Seal Sitters sculpture’s next step: Alki site prep work

(Photo by David Hutchinson)
Work is under way east of the Alki Bathhouse to get the site ready for the harbor seal mom-and-pup sculpture that artist Georgia Gerber is creating for Seal Sitters, whose David Hutchinson tells us that asphalt removal was finished this morning. He says the “rocks” that will be part of the installation will be placed there by Turnstone Construction tomorrow, and the artist will bring her unfinished sculpture to help with the placement. It’ll be taken back to the studio for completion afterward; site prep will be done within a week and a half, and the fence will come down then. Sculpture installation is expected by late August, with a dedication event scheduled for September 8th, according to the project’s infopage on the Seal Sitters website.

12 Replies to "Seal Sitters sculpture's next step: Alki site prep work"

  • LivesInWS July 8, 2013 (2:46 pm)

    Can’t wait to see it!

  • shed22 July 8, 2013 (3:20 pm)

    Huh. And all this time I thought that was where the Luna Girls sculpture was going. Looking forward to seeing the new addition.

    • WSB July 8, 2013 (3:35 pm)

      That site at water’s edge is a different site, though just yards away. I asked Parks about that, anticipating that this might bring a question about Luna Girls’ status. Long story short, Parks says that they are still trying to work out the best site for Luna Girls – the site where ground was broken last November did not turn out to be the right site after all. I’ll likely publish something separate about that later. – TR

  • owen July 8, 2013 (3:36 pm)

    About time. It’s unfortunate that this location has been fenced off for so long, particularly during this past weekend.

    • WSB July 8, 2013 (3:43 pm)

      Owen – your comment came in as I was responding – this is NOT the “Luna Girls” location on the seawall; this is a different spot, different project.

  • Huggett July 8, 2013 (8:34 pm)

    Since the Luna Girls statue is not going in the original spot at water’s edge that has been fenced off since November, any idea when will they repair that area? It’s such an eye sore.

    • WSB July 8, 2013 (8:42 pm)

      Joelle at Parks told me when I asked about Luna Girls, knowing it would come up, that the crew working on the Seal Sitters sculpture site will repair the paving in that other spot this week so it can be reopened. We’ll be making a note to check. They have not settled on a new location yet but will continue to work on it – TR

  • visitor July 8, 2013 (11:45 pm)

    So glad they are not putting Luna Girls next to the water!!! YAY!!!

  • chas redmond July 8, 2013 (11:55 pm)

    It’d be nice if Parks could clean up the mess before July 20, the Saturday the Alki Art Fair opens right there at the Bath House. That fence has been an eyesore for the entire year and Parks has provided no explanation.

    • WSB July 9, 2013 (12:02 am)

      Did you or anyone ask? Nobody has asked us but I asked today after this story came in. Since it’s midnight and I am still not caught up enough to turn it into a separate story, I will just paste the entire reply I received, here. Again: THIS IS ABOUT THE LUNA GIRLS SITE ON THE WATER BY THE BATHHOUSE, *NOT* THE SEAL SITTERS SITE FURTHER INLAND A BIT. We’ll be following up on both later Tuesday morning as of this hour. The following is from Joelle Hammerstad at Parks, re: my Luna Girls status inquiry Monday morning:

      We’ve had a little trouble finding the right spot for that art. It’s a wonderful piece, and we have been actively trying to find a suitable location for it for six months.

      The art was originally created for a traffic circle near the Cactus Restaurant, but it didn’t work out. A landscape architect, who is no longer with the City, and the artist agreed on the current location. Unfortunately, the site was not vetted through our art placement coordinator and risk manager who ultimately decided the location was not safe. Not only is this site a viewpoint for many of our park visitors, but this area gets heavily congested with bikers, walkers, runners and skaters. Having a large, narrow metal sculpture so close to the path could pose safety problems.

      In the last 6 months, we have been working with Lezlie Jane to identify an alternative location, or see if there was any way we could accommodate the sculpture at the proposed site. We have not been able to come to agreement, and we are working to identify some other potential sites along Alki that take into consideration: safety, compatibility with other park uses, the impact on adjacent neighbors, and the scale of the art. To that end, we will be repairing the concrete to make the space usable for the public again. As workers are on site this week preparing for the Seal Sitters sculpture installation, they will repair the concrete work while they are nearby.

      We believe there are a lot of options at Alki that we have not considered to date, and that could meet our criteria. We intend to work with the artist to find a site that works for both of us.

      One more time: Separate project, separate people, only thing in common is that both are/were planned for the Alki Bathhouse vicinity. Lezlie Jane has an amazing body of work at other parks around the area, for anyone not familiar with her previous collaboration with Parks. – TR

  • Guy July 9, 2013 (9:26 am)

    Why not put the “Luna Girls” down where Luna Park used to be? Genius!

  • wetone July 9, 2013 (4:56 pm)

    Funny how that goes with the Luna Park Girls. Enough people complain about a 9′ high by 15′ wide piece of art blocking view and walkway and seattle parks finally gets it. Good art wrong spot. Thank you.

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