West Seattle, Washington
16 Monday
Those are some of the 100-plus people who packed the Highland Park Improvement Club on Monday night to find out why two of the four potential city-jail sites are in their backyard (previous WSB coverage here), and to decide what to do about it. One revelation in a city rep’s presentation particularly galled them — hear about it, and see the map we made afterward, straight ahead:Read More
Development and sustainability don’t have to be at odds with each other: That was the 
central theme tonight at Camp Long as Sustainable West Seattle‘s latest monthly meeting looked at Junction/Triangle development, the opportunities, the realities, and the potential pitfalls. With much of the area getting a “fresh start” as new development proposals come in for the former Huling parcels as well as other sites, city planner Marshall Foster — a West Seattle resident — had important reminders about what it takes to have a well-planned neighborhood: Is it compact, is it complete, does it offer a wide variety of goods/services, how mobile can its residents be (whether by foot or by transit)? One of the companies currently developing Junction/Triangle sites, Harbor Properties, was represented at the meeting, by Sean Sykes. He talked about the HP project that’s currently in the Design Review process, on parcels including a former Huling shop and part of the West Seattle Montessori site. No new revelations since the last DR meeting (WSB coverage here); Sykes says the company’s been talking with Metro about how to address a possible transit gap in the area between the year or so between the project’s opening and the start of RapidRide. Right now, Harbor’s looking at building this project to a 3-star green rating; Lucia Athens from the city’s Green Building team said she hopes they’ll aim higher, for at least 4 stars. Other participants tonight included Dave Montoure, West Seattle Junction Association president, who’s part of a recently launched project exploring how to improve the Triangle/Junction entrance to West Seattle (WSB coverage here), and Derek Birnie, executive director of Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association, which led many recent redevelopment projects including transformation of the old Cooper School into Youngstown Arts Center and the creation of the 35th/Morgan buliding that houses West Seattle organizations including the WS Food Bank (next up for DNDA, the Delridge Day festivities on May 31).
We’re welcoming a new sponsor tonight — Fauntleroy Church (UCC), currently counting down to its centennial celebration (last month, we brought you this video feature previewing the daily bell-ringing that’s under way till the big party in late July). 
As is WSB custom, we offered the folks at Fauntleroy Church a chance to tell you what they’d like you to know about themselves, and here’s what we received from the team led by Senior Pastor David Kratz: “We’re delighted to be one of the advertisers for the West Seattle Blog. We appreciate how hard they are working to keep the community informed about issues and events. This year Fauntleroy Church, United Church of Christ is celebrating its 100th anniversary. From our beginning as ‘the Chapel at Fauntleroy Park’ in 1908, until today, we’ve been an integral part of the West Seattle community. Our spectacular window at the front of the sanctuary has been an inviting place to have literally thousands of weddings, of members and non-members alike. Our Little Pilgrim School serves over 80 children, ages 2 to 5. And, our relationship with the West Seattle/Fauntleroy YMCA continues to serve the wider community, for over 80 years. This year we begin phase one of a major capital remodeling with the replacement of our sanctuary window, which, over the last 55 years, has suffered significant structural damage. It will look the same, but will meet code requirements and provide a wonderful view of God’s creation for the next 100 years. The work will be completed at the end of August. You can learn more about who we are and what we do at www.fauntleroyucc.org.” Thanks to Fauntleroy Church for choosing to sponsor WSB; if you would like to look into the possibility of doing that too, here’s the place to start (that page also includes our full current list of sponsors, all of whom thank you — as do we — for your support!).
Just back from Highland Park, where more than 100 people gathered to declare themselves ready to fight the possibility that a city jail might be built on one of two sites in southeast West Seattle. They heard from a city project representative as well as a communications consultant assigned to the project, and one revelation that raised eyebrows was that the city apparently had not yet mapped out the proximity of schools to the four finalist sites (the other two are in the north end). We’ll be overlaying the location of the nearest schools onto our Google map of the two WS sites for the full report on this meeting coming up later tonight in a separate post.
