(Photo sent by Mike Dey)

Thanks for the tips and photos! That fence is a sign that work is about to start on Lincoln Park‘s South Play Area, 6 1/2 years after the original play structure was closed and removed for safety issues. Seattle Parks spokesperson Karen O’Connor tells WSB, “We anticipate issuing the Notice to Proceed to the contractor next week, so it seems the contractor put up the fencing ahead of this notice.” We reported last September that a contractor had been chosen but wouldn’t be able to start work until early this year. The contractor is LW Sundstrom, whose winning bid was just under $1.2 million for this project and similar work at Westcrest Park (closed 2 1/2 years). Parks promises more information on the construction schedule next week.

A new gateway to Camp Long is complete, honoring the park’s longtime leader Sheila Brown, who initiated the project before her death in 2021. Here’s the announcement from Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association:

(DNDA photos)

Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association (DNDA) is happy to share with our community that the Sheila Brown Gateway Project at Camp Long is open for visitors!

The construction project honors Sheila Brown, who served as the director of Camp Long for 13 years. The gateway, which leads into the park, was funded through a community donation effort at the time of Sheila’s death from cancer in 2021 at 59 years old.

DNDA served as the fiscal sponsor of the project, which was initiated by Sheila’s family and completed by the City of Seattle. More than 125 community donors collectively contributed more than $41,000 to the Gateway Project.

The project involved building a new gateway to Camp Long at the park’s side entrance at 29th Avenue SW and SW Brandon Street, replacing an old chain link gate. The entrance features a wrought–iron gate and stone pillars, echoing the pillars and gate at the park’s main entrance, which were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the 1930s.

During her long and impactful career, Sheila led and supported many environmental projects that endure to this day, including establishing the 4-H Challenge course at Camp Long and the Longfellow Creek Legacy Trail that runs through Delridge.

DNDA deeply appreciated Sheila as a community partner and inspiring person, and so did our friends at EarthCorps, The Common Acre, and many more organizations. She helped create the city’s Leaders in Environment, Equity, and Facilitation program to empower youth in communities of color to become environmental education leaders.

Camp Long is a city park also designated and programmed as an Environmental Learning Center.

P.S. We just added a Camp Long event to the WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide – a wreathmaking workshop one week from today.

(WSB photo)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

The “stabilization” project for long-closed Hiawatha Community Center will formally be advertised for bids starting tomorrow.

Seattle Parks and Recreation deputy superintendent Mike Schwindeller tells WSB that his department got the confirmation “at noon today.” They’ll accept bids through January 10th.

At last week’s “West Seattle park projects update” online briefing, Schwindeller said the long-delayed project would go to bid this week, but we’ve been watching the city’s bidding website and hadn’t seen it as of this morning, so we asked about the status, and got Schwindeller’s confirmation in reply.

The center closed early in the pandemic, in spring 2020, but unlike most other Parks facilities, never reopened. It’s left north West Seattle without a community center, as Alki CC first converted to child care/early education and then closed entirely for the adjacent school rebuild.

In an online conversation following up on last week’s briefing – set up at the behest of a community advocate who has long been bird-dogging Parks on Hiawatha’s status – former acting superintendent Christopher Williams (now chief of staff) tried to explain why this turned into a four-year shutdown before the project even went out to bid, and admitted that “if we had to do this again, we would not have closed Hiawatha so prematurely.” They kept it closed believing the start of the stabilization project was a lot closer than it turned out to be.

Much of the delay has been attributed to a half-million dollar federal grant – about a sixth of the project’s $3.9 million budget. Schwindeller said they have funds they can use to cover if the project costs go over? So why couldn’t those funds have been tapped instead of having a half-million-dollar grant hold things up? Walking away from half a million dollars would have been “a hard decision,” Williams said, while adding that there’s always a “learning curve” when they’re dealing with grants and their unique red-tape requirements … “we’re trying to learn from this.” Even once the grant was awarded, they said, a separate process was triggered, with “different accountabilities” and “different timing.”

The community advocate told the Parks managers (as did we) that communication was a major problem too – frequently getting different answers about what was holding up the project and when key milestones like bidding would happen. Williams apologized for that too, saying, “We can do better, we will do better.” In addition to online updates, Parks promised an accurate sign would go up at the site of the shuttered center. The project scope is summarized as “electrical repairs, water and sewer pipe replacements, furnace and water heater repairs, roof replacement, and more.”

WHAT’S NEXT: Schwindeller says, “Assuming we receive favorable bids, the subsequent steps require weeks to progress through contractor verification, insurance and bond requirements, contract execution and notice to proceed. We anticipate a construction start date in March 2024.” Meantime, the playground project at Hiawatha – separate from the “stabilization” work – is being redesigned because of stormwater concerns, and is expected to go to bid next spring and start construction in the summer.

