West Seattle, Washington
27 Saturday
Remember when we talked about the city’s “Give Your Car the Summer Off” campaign a couple weeks ago, and mentioned the city would identify certain streets for “Car-Free Days” before summer’s end? A briefing paper for tonight’s Parks Board meeting (same one where the beach-fire-ban briefing is planned) says:
SDOT is proposing Car Free Days for one Sunday each during this August and possibly September at these locations:
• Alki, between the Water Taxi dock at Seacrest Park and 63rd Ave SW in West Seattle;
• Create a loop from Pioneer Square to Pike Place Market via Alaskan Way and First Avenue to Olympic Sculpture Park;
• Connect Magnuson Park to Seward Park via Burke Gilman Trail, the Arboretum, part of Montlake Bridge and Lake Washington Blvd and encourage attendees of the Pro Bike Pro Walk event to participate.There will be the need for close coordination as park usage will be involved. For all locations, SDOT is interested in linking to special events and/or including programmed activities to enhance public awareness of the program and have a critical mass of public participation.
You can read the whole briefing paper here. A public hearing is planned on the proposed road closures during tonight’s Seattle Parks Board meeting; it starts at 7 pm at Parks Department HQ in Denny Park, 100 Dexter Ave. N. (scroll down this page for directions), and the sign-up sheet for public comment is available starting at 6 pm. It’s one of a mountain of major events tonight (all listed on West Seattle’s most comprehensive events calendar) – if you can’t go, here’s how to send written comments.
That’s longtime Highland Park resident Monica Cavagnaro, talking to the 34th District Democrats last night about how her neighborhood has evolved, and why HP is fighting the inclusion of two nearby sites (map) on the city’s list of four finalists for a potential new city misdemeanor-offender jail. The jail-sites fight was the big item on the 34th Dems’ monthly meeting agenda; more ahead on that, and other items:Read More
The WSB inbox has been devoid of first-person crime reports lately, so when we dropped by the Southwest Precinct this afternoon to check the latest police reports, we asked Lt. Steve Paulsen if things are indeed as quiet as they seem. Not entirely crime-free, as you’ll see in this report, but yes (knock wood), it’s been relatively quiet. After more than a dozen burglary arrests, for example, they think the word’s starting to get out on the street that you’re not so likely to get away with it in West Seattle. That said, we’ve got some summaries to share, including burglaries and car break-ins as well as the search for a man who tried to lure a girl into his car, gang-affiliated squatters getting the boot, more cases of alert witnesses helping foil crimes, and more – all from a full week’s worth of reports:Read More
Just checked the city’s Design Review website – if you want a sneak peek, you can now see the proposals, renderings and all, that will be made tomorrow night for both 3811 California SW (as previewed here this morning) and 4532 42nd SW. Click here for 3811 California (which is on tomorrow night’s Design Review Board agenda at 6:30 pm); click here for 4532 42nd (on the agenda at 8 pm); both meetings at Madison Middle School.
Also from last night’s Fauntleroy Community Association meeting: The board agreed to support a proposal by members Sherry and Ron Richardson, to request signage along Fauntleroy Way asking drivers to turn off their engines while waiting, to reduce fuel use, noise, and pollution.
Thanks to Todd for the tip – more of the work promised by the city along Barton near Westwood Village is getting done – the tape and cones are protecting newly poured ramps at the crosswalk between the shopping center and Roxhill Park. This WSB report from April has more on what’s to be done in this area (which is just east of where parking restrictions were put into place to try to discourage “car ranching”).
Three quick updates in the fight over where the city might build a potential new jail for misdemeanor offenders (it’s announced 4 sites as finalists, and 2 of them are in southeast West Seattle): First, the city’s added another page to its informational web site — the new Frequently Asked Questions page features its answers to some of the questions it’s received. Second, two more neighborhood groups discussed their positions on the issue last night; the Fauntleroy Community Association‘s board “voiced its opposition to the siting of jails in residential areas on the basis of land-use planning policy and the unnecessary costs and logistics of inmate transfers and lack of access to services needed by inmates (legal, bail, and city services),” according to Lynn Olson; meantime, we were at the Admiral Neighborhood Association meeting as members considered whether to sign on to a letter officially opposing the sites, and it’s decided to abstain for now. Third, the 34th District Democrats will discuss the jail-sites fight at their regular monthly meeting tonight, 7 pm, The Hall @ Fauntleroy.
Managed to grab and deploy the camera quickly when we happened onto those motorcycle officers late this morning on 35th by the Golf Course entrance. That, a phone call, and a new comment on yesterday’s post makes us think we should re-mention, if you encounter a similar scene again today — it’s not an escort for a visiting dignitary, it’s annual training.