For the first time in the months we’ve been covering the Denny Middle School/Chief Sealth High School combined-campus controversy/vote/aftermath, we sat in this afternoon on a meeting of the School Design Team, which includes reps from various constituencies with various types of ties to one or both schools. Today’s major items included the first look at a proposal for the exterior design of the new Denny on the Sealth campus, and Denny principal Jeff Clark didn’t mince words with his first reaction — that and more ahead:Read More
So we were at Tony’s Produce (35th/Barton) this morning to get some, well, produce, and we noticed something new – that big blue corn-roasting machine, and big signs touting ROASTED CORN. This all started just a few days ago:
That’s Joey, son of the stand’s namesake proprietor Tony, seasoning the corn with a special mix including Parmesan cheese. $2.50/ear, available noon-8 pm, and Tony (below right, with Joey) proclaims, a la the onetime TV chef Mr. Food, “It’s so GOOD!”
Several reader reports from people who want to alert neighbors to recent break-ins/thefts, plus weekend followup notes, all ahead:Read More
As mentioned over the weekend, the two southeast West Seattle sites (mapped here) on the list of four possible locations for a new city misdemeanor-offender jail are on the agenda at tonight’s Highland Park Action Committee meeting (7 pm, Highland Park Improvement Club at 11th/Holden; map). We just confirmed that West Seattle’s County Councilmember Dow Constantine and State Rep. Sharon Nelson will be writing letters to city leadership to express opposition to building the jail at either of those sites. (We’ll be checking with West Seattle’s other legislators too.)
Its official name is Fauntleroy Place, but as reps of the development firm BlueStar wryly acknowledged at last week’s Junction Neighborhood Organization meeting on major Junction projects (WSB coverage here), it’s become better known as “the Whole Foods project.” Whatever you want to call it, we’ve just received word from BlueStar’s Eric Radovich that the official groundbreaking ceremony is set for the evening of June 12th, 5:30-7 pm. (Recap: This project [city project page here] will replace the current Schuck’s/Hancock Fabrics building at Fauntleroy/Alaska/39th with residential units over retail space that will be entirely devoted to two tenants: Whole Foods and Hancock.) 3:46 PM UPDATE: Regarding the question asked in comments about the status of the stores currently on the site, here’s what Radovich e-mailed back:
Hancock Fabrics began their “Everything Must Go” liquidation sale today. They will be open until the inventory is depleted (typically 30 days or so)…Schuck’s is a sub-tenant of Hancock Fabrics and I believe they have been given notice and will close in mid to late June. We will do our groundbreaking on June 12 regardless, and start with work in the north end of the parking lot.
As reported here last week, the construction schedule has moved way up for the Fauntleroy/Dawson (map) pedestrian signal. We spotted pole work under way a short time ago (shown in photo above, taken from the west side of Fauntleroy, facing south).
Sun’s out, first holiday weekend of summer is a week away, and you might be starting to think about summertime outdoor swimming in West Seattle. As mentioned previously, Colman Pool in Lincoln Park — one of the city’s two outdoor pools — opens this Saturday for the weekend-only preseason (schedule here); daily operation starts June 16, same day Southwest Pool (West Seattle’s only city-run indoor pool) closes for 3 1/2 months of work. West Seattle also has five city-run wading pools: Hiawatha, Delridge, Hughes, Lincoln Park, and Highland Park. They’re all on a clickable map on this city webpage with opening dates and operating hours; the first to open will be Lincoln Park, on June 14 (it’s in the northeastern section of the upper park area).
From the 34th District Democrats‘ site: The 7th Congressional District caucus over the weekend led to two Obama delegates from the 34th being chosen to go to the national convention in Denver in late August — Chris Porter from West Seattle and Nick Bordner from Vashon (a high-school senior). Read more here.
If you live in the Fairmount area – should disaster strike, that spot by the flagpole in the southeast Providence Mount St. Vincent parking lot is your neighborhood gathering spot for information. Sunday afternoon, Fairmount Community representatives (led by Sharonn Meeks, center in shades) set up this table there …
… for the latest West Seattle drop-in event to get out the word about neighborhood gathering places and disaster-readiness info. (Read more here, and see the map of other neighborhood spots that have been designated so far.)
