Thanks to the reader who just emailed that photo, reporting that someone has left flowers and a sign at the Alki Statue of Liberty in memory of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The statue has been a magnet for other civic tributes in the past (as shown in our coverage archive), most notably after 9/11.

Seven years before getting its own plaza, the Alki Statue of Liberty became a gathering point for the community on 9/11. Ten years after the attacks, an anniversary gathering filled the plaza. Other anniversaries are quiet, like today, the 17th:

We stopped by a little while ago and found that lone bouquet at the base of the statue’s pedestal.

(2008 photo by David Hutchinson)

Ten years ago today, the Statue of Liberty Plaza at Alki Beach was dedicated. The reminder is courtesy of Matt Hutchins, a West Seattle-residing architect who donated hundreds of hours of work to the project as one of the plaza’s designers. The plaza was a community-initiated and -funded enhancement to what started as simply a project to recast the statue, which was in bad shape thanks to damage including vandalism over the years. The new statue was installed on the old pedestal in 2007, and a year later it was re-dedicated on its current pedestal as part of the new plaza. You can see before-and-after photos here; our entire coverage archive of the project and other significant events involving the statue is here (in reverse chronological order).

Thanks to DN for the photo: The most-quoted lines of the poem that graces a plaque at the Statue of Liberty have been placed at the base of her little sister on Alki Beach. The poem is “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus; you can read it in full on the Statue of Liberty National Monument website.

(WSB photos by Patrick Sand)

About an hour before sunset at Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza tonight, West Seattleite Samuella Samaniego reverently removed the Orlando sympathy sash and banner she had placed on the statue five days earlier.

With Kevin J. Auld piping (hear him in this video clip), it became a simple, solemn ceremony.

Hundreds signed what became a two-piece banner after its earlier removal and return; Sam says she will be sending the messages off to Orlando, where six days now have passed since 49 people were killed.

(WSB photos)

After five (interrupted) days, Samuella Samaniego says she plans to take down the Orlando-solidarity/sympathy sash and banners at Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza tonight at 8 pm. She adds, “A bagpipe musician has made himself available for the removal. I realized (that) if I did not do something different (for the removal), it might end up feeling like I was simply taking down a petition that had all the signatures it needed. The people who lost their lives, and/or their loved ones, who now have to find a way to live with the loss, should be honored with something more than cutting the ties that have kept the memorial secured to the Statue.”

We visited this morning to take the photos you see above; the panels are covered in names and messages so there’s not much room to add new ones, but if you want to see them before they’re gone, or to be there this evening as a tribute, now you know.

(WSB photo, this morning)

1:08 PM: Following up on the discovery yesterday afternoon that a Seattle Parks crew had removed the Orlando-sympathy sash and banner from the Alki Statue of Liberty because of “complaints,” less than a day after West Seattleite Sam Samaniego had placed it there:

Yesterday evening, two hours after we first reported on the removal, Parks said it was a mistake and would return it today. However, as noted this morning thanks to a photo tweeted by Heather, only the banner – covered with signatures – was returned. We’ve been waiting to hear back from Parks spokesperson Dewey Potter before publishing a separate followup. Now we have. Her reply starts with something else we had requested, details on the “complaints” cited yesterday as a reason for the removal:

A member of the grounds crew was at the statue yesterday afternoon. A man approached her and identified himself as a veteran. He said he was offended by the way the banner was attached to the statue and asked her to take it down. She tried to reach her crew lead by phone and could not reach him. It was late in (her workday) and she took it down. It is now back up on the statue. The crew chief reports that the sash was not in the truck with the banner.

Good news, though – while we were writing this, Potter e-mailed again to say the sash has been found and that Parks “will have it back up late today or tomorrow.”

In her first e-mail this afternoon, she also included this:

Seattle Parks and Recreation welcomes and supports spontaneous community events whether they are to celebrate a happy event or to mourn and grieve a horrendous one. Parks are gathering places where people come to be with their neighbors, and we welcome the expressions of happiness or grief that come along with those events. We regret that the banner was removed, and hope to identify local groups who may want to make a permanent home for it, as we did after 9/11 when the Southwest Historical Society Log House Museum made a home for the artifacts left at the statue then.

At Cal Anderson Park, we are waiting 30 days before we remove any remembrances, and are trying to identify groups who might have left items they would like to claim. It is our practice to post a sign at a site with items left behind giving a date when items will be removed, to give people an opportunity to collect them.

That was noted in our original report, looking back at several instances of guerrilla art at the plaza a few years ago that had warnings posted before removal – something that did not happen in this case. We will of course be checking back to see when the sash returns (let us know if you see it first!).

5:11 PM: As noted in comments, the sash is back (albeit windblown) – we drove by about 45 minutes ago; Parks says it was put back in place at 3:20 pm.

The Alki Statue of Liberty has long been a place to gather, a place for tributes, and today it becomes that again: Sam Samaniego decided to make a sash for Lady Liberty, as a show of love in the wake of this morning’s Orlando massacre. It’s inscribed ‘From Our Coast to Yours’ and as we write, they’ve added a banner along the base that you’re invited to sign:

Sam says she’ll of course be sending the banner to Florida – but before then, she sees power in the photographs people will take, and hopes that they’re seen in Orlando so people there know people here care:

15 years ago, Alki’s mini Statue of Liberty became a gathering place to mourn the 9/11 victims, and five years ago, it drew hundreds for a tribute on the 10th anniversary of the attack.

