West Seattle, Washington
22 Thursday
We happened onto this scene today at Fairmount Park Elementary, one of the buildings closed by Seattle Public Schools at the end of this past school year to save $. While the building is being taken out of commission, Fairmount Park’s people and programs are “merging” with High Point Elementary one mile southeast; tomorrow night (Wednesday) the School Board is set to vote on the proposal to give the “merged” schools a fresh start by renaming HP “West Seattle Elementary.” (Also on the board agenda, the introduction of the proposed contract for architect and engineering services on the Denny/Sealth project. More on that in the morning; we’re discovering too many nested documents linked from the agenda to coherently summarize it all tonight!)
With about an hour and a half left in July, this has become WSB’s first month with six-digit “traffic,” as they say in internetland. 101,099 “page views” for July; double what we notched as recently as February; 12 times July ’06. Without marketing or gimmicks — people are just discovering WSB online, or hearing about it from friends/relatives/co-workers. By “people,” we mean YOU, so we want to thank you not just for coming by to look at what we’re posting about, but especially for e-mailing us with rants, raves, questions, photos, tips, whatever you are seeing/hearing in, and about, WS. That’s what makes this so much more than we imagined possible when we launched it on a lark, yet it’s barely a shell of what it can become … with your continued help. Thank you, thank you, thank you, 100(thousand) times thank you!
Tomorrow is the first full day of business for Giannoni’s Pizza, on the south side of Westwood Village (between Sally’s Beauty Supply and the future Taco Del Mar), after a soft launch for lunch today:
The Giannoni’s proprietors tell WSB the restaurant opened for 4 hours at lunchtime today for 4 hours and served more than 140 slices. Starting tomorrow, they plan to be open 11 am-10 pm daily.
If you’re looking for someplace to move a business, south of Morgan Junction is where you might want to be. In fact, space is available at the current home of Authentic Home, which is moving later this year to the north edge of The Junction (4151 Cali, former home of Emerald City Locksmith). Below the photo, some other changes in the same business area south of Morgan Junction, which covers two blocks north of Caffe Ladro:
In this block, the Tail Wag has rebranded itself as Stella Ruffington’s; in the block north of the photo, Chill is open, offering massages and “modern apothecary” (its website isn’t built out yet but the flyers at its storefront promise an intriguing mix of aromatherapy). All this within a stone’s throw of development/housing action we’ve reported on previously, including the SeventyOne apartments-turned-condos, the Housing Authority purchase of Riviera West, and the big clump of townhouses on former Gatewood Baptist church land across from the ex-GB/now Seattle International Church itself.
So said channel 7 tv news, briefly. Rescue apparently happening now. We’ll see what else we can find out. 12:35 PM UPDATE: channel 5 says the diver has died. 12:59 PM UPDATE: Here’s an update from the P-I. 1:50 PM UPDATE: Medical Examiner and Police vehicles still at Seacrest when we went by. Also, a short article from the Times.
Ten days till Freeway Fright ’07. You can skip the first day entirely by staying right here in West Seattle and golfing for a good cause: the first-ever Seniors for Juniors Golf Tournament @ WS Golf Course. 1 pm August 10th, hosted by local sportscasting legend Bruce King (photo right, from the Fir State Junior Golf Foundation site). Read all about it here, including how to register. (Getting in on this entitles you to more than golf — it’s a full day of fun, including refreshments, entertainment, and dinner.)
Catching up on info from Monday (one of the two days each week when the city sends out its Land Use Information Bulletin, among other info sources):
-The land-use permits have just been issued for the megaproject that will bring QFC, Office Depot, apartments, and more to the ex-Hollywood Video site (photo right): it’s got two addresses, so two permits (4100 Alaska and 4122 Alaska).
-The permit’s also finalized for the “vegetation/tree removal” plan along Beach Drive (it too has two addresses, one on Beach and one on Atlas) that we previously lamented.
-There’s an addition to the agenda for the Southwest Design Review Board meeting @ SW Precinct Community Room a week from Thursday: After board members get the latest on the Charlestown Cafe site at 6:30, they’ll be dealing at 8 with the “mixed-use” project @ 2310 Cali. (For those concerned about the cafe site’s future, remember the community meeting this Thursday.)
7:15 AM UPDATE: The morning digest of yesterday’s city action is just in; a land-use permit was issued for the other Junction Megaproject, Fauntleroy Place. Busy times.
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