and is involved with Treehouse‘s College and Career Planning program, which helps foster-care youth with college and career readiness; as part of this award, Treehouse receives a $50,000 grant for financial education.
New details from police this morning in the incident dispatched last night in Westwood as an “assault with weapons.” While shots apparently were fired, police tell us, no one was hit – but two people were beaten. Det. Mark Jamieson says the first call went out as a “fight disturbance in progress with shots fired” at 29th SW/SW Trenton. Several people said they saw teens fighting and heard four gunshots. When police got there, they found, according to Det. Jamieson, “a group of about 20 people huddled around a male victim who was sprawled out on the sidewalk, northeast corner of the intersection. At first, officer thought victim had been shot, because of the way he was lying and he was unresponsive. He was, in fact, not shot, but had been badly beaten up.” He was taken to the hospital; another male had injuries to the face and head, Det. Jamieson says, but didn’t need hospitalization. The two had been “‘jumped’ by at least 12 other males,” who allegedly shot at them as they tried to run away; police “were able to locate where the shots were fired from (29th SW/SW Cloverdale). After officers were able to interview everyone involved , three young men were arrested and booked into King County Jail for investigation of assault.”
That’s the new promotional video for the monthly West Seattle Art Walk – and tonight’s the June edition, 6-9 pm, dozens of venues all over our peninsula (here’s the printable map). Baked goods figure prominently in tonight’s plan – new Heavenly Pastry in the Admiral District makes its Art Walk debut, and Baked in Seattle marks its “grand opening” in part of the Blue Willow space in The Junction … Or if you want something to wash down the baked treats, Bin 41 wine shop (WSB sponsor) is having a wine tasting for those who stop in during Art Walk – live music too. And at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, the Art Lending Library is open tonight – a rare occasion! Check wsartwalk.com for Art Walk venue previews. Also tonight, the 1st official meeting of the new Genesee-Schmitz Neighborhood Council, 7 pm at West Side Presbyterian Church (more here) … The city Parks Board will hear a briefing, with time for public comment, on the possibility that King County might seek to place a Combined Sewer Overflow-reduction facility at Lowman Beach Park – the briefing paper’s here; the meeting’s at 7 pm at Woodland Park Zoo, in the Activity Center near the west entrance … More, on the WSB West Seattle Events calendar page.
As previewed here Wednesday morning, an Admiral Neighborhood Association delegation took the mike at last night’s 34th District Democrats meeting to make a pitch to Mayor Mike McGinn, City Council President Richard Conlin, and Councilmember Bruce Harrell: Make the 47th/Admiral intersection safer with a pedestrian-activated street light. Our clip shows ANA president Katy Walum making the pitch (applauded by the 34th DDs) and the mayor’s reply – which boiled down to, he needs to ask SDOT what they think. Just a few hours earlier, it turns out, Walum had received some new information from SDOT:
She forwarded us a Wednesday afternoon note from SDOT’s Luke Korpi, who wrote that the department “will be conducting another study for a pedestrian signal at Admiral Way at 47th Ave SW. This will probably be completed in about two to three months.”
As for the 34th DDs – we’ve got another story in the works, focusing on the rest of the group’s hour-plus discussion with the mayor and councilmembers – topics ranged from the Viaduct/Tunnel situation to whether the city will step up to fund the White Center Food Bank for the work it does on behalf of in-city residents.
(King County rendering of South Park Bridge, post-closure, leaves permanently up)
Story and photos by Jonathan Stumpf
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
If you can’t have a bridge – how about a gondola?
That was one of the ideas in circulation last night as more than 100 people gathered at the South Park Community Center to ask Mayor Mike McGinn what kind of assistance the City of Seattle will provide as they prepare for the June 30 closure of the South Park Bridge.
The two-hour meeting began with a short speech from Mayor McGinn, introducing his team assigned to assist with the neighborhood transition, and discussing key points in the finalized bridge-closure plan. The majority of the evening was an open forum for questions from residents and business owners about how to help the neighborhood cope with the closure.
“South Park is a great neighborhood and our neighborhood,” said McGinn to attendees. “We’re prepared to do our fair share.”
The questions posed to Mayor McGinn, and later councilmember Sally Clark — the lone representative from the City Council — were from a frustrated community disappointed with how their government had failed them, but seeming accepting of their fate, and willing to move forward to work toward a solution to save the neighborhood.
(City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen at the meeting Wednesday night; DPD’s Susan McLain is at right)
They’ve talked about parking, streetscapes, and more … and Wednesday night, the West Seattle Triangle Advisory Group, assembled and convened by the city this spring, was to take on land use, though the meeting ultimately sprawled across broader ground.Read More
Story and photos by Jason Grotelueschen
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
Just under 30 people turned out tonight for the King County Water Taxi Town Hall at Alki Community Center, hosted by County Councilmember Jan Drago, who also chairs the King County Ferry District board.
Joining Drago were Hank Myers, who became KCFD Executive Director in March, and Scott Davis, director of the Marine Division of the King County Department of Transportation. The trio answered questions from attendees, provided updates on the state of the service and its two routes, and gathered information via a survey handout and a “Where Do You Live?” posterboard. Also in attendance was Chris Arkills, transportation adviser to County Executive Dow Constantine, a longtime Water Taxi champion.
The West Seattle-to-downtown run of the 2010 Water Taxi season has been underway for just over two months since its April 5 kickoff. Although the county leaders touted the overall success of the program (which features an upgraded West Seattle dock, relocated downtown dock, new vessel, and new fare structure), Davis reported that overall West Seattle-to-downtown ridership is down about 40% from the same period in 2009 (which was way up from 2008). Vashon-to-downtown ridership, he added, is strong.Read More
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