ADDED FRIDAY MORNING: The project has indeed opened for bidding, posted here this morning. Here’s how the project is described:

Construct Interior improvements to existing Community Center including interior finishes, and accessibility improvements. Construct exterior improvements including re-grading and replacing existing sidewalks and ramps, repairs to exterior façade elements, roof replacement and electrical upgrades. Work includes staging, construction access, temporary power, sanitary and water connections to be maintained for the project duration. Protection of existing facilities to remain. Work also includes selective demolition and renovation of the existing community center building. Additive 1 – Electric Switchgear Replacement. Add. 2 – Roof Replacement, Rooftop Mechanical Unit Replacement, and Low Slope Roof Insulation. Add. 3 – Exterior Upgrades that includes window replacement (other than Storefront Openings), Gym Clerestories, and adding blown-in insulation.

Seeing this sign today reminded us to remind you – Seattle Parks has announced a one-day closure of many facilities for Thursday, December 14, one week from today, for staff training. Some Parks facilities including the West Seattle Golf Course won’t be affected, as noted here.

(Slide with schematic plan for Lincoln Park pickleball courts, shown at city’s online meeting)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

If Seattle Parks managers have given any thought to reconsidering the plan for pickleball courts in Lincoln Park, it wasn’t on display during Monday night’s online meeting about that and other area projects.

Two-thirds of the hour-long meeting was spent on recapping and explaining the plan – basically the first 20 minutes and last 20 minutes, with the other project updates inbetween, (Those were detailed in our first two reports on the meeting, here and here.) First, Parks and Recreation Superintendent AP Diaz spent most of his opening remarks on the pickleball project, after an introduction from the consultant who facilitated the meeting (which had almost 150 people signed into the video feed).

Diaz rhapsodized about Lincoln Park’s attributes – from “majestic trees” to Colman Pool (whose short season, he hinted, may be revisited) – before veering into an explanation of why they didn’t hold an in-person meeting: “It’s a busy time of year, darker, colder, (wanted it to be) as accessible as possible (to) as many people as possible.” As for why have a meeting at all, Diaz said it was for updates on “everything that’s going on,” to “try to get on the same page with these projects” and to “dispel rumors and myths” with “accurate information.”

The points he stressed toward that goal:

Read More

In our second of three reports from tonight’s Seattle Parks online briefing meeting about West Seattle programs/projects, here are the updates on plans for a second WS off-leash area, and other non-pickleball-related notes:

OFF-LEASH AREA: You might recall that in June Parks had whittled the list of possibilities for a second West Seattle off-leash area to two – Lincoln Park and West Seattle Stadium.

A brief mention tonight of community-survey results showed overwhelming support for the stadium-vicinity site, and an almost-even split for/against the Lincoln Park site. But Deputy Superintendent Andy Sheffer suggested that the stadium-vicinity site might have to be dropped because of “some additional complications” regarding “electrification of the park system” that would render it “not as viable.” (He did not elaborate, so we’ll be following up.)

He said the Parks recommendation for a site would be made early next year.

He and another deputy superintendent, Mike Schwindeller, delivered even-briefer updates on other projects/programs that are all running far behind their original timetables:

LINCOLN PARK SOUTH PLAY AREA: As we reported in September, a contractor has been signed and the work to replace this six-years-closed play area will start early next year – the contractor “will mobilize right at the beginning” of 2024.

HIAWATHA PLAY AREA: This had to be redesigned and construction is now expected to start next summer.

HIAWATHA COMMUNITY CENTER: The long-in-the-works stabilization project will go out to bid next week, and work will begin in the first quarter of 2024, lasting about a year. The delays (Hiawatha has been closed since the pandemic) were again blamed on the wait for a half-million-dollar FEMA grant.

LANDBANKED PARKS: These were described as “brand new” though one site was acquired a decade ago. All three (40th SW in The Junction, Morgan Junction Park Addition, and 48th/Charlestown) are now expected to open as full-fledged parks in 2025, Morgan Junction with an added-after-community-clamor skateboarding feature.

DON ARMENI FLOATING DOCK REPLACEMENT: The new floating docks are being fabricated now, and work is expected to start in the first quarter of next year.

SOLSTICE PARK TENNIS COURT RESTRIPING: As we previously reported, that’s now awaiting the warm season.

Since that restriping was originally to include pickleball, and a change in plan led to the Lincoln Park project, that brings us back around to what took up two-thirds of tonight’s meeting – the subject of our third and final report, coming up, the Lincoln Park pickleball-court project. (First report, here, is about the proposed change in Alki Beach summer closing times.)

Reminder – tomorrow night (Monday, November 27) brings what Seattle Parks is calling a “West Seattle Park Project Updates” meeting, online at 6 pm. They’re promising to discuss not only the plan for pickleball courts in Lincoln Park but also the long-running Hiawatha Community Center closure, the even-longer-running Lincoln Park South Play Area closure, the future off-leash area, the landbanked West Seattle Junction park project, and more. All this will supposedly be addressed in the span of an hour; whether any real-time questions will be answered isn’t clear, but Parks’ original announcement suggested that if you have questions “you’d like answered at the meeting,” email them in advance to pks_info@seattle.gov. To get the link for tomorrow’s meeting, register here.

