Groundbreaking tonight for Whole Foods (aka Fauntleroy Place)
(Archive note: Video clip lost to hosting service closure)
The formal shovel-turning is now in the books, and construction of the long-awaited Whole Foods/Hancock Fabrics (and residential units) project — Fauntleroy Place — will begin at 39th/Alaska; the existing Hancock/Schuck’s building will be demolished. About 100 people attended tonight’s groundbreaking bash thrown by developers BlueStar Management, who provided food, music, and of course, speeches — King County Councilmember Dow Constantine (at right in the clip above) said the area’s come a long way from the days in the mid-’90s when businesses were closing and people were telling him what a shame it was that the West Seattle business scene was ailing — other speakers included West Seattle Chamber of Commerce executive director Patti Mullen and West Seattle Junction Association president Dave Montoure (proprietor of West 5). A cameo appearance was made by the Seafair Pirates, who sailed, er, drove up about 15 minutes before shovels hit dirt:
(Archive note: Video clip lost to hosting service closure)
Maybe a coincidence, but BlueStar exec Eric Radovich, who emceed tonight, used to do publicity for Seafair. (Pirate side note – co-publisher Patrick says he gave a WSB business card to one of the pirates, who chided him for a misspelling, saying that it should be “West Seattle Flog.” Arrrrrrrrrrrrr.) BlueStar’s newest estimated date for Fauntleroy Place completion is February 2010.
Quick toplines from tonight’s other events
The whole WSB team is back from the rest of tonight’s events – most of which ran longer than expected — we are processing photos, video, info, all that. But here are the toplines, or bottom lines if you will:
—Fauntleroy Place groundbreaking: Seafair Pirates were there. So were the Hulings. And the various dignitaries mentioned earlier.
—Design Review Board meeting on 3811 Charlestown: New design with preservation element pronounced “99% successful.” Co-publisher Patrick, who covered Design Review this time, insists KING 5’s Jim Forman was there. Having worked 20-plus years in TV and never known a TV reporter to turn up for something as neighborhood-level as a Design Review meeting, I won’t believe it till I see it, on TV or online (no time to check yet). UPDATE: Here’s the clip.
–Design Review Board meeting on 4532 42nd: Not so glowing, needs more work.
More details on all of the above as soon as we can put it all together (along with more details from the Parks Board). Plus pix of tonight’s second graduation (Seattle Lutheran) are coming up momentarily.
Parks Board meeting: Beach-fire discussion just concluded
We’re downtown at the city Parks Board meeting, where the discussion of the controversial “beach-fire ban briefing” has just concluded. City staff has backed completely away from the notion that a ban might have anything to do with climate change; “that was … weak,” one staffer said outright. Their focus is now entirely on the problems they say are caused by illegal beach fires at Alki and Golden Gardens, and wanting to “open a discussion” about how to address those problems. Absolutely no conclusions reached and no action is planned; interesting discussion and ideas along the way — full report a bit later, including a couple of other West Seattle items that have come up (meeting’s not over yet).
Congratulations, Class of ’08: WSHS graduation tonight
West Seattle High School‘s graduation ceremony is under way in bright sunshine at Seattle Center’s Memorial Stadium right now; we took that photo (and the ones below) a short time ago – the photo above shows the 49 percent who are graduating with honors — including 10 valedictorians with 4.0 averages — were asked to stand and be acknowledged. They wore special gold banners:
Dignitaries there to share the ceremony with the more than 200 grads included West Seattle’s school-board rep Steve Sundquist and district superintendent Dr. Maria Goodloe-Johnson (third and second from right, respectively):
Seattle Lutheran High School‘s ceremony is 7:30 tonight; Chief Sealth High School grads are honored at 1 pm Saturday (Southwest Athletic Complex across from the school).