Right now, a few floral tributes rest at the base of the Alki Statue of Liberty, simple remembrances of 9/11 on its 12th anniversary, though a shadow of what was there two years ago on the 10th anniversary:

The plaza built around the statue, a touchstone for gatherings of many kinds, has just passed a milestone anniversary of its own: Five years since its dedication on September 6, 2008. If you moved to West Seattle sometime after that, you might not realize the statue was originally on a square concrete base in a sea of asphalt:

Now, it is the centerpiece of a swirling plaza of bricks and benches:

This West Seattle icon was renovated in two stages: The statue itself was replaced and re-dedicated in 2007. By then, a local couple who had met nearby was leading a committee pursuing the vision of something grander to surround it, a new statue pedestal and plaza. Libby and Paul Carr headed up the Seattle Statue of Liberty Plaza Project, a citizens’ committee that made it happen, mostly through private donations. We saw Libby last weekend at another special event nearby and talked about the plaza’s anniversary. She later shared this remembrance:

It was wonderful to see another great example of community support and participation with the celebration of the Harbor Seal Day festivities and dedication of the “Sentinels of the Sound” sculpture just north of the Bathhouse on Alki Beach.

It reminded Paul and I of another picture-perfect day just 5 years ago … and another wonderful community celebration for the long awaited completion of the new Statue of Liberty Plaza. The Seattle Statue of Liberty Plaza Project worked for almost two years to bring this long awaited project to completion, which was overwhelmingly supported by the whole West Seattle and greater Seattle community. In fact, people as far away as Brooklyn, NY, and even further, bought bricks, plaques and benches which raised the money to build this beautifully designed space, designed by architects Matt Hutchins and Chris Ezzell, who so generously donated their work.

Like so many people, we have have often enjoyed strolling on the promenade and then coming to the Statue Plaza to enjoy a slow meditative meandering and reading many of the brick inscriptions and getting glimpses of the meaning and history this place holds for so many.

I am glad that Paul and I and the whole community could participate in building this special space that promises to be here for a long time to come …

Libby Carr, Co-Chair of SSLPP

We were first reminded of the anniversary by one of the architects Libby mentioned in her note, Matt Hutchins of CAST Architecture. We asked for his thoughts, five years later:

For my part, the plaza is more of a success than I had hoped!

When we were working with our neighbors during the community design process, our goal (from my design presentation notes, Sept. 2007) was to:
‘Provide a community landmark with a safer, rejuvenated public space that celebrates not only the symbolism of the Statue, but also the commitment of this community to this part of Alki Beach history. The plaza is designed to inhibit vandalism and reduce the need for City maintenance. ”

Given the nearly three-year struggle to get it approved, funded and build, nothing is more satisfying that to see the Statue and plaza so well used and loved. I’m always filled with pride seeing how many people are hanging out there, meeting friends, doing tai chi, salsa dancing and, yes, even using it for guerrilla-art installations.

It is holding up very well given the environment and the use, and I credit the ongoing efforts by community members, the Parks Department, and the maintenance endowment written into the fundraising campaign.

Your editor here is finishing this story while seated on a bench at the plaza, where in just the past hour or so we’ve seen people stop by to look at the floral 9/11 tribute, to read the statue’s plaques, or just to bask in the sun and sea air on a 90-degree afternoon.

P.S. Stewardship of the plaza, by the way, is now in the hands of the Alki Community Council, since a 2010 agreement.

… a hatchet:

If you are just coming in on this – weekend stories: Saturday and Sunday.

While we were checking this out at Alki about 45 minutes ago, we spoke with a Parks Department crew member who was working nearby. He didn’t know about it until he saw it; he tried calling the local maintenance office but hadn’t reached anyone by the time he had to move on. So we’re checking on their plans, and also the larger question: Is it illegal to place something in a park?

11:16 AM UPDATE: Sandra DeMeritt from Parks tells WSB, “We posted a sign on the object a little while ago stating we will remove the item tomorrow. We like to give the public some notice. We also will have to bring the truck and front loader in to remove it. We won’t save it at the Parks Headquarters this time as it is so big. We will break it up and take it to the Transfer Station. We will also make sure the paint is cleaned up as well. I assume it is acrylic paint and not enamel (hopefully). One of our crew members is supposed to put some spill pads down to keep any paint from running down to the beach.”

12:42 PM UPDATE: And to the big-picture question, Parks spokesperson Joelle Hammerstad replies:

It is not actually illegal to place guerrilla art in a park, unless you consider it litter…in which case it is illegal. We don’t really consider it litter. We consider it guerrilla art, which is sometimes fun, sometimes thought-provoking, sometimes beautiful, sometimes not. What we generally do with guerrilla art is post it to let the artist know they have a certain amount of time to remove it. When that time is up, and if the art is still there, we take it away. Guerrilla art is ephemeral, and the artists know that. They don’t have an expectation that the art will stay for the long term.

In this particular case, the guerrilla art is leaning against legitimate and permanent art. The Alki Community Council and the individual donors who raised money for the Alki Statue of Liberty worked closely with Seattle Parks and Recreation to develop the proposal for the redevelopment of the plaza. They also raised funds ($47,000) for its long-term maintenance. It would be unfair to them to allow the art to remain.

Since the Alki Statue of Liberty has been a touchstone on 9/11 ever since that first night-after in 2001, we visited late this morning to look for tributes. On the side visible from the street, a few bouquets had been placed, plus a small creation from stones; on the water side, a note, and stones arranged in the shape of a heart:

The note is a prayer, reading in part, “Help us to live with love rather than hate. Help us to forgive.” Meantime, we’ll check back this evening. While there was an organized, well-attended vigil last year (WSB coverage here) on the 10th anniversary of the deadly East Coast attacks, we haven’t heard of any official plans this year (please let us know if you have).