Meantime, the West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival crew coped this weekend with the semi-disastrous float woes, by riding instead in convertibles so they could represent West Seattle in the Port Townsend Rhododendron Festival parade:
That’s Carol Winston driving Queen Danica and Queen Sivona. A few more photos shared by Hi-Yu president Tim Winston, including a young court member showing off a tiny friend, ahead:Read More
That’s an aerial view of the Fauntleroy Triangle, centering on Fauntleroy/Alaska, as shared by Harbor Properties during the Design Review Board meeting for two Junction projects — including theirs at 38th/Alaska — last month (WSB coverage here). Tomorrow night, a representative from HP will be among the participants as Sustainable West Seattle‘s monthly meeting focuses on “sustainable development” possibilities in the area. Here’s how SWS president Bill Reiswig describes what’s planned for the meeting:
Marshal Foster, local West Seattle citizen and urban planner, will share some models of sustainable development and describe the opportunity at Fountleroy/Alaska. Following this we will have a panel discussion that includes: Sean Sykes, Sustainability Officer, Harbor Properties; Jim Burton and Justin Fogle, NW Ecobuilding Guild; Derek Birnie, Executive Director, Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association, and Dave Montoure, president of the West Seattle Junction Association and proprietor of West 5. Topics addressed will include: What is your vision of positive uses of this space for West Seattle? What are the challenges to realizing a sustainable vision? What are the key benefits for the neighborhood and city? What are the most sustainable elements that we should advocate for?
Sustainable West Seattle – the group behind the hugely successful SWS Festival in The Junction two weeks ago – meets tomorrow night at Camp Long, potluck snacks and beverages at 7 pm followed by the meeting at 7:30. (To review what’s currently planned, and up for sale, in the Triangle/Junction area, check our clickable map.)
Thanks to Eric for the tip that the Ercolini Park playground — built with work parties like this one we covered last month — was open for business today. Not sure if this was just a “soft launch” or what; we’ll be checking with project leaders. (Ercolini is just west of The Junction, at Alaska/48th.) 10:20 PM UPDATE: David Cagen from Friends of Ercolini Park clarifies, “Someone opened up the fencing on Friday and people filtered through all weekend. Nothing was official nor sanctioned, but people had a good time!”
At Anchor (Luna) Park on Alki Avenue, that video shows the scene as an enthusiastic woman (who told us she does this every year) and two kids greeted Walk with Us to Cure Lupus participants at the first turnaround point (for a shorter loop than the 5K walkers). While hundreds of people joined in that awareness- and money-raising event this morning, a trio of triathloners spent the afternoon under a tent in The Junction to fight leukemia and lymphoma — more on both events ahead:Read More
Two weeks after Charlestown Cafe co-owner Larry Mellum told us the restaurant finally had the green light for the work needed to recover from the Feb. 4 fire that closed it — the city website reveals a permit was officially granted Friday. We’re checking for an update on the timetable for reopening. (You can see all our archived Charlestown coverage here.)
With temperatures still in the 80s as Saturday night began, Highland Park Elementary truly had a tropical-island atmosphere for its luau last night. (Above, video of a young dancer who was one of many entertainers, getting a little help from a young assistant; shortly afterward, other kids were invited up on stage to get a chance to sway to the island music.) A little education sneaked in with the entertainment and luau food — with info about recycling on display at the back of the cafeteria. We hadn’t been inside Highland Park Elementary before – it’s a beautiful school inside and out (see photo below), built in 1999 (background here) to replace a 1921 building, at 10th and Trenton.
“WALK WITH US TO CURE LUPUS”: Hundreds of people will walk a 5K route on Alki this morning to raise money to fight lupus. Registration starts @ 9, the walk @ 10. Teams are walking as well as individuals; check out the team list here.