With a few weeks to go to the original deadline for the Fauntleroy Community Services Agency to make a deal with Seattle Public Schools to buy the historic schoolhouse – now that the district’s selling it as “surplus” — we checked to see where things stand. According to an update issued this week by FCSA, “The district has extended the deadline to reach a purchase and sale agreement to August.” FCSA also says there’s still a possibility the back lot may be developed and says it “has been discussing what kind of development, who would own the property, who would receive payment for the development rights, and ensuring that any development would be compatible with the tenants and uses in the school.” They also are continuing to work on a formal application to have the schoolhouse designated as a city landmark (as we first reported last month), adding, “city staff has been very encouraging that the entire building could be eligible for designation.”
(2006 Admiral 4th of July Kids’ Parade photo courtesy of parade organizers)
Two parades are coming up in West Seattle next month – the big American Legion Grand Parade down California SW during Hi-Yu is July 19th, but before then, on a somewhat smaller scale – literally, in terms of participants’ size – there’s the 4th of July Kids’ Parade in Admiral. And its organizers say now’s the perfect time to jump in and help out. Here’s their announcement:
4th of JULY KIDS PARADE…sponsored by Admiral Junction Businesses and the Holy Rosary MOMs group!
Celebrate the 4th of July by bringing your family and friends to the 14th Annual 4th of JULY KIDS PARADE! Decorate wagons, bikes and trikes and join this old-fashioned parade. All are welcome – both spectators and participants. It’s not a parade without spectators! Bring your lawn chairs and cheer for our kids, there’s no shortage of great viewing spots along the parade route (look for the flags).
The Seattle Police and Fire Departments will lead the parade starting at 10:30 am at the 1100 block of Sunset Ave. SW (44th Ave. SW and Sunset) on the morning of July 4th. Following the parade, enjoy the fun and games in Hamilton Viewpoint Park. Bring a blanket and some lunch (leaving some room for treats from the Holy Rosary MOM’s group concession stand) and join the fun!
We need volunteers to help out at the parade! If you can help with general organization, set-up, children’s games, water balloons, or clean-up, please let us know. Our critical areas are children’s games and water balloons. If you are a fun, enthusiastic person who would like to lead the kids’ games at Hamilton Park, we need you! We also need game helpers to hand out 3-legged race ties, organize kids into age groups for races, answer questions, help out with the little ones, etc. Last year we had a heat wave on the 4th of July, and we ran out of water balloons in 5 minutes. This year a heat wave seems like a distant after-thought, but I’m sure the water balloon fight will still be a hit. We need water balloons!! If you can deliver 25-50 water balloons before the parade, please let us know. If you have a service group that is willing to donate their time to blowing up water balloons for a worthy cause, please let us know. We can only blow up so many before our fingers turn numb!
We also have need of a game-day photographer. Someone with photographic skills who can document our parade all-stars for future publicity.
Contact: Sherri Chun sherri.chun@att.net or Jodi Bennett jodiandwayne26@msn.com
Organizers also just confirmed that one of the Admiral District’s most famous residents will be on hand too – Mayor Nickels is scheduled to help kick off the parade at 10:30 4th of July morning.
That’s the dramatically different new design just unveiled by Junction-based Nicholson Kovalchick Architects for the mixed-use project at 3811 California SW (map), currently the site of the 80-year-old brick fourplex known as Charlestown Court:
It’s been 14 months since we first told you Charlestown Court was marked for teardown, and two months since we brought you the city Landmarks Board‘s decision that it didn’t merit landmark status, which seemed to open the door for demolition. But instead, a surprise twist last night, as we briefly mentioned earlier — full details ahead:Read More
Check the latest entry at City Councilmember Sally Clark‘s blog. (Where’s Hizzoner?) She’ll be back in West Seattle next week, by the way, at the Delridge District Council meeting, 7 pm June 18, Southwest Precinct. WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE: OK, now we know where Hizzoner is.
(fall 2007 photo by Mark Bourne)
New information as the Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza gets closer to construction: The group that raised money for the project has gone public with details of what it’s planning for a Sept. 6 event celebrating its expected dedication, and the Parks Department project manager has talked with us about the latest details — including a couple recent changes in the plan, and the one big concern that could cause construction snags — read on:Read More
In about two hours, it’ll be exactly 30 years since the freighter crash that you can thank for the existence of The (high) Bridge. And as you probably know, the case took an even weirder twist years later, when the captain who hit the (old) bridge, Rolf Neslund, was murdered by his wife — a killing that area author Ann Rule turned into one of her recent best-sellers. Six years and one month after the freighter crash, the current (high) bridge opened. You can find great photos of the massive construction project here.