(WSB file photo, 57th/Alki restrooms)

Seattle Parks has started the process of turning off water fountains and closing some park restrooms for the winter. But this year, more of the latter will remain open – Parks says it’s on track “to make all 129 public restrooms available for year-round use by the end of 2028.” As part of that, crews have “winterized” eight more park-restroom facilities, three of which are in West Seattle and marked by asterisks in the list below of all West Seattle park restrooms that SPR says will stay open this winter:

ALKI BEACH 57TH AVE SW RESTROOM
ALKI BEACH 63RD AVE SW RESTROOM
ALKI BEACH BATHHOUSE RESTROOM
ARMENI BOAT RAMP RESTROOM
CAMP LONG WEST RESTROOM
E.C. HUGHES PLAYGROUND*
HIAWATHA COMMUNITY CENTER RESTROOM
LINCOLN PARK BEACH RESTROOM
LINCOLN PARK COLMAN POOL RESTROOM*
LINCOLN PARK WADING POOL SHELTERHOUSE RESTROOM
SEACREST PARK RESTROOM
WESTCREST PARK NORTH*
WEST SEATTLE STADIUM NORTH STANDS (Limited use for events/programs)
WEST SEATTLE STADIUM SOUTH STANDS

Though only three restroom facilities are identified as newly winterized, we note the West Seattle list is almost twice as long as last year’s. Meantime. SPR’s announcement adds, “While we strive to keep these restrooms open for the winter, there may be times when we must close them for repair or due to extreme low temperatures.” If you happen onto a Parks restroom – or other facility – in need of repairs/maintenance, the 24/7 hotline is 206-684-7250. The reopening process will start in March.

(City map showing project location and construction-truck route)

Opponents of the plan for pickleball courts in Lincoln Park have been asking the city for a public meeting, as had City Councilmember Lisa Herbold. It’s just been announced, with other West Seattle projects on the agenda too:

Seattle Parks and Recreation is pleased to announce a virtual community meeting to provide updates on various West Seattle Park projects in response to community inquiries and to provide an opportunity for community awareness and input. Have a question you’d like answered at the meeting? Email pks_info@seattle.gov

West Seattle Park Project Updates Virtual Meeting
Monday, November 27, 6:00PM – 7:00PM
bit.ly/49CxxbB

Come learn about courts being resurfaced for pickleball at Lincoln Park, the Hiawatha Community Center Stabilization Work, West Seattle’s off-leash area update, the new park coming to West Seattle Junction, South Park Community Center and site improvements, the playground at Lincoln Park, and other projects.

11:28 AM: Workers are putting up fencing this morning at the Lincoln Park site where Seattle Parks plans to convert former tennis courts, long used as storage, into pickleball courts. We went down for a look after getting a tip that police were there too.

No incident was reported as far as we could determine – the officers were apparently there as a precaution, after last week’s report that a project opponent “occupying” the site had “interfered” with workers; the officers were getting ready to leave while we were there. They were heard explaining to a few concerned bystanders what constituted “trespassing.”
We also talked at the site with a Parks manager, Sandi Albertsen. She told us that the informational sign – as noted toward the end of our story about Saturday’s protest at the site – is expected to arrive soon, She also said that in addition to the new overlay for the existing paved pad, Parks plans to make ADA improvements on the west side of the site, improving a trail so the site is more accessible. This view looks toward the northwest, from the south side of the fencing.

If you’re just hearing about this situation, here’s a brief recap: Parks was planning to add pickleball striping to the tennis courts at Solstice Park as part of then-imminent resurfacing (now postponed until next year). Reaction to that led to Parks changing its mind and instead announcing it would use part of a previously received Associated Recreation Council grant to create six pickleball-only courts at this site in Lincoln Park while keeping Solstice tennis-only. The courts might eventually get lighting, depending on additional funding and other factors, Parks said. Opponents who contend that pickleball’s distinctive sound will be bad for wildlife and people have launched a push to at least get Parks to open a public-engagement process about the plan. Parks says it’s not planning to do that and is moving ahead with the project.

ADDED 6:59 PM: We went back before sunset for a look at the fencing and the signage.

That sign was just west of the existing paved area, behind the fencing that stretches out to the west, where Parks told us this morning that “accessbility” work would be done.

Project opponents have attached multiple copies of a flyer to the fence. Meantime, we’ll be asking Parks tomorrow for more specifics on the plan for the extra fenced-off area.

ADDED WEDNESDAY: A police summary from Monday, just released, describes the reason for the response:

On 10-23-2023, at 08:46hrs, officers were dispatched to Lincoln Park for a report of two men with dogs harassing work crews attempting to set up fencing for a proposed pickleball court. Police assisted in resolving the disturbance between both parties.