PLANT SALE FOR FURRY FACES FOUNDATION: Second day of this animal-rescue group’s big annual two-day sale – we dropped by for this photo on day one:
The sale’s 10 am-4 pm at 3809 46th SW (map).
SPINNING TO FIGHT LEUKEMIA: West Seattleites Kerry Murphy and Megan Jasper will be spinning — riding bicycle-training equipment — 11:30 am-4:30 pm today in front of West 5, raising $ for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and getting ready for one of its Team in Training triathlons next month. (Kerry’s raising $ online here; Megan’s raising $ online here.)
ENTREPRENEURS: Want to help young people strategize small for-profit businesses in Alki this summer? Come to a meeting @ the Homestead (61st south of Alki Ave) at 11:30 today. (Previous coverage here.)
BE A “MASTER OF DISASTER”: The neighborhood-readiness campaign around West Seattle continues today with an event for Fairmount-area residents, noon-2 pm on the southeast side of the Providence Mount St. Vincent parking lot. (Previous coverage, including a map, here.)
SHOPPING AT THE FARMERS’ MARKET? We always post the weekly fresh sheet, so here’s today’s edition:Read More
Yet another group of folks working hard in the hot Saturday sun — the 40-plus volunteers helping put the almost-finishing touches on the preschool playground at West Seattle Elementary in High Point. These few seconds of video will give you an idea of just how busy they were:
Just steps away from where all the work was under way on the west side of the school, this window display chronicles the playground project’s progress:
Organizers at the site told WSB today that this work would leave the playground 90% complete, and a ribbon-cutting ceremony to formally open it will be scheduled very soon.
Some of this work traces back to the “Day of Service” event that brought Governor Gregoire, U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott, and other dignitaries to WS Elementary on King Day (WSB coverage here); we photographed early playground-project prep during a preview a few days earlier.
Monday night’s Highland Park Action Committee meeting is likely to be lively – the agenda includes the city’s recent announcement of two jail sites almost literally in Highland Park’s back yard (click on the map above for exact addresses). While covering an unrelated event in Highland Park (neighborhood map) tonight, we received a copy of a bright yellow flyer neighbors are circulating, with text exhorting those concerned to “attend what may be the most important meeting for our revitalized neighborhood.” To recap – the city is deciding whether to build a jail for misdemeanor offenders, and a week and a half ago announced that the list of potential sites is down to four (WSB coverage here), including these two. A decision is expected later this year. A section of the city website is now devoted to this potential project (see it here) and the city has hired a consulting firm, The Keller Group, for public outreach; a representative, Cynthia Scheiderer, attended the Southwest District Council meeting in West Seattle shortly after the jail-sites announcement week before last. We checked with Scheiderer on Friday to see where things stand; she told us, “We’re working hard right now to get community meetings planned and scheduled; no dates/locations are set just yet but will be soon and we’ll keep you posted. … There will be multiple opportunities for people to attend meetings and they’ll be held June/July. Also, we’re happy to attend community meetings and provide handouts of the maps/information and take questions and comments.” She also provided us a contact on the city team working on the jail-site project, and we’ll be talking with them next week for another update. Meantime, the Highland Park Action Committee meeting is at 7 pm Monday, at the Highland Park Improvement Club, 11th & Holden (map); the HPAC website is at highlandpk.net; the city’s accepting comments/questions through this webpage.
Whole lotta love at the Admiral Theater this morning as local TV legend JP Patches put on a show for loyal fans of all ages, known as “Patches Pals.” That’s a clip of JP signing autographs and meeting fans in the lobby afterward – more video ahead:Read More
The wall along the sidewalk on the Delridge side of Youngstown Cultural Arts Center got a facelift at midday today, thanks to a group of UW students — one of whom is Vitaliy Demyanik (at left in photo below, with participant Inigo Esteban), who manages a local College Pro Painters franchise. He’s a 4th-year student at the UW, and led a team described in the official announcement as “15 students from the Business and Economic Development Center at the Foster School of Business” in today’s cleanup, with donated materials and labor. (The paintout was scheduled for three hours, but when we got there barely 2 hours into it, they’d made quick work of it.)
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