Two big agenda items at tonight’s Westwood Neighborhood Council meeting at Southwest Community Center: The future of the Denny Middle School site, once the school’s torn down after its replacement is built on the Chief Sealth High School campus, and the fight over the two southeast West Seattle sites on the city’s “final four” list of possible misdemeanor-offender jail locations — read on:Read More
(photo by Christopher Boffoli)
Just back from tonight’s Admiral Neighborhood Association meeting. Huge news for those who lamented the plan to tear down Charlestown Court, the 80-plus-year-old brick fourplex (photo above) across from Charlestown Cafe. Quick backstory – its owner wanted to tear it down and replace it with a mixed-use building; the landmark proposal slowed its progress, but after the “no” vote un April (WSB coverage here), it seemed the backhoes were on their way. The project is set for one more Design Review meeting this Thursday night — and tonight, when the ANA got a preview from the architecture firm on the project, Junction-based NK Architects, a surprise: A brand-new design that would preserve and lift the two distinctive front sections, or “wings,” of the building — arches and all — as part of the project, demolishing only the rectangular back section. We’ve got a photo of the design rendering and many more details we’ll share in the full writeup later tonight (as well as other news from the ANA meeting).
Notes from two businesses that recently moved out of West Seattle and headed east — Marilyn Murphy from Murphy’s Furniture Studio e-mailed to say her new store in Pioneer Square is now open at 314 1st Ave S., next to Elliott Bay Books, and she’s offering a 15% discount on any one item this month to anyone who comes in and mentions West Seattle. (If you missed the news, an Italian restaurant called Cafe Revo is moving into the ex-Murphy’s space.) Meantime, Herban Feast, which is now based in SoDo but still has a booth at the West Seattle Farmers’ Market on Sundays, is planning to offer barbecued wild-salmon burgers at the market this Sunday, in honor of Father’s Day.
If you haven’t already seen it today, there’s a happy ending to the “Don’t hate us because we love your town, help us move here” thread in the WSB Forums (first mentioned here 10 days ago). Now there’s word these would-be West Seattleites have found a place. Welcome to West Seattle!
We’ve got someone on the scene to find out more – he reports “smell of smoke in the air” and traffic blocked off at 16th/Henderson (map) – on approach to the scene of a “fire in building” call at 9027 16th SW, an apartment building. More shortly. 5:28 PM UPDATE: 16th is closed between Henderson and Barton till the fire units all clear out – but that may not be too long; firefighters at the scene tell WSB “contents of a room” caught fire, and we’re seeing some units already pulling back. No injuries reported.
In comments on our running outage/storm coverage last night, Pete mentioned seeing this toppled tree on the fence bordering the east side of Cooper Elementary School‘s parking lot, so we went back this afternoon for a closer look. Hard to get perspective but that’s a five-foot (or so) fence pulled up by the tree roots. It’s in the greenbelt that stretches east from there, so it’s not blocking anything; the fence damage is the only real impact.
At left is Cheryl Crazy Bull, special guest at the West Seattle Rotary meeting today at The Kenney. She’s president of Northwest Indian College in Bellingham, but on an even wider scale, she’s in her fourth term as board chair of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium. Her appearance brought special student guests to the Rotary lunch — representatives of the Native American student clubs at West Seattle High School and Chief Sealth High School. Other Rotary news included the dates for their upcoming berry sales — strawberries starting June 27, raspberries starting July 11, blueberries starting July 25. More info on that (and other upcoming events) on the West Seattle Rotary website.
Thanks to those who called and e-mailed to ask about a police motorcade just spotted along California SW in the Admiral vicinity – we’re checking with the precinct. When it happened around this time last year (late May to be precise, WSB writeup here) it was a training exercise. 2:23 PM UPDATE: And thanks to the Southwest Precinct‘s Lt. Steve Paulsen for speedy confirmation that yes, this is/was “annual training.”
That lovely cauliflower photo is courtesy of Aviva with Community Harvest of Southwest Seattle, which is now recruiting participants for its upcoming first-ever Edible Garden Tour. Here’s the official announcement:
Are you a gardener in West Seattle or White Center who is growing an abundant food garden?
Community Harvest of Southwest Seattle is having an Edible Garden Tour July 26th.Are you…..
Committed to growing food in an urban environment?
Interested in meeting other food gardeners?
Sharing information and inspiration?We are looking for a diversity of gardens both in size and driving principles. Please add your garden to the tour!
Call: Helen at 206- 932-9537 (before 8 pm please) or e-mail Aviva at: info@gleanit.org
In other “edible garden” news, we have an update on Longfellow Creek Garden:
That’s one of the photos sent to us by organizer Zach, as he announced that Cedar Grove has donated 30 cubic yards of compost. He’s also continuing to organize volunteers, and currently asking if there’s a regular day of the week/month they want to sign up for. His e-mail address is zach@growingwashington.org; you can also track LCG’s progress at their site, longfellowcreekgarden.blogspot.com.
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