High Point solar history, and a bridge-side sign you’ll see soon

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(note: since original publication of this item, Neighborhood House has changed banner installation date to “approximately May 7”)

As previously reported, the Neighborhood Center that Neighborhood House is building in High Point will make solar-powered history. It opens in September, but days from now, NH just announced, a huge banner touting that fact will go up in a can’t-miss-it spot – on the Nucor plant, alongside The Bridge. The timing is aligned with this Sunday’s Sustainable West Seattle Festival in The Junction. Read on for the big news about the big banner:

On Sunday, May 3, Neighborhood House will unveil a large banner promoting what will be the largest solar panel array in the state of Washington. The array will be installed atop the new High Point Neighborhood Center—due to open in the fall in West Seattle’s High Point neighborhood—and will include 256 panels comprising 6,000 square feet.

The array will be just one of the green features of the High Point Neighborhood Center—a LEED Gold certified building that will be home to not only critical social services, but also state-of-the-art environmental education programs aimed at the High Point community. The solar panels will light up Head Start and ESL classrooms, heat a Family and Teen Center, fuel a community kitchen, and save thousands of dollars a year—critical funds that will go to services and programs instead of electrical bills.

“The biggest solar array in the state is not on a rich person’s house, but on a community center for the people. Everyday people,” said Van Jones, who sits on the White House’s Council of Environmental Quality, at a Neighborhood House event last year. “This is an extraordinary, bold, breakout move that changes the agenda for the country.”

West Seattle’s Nucor Steel Inc., located just south of the West Seattle Bridge, donated space on one of their buildings to hang the banner, as well as $50,000 towards construction of the $13 million center. Nucor is also donating the installation of the 40 feet tall, 25 feet wide advertisement, which will be visible to commuters on the West Seattle Bridge.

The unveiling of the banner will coincide with the Sustainable West Seattle Festival, also on Sunday, May 3, where Neighborhood House will have a large presence with a booth and a speaker on the “Social Justice: Sustainability for Everyone” panel at 11:15 a.m.

4 Replies to "High Point solar history, and a bridge-side sign you'll see soon"

  • john April 29, 2009 (11:38 am)

    Terrific….I hope there’s information clearly posted in the neighborhood center educating visitors on the benefit of solar power….and way to go Nucor!

  • WSB April 29, 2009 (11:39 am)

    They’re going to have docents and kiosks with education about all manner of sustainability, per everything we’ve learned while covering stories related to this project … TR

  • Sandra April 29, 2009 (3:10 pm)

    Excellent!!

  • Wendy Hughes-Jelen April 30, 2009 (12:03 pm)

    And they will be looking for volunteers to lead tours. You wouldn’t believe how often I see a tour bus in my neighborhood – visitors come from all around the world just to see the neighborhood. Our Neighorhood House is the topper! Can’t wait for it to open. I am impressed with how fast construction is going.

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