Charlestown Center (ex-Schuck’s site) update: Deals in the works
That’s the south side of Charlestown Center, the under-construction commercial building at California/Charlestown, a corner where much is happening — kitty-corner from Charlestown Cafe (where repairs are under way) and just north of Charlestown Court (Design Review meeting tonight). This is the site where the burned-out Schuck’s was torn down exactly six months ago today (WSB video coverage here). We checked today with the leasing agents to see who’s going to be in the building when it opens this summer; they don’t want to name names yet but Joe Beynon with Retail Realty Services tells WSB, “We have numerous deals in process at different stages so it looks that by the time the building is ready for the first tenant we may have 5 of the 7 suites leased.” He says they may be ready to name names by early next month but in the meantime, he believes the businesses with whom they’re negotiating will be “good uses for the neighborhood.”
West Seattle sports notes: Soccer sign-ups and softball champs
That photo is courtesy of the West Seattle Soccer Club, which wants you to know that fall registration is under way – full details and deadlines at the WSSC site; the age groupings are detailed here. Board member Tim McMonigle tells WSB the league is growing so fast, they may have to expand to use South Park field, and they are looking forward to the Hiawatha renovation work later this year. Meantime, we have a girls-softball update too:
That’s the West Seattle Thunder 16U team, now in celebration and fundraising mode – coach Dan Baker explains why:
The West Seattle Thunder 16U fastpitch softball team won the Sea-Tac Metro Championships this past weekend, qualifying them for a trip to the National Championships in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The team will be holding a fund-raising carwash to help pay expenses for the trip. The carwash will be held at Swedish Automotive (35th Ave SW & Webster), this Saturday, June 14th, 10 am-4 pm.
Possible county crimefighting cuts: Meeting announced
Though this is from the King County Sheriff, whose crimefighting turf starts just over the line in White Center, it’s part of a larger county criminal-justice-funding concern that in the end could affect us all – since, for example, it’s county prosecutors who handle city crimes too – so we wanted to share this announcement of an upcoming public meeting you might want to attend:Read More
“Whole Foods project” groundbreaking, and what else is up tonight
(new Fauntleroy Place rendering added 11 am, just sent by Eric Radovich of BlueStar, click image to see full-size version)
We’ve already spotlighted two of tonight’s big West Seattle, or West Seattle-relevant, events — the Parks Board meeting with an agenda including “car-free day(s) at Alki” and “beach-fire-ban briefing,” as well as the Design Review Board meeting for 3811 California (and its acclaimed new design) and 4532 42nd SW — Also happening tonight, the groundbreaking party for Fauntleroy Place, popularly known as “the Whole Foods project”; developers BlueStar invite everyone to the event, with food, entertainment, and the official shovel-turning, 5:30-7 pm at 39th/Alaska (King County Councilmember Dow Constantine, West Seattle Chamber of Commerce executive director Patti Mullen, and West Seattle Junction Association president Dave Montoure are expected) — that’s the Schuck/Hancock site, if you still can’t place it:
BlueStar says FP completion is expected in February 2010. Also tonight, two graduations — West Seattle High School at Memorial Stadium (Seattle Center) at 5 pm and Seattle Lutheran High School at 7:30 pm — and the monthly West Seattle Second Thursday Art Walk (Google map of venues just added to its website). Looking further ahead? The WSB list of West Seattle events already stretches into next year.
At least one “Car-Free Day” proposed for Alki Ave. this summer
Remember when we talked about the city’s “Give Your Car the Summer Off” campaign a couple weeks ago, and mentioned the city would identify certain streets for “Car-Free Days” before summer’s end? A briefing paper for tonight’s Parks Board meeting (same one where the beach-fire-ban briefing is planned) says:
SDOT is proposing Car Free Days for one Sunday each during this August and possibly September at these locations:
• Alki, between the Water Taxi dock at Seacrest Park and 63rd Ave SW in West Seattle;
• Create a loop from Pioneer Square to Pike Place Market via Alaskan Way and First Avenue to Olympic Sculpture Park;
• Connect Magnuson Park to Seward Park via Burke Gilman Trail, the Arboretum, part of Montlake Bridge and Lake Washington Blvd and encourage attendees of the Pro Bike Pro Walk event to participate.
There will be the need for close coordination as park usage will be involved. For all locations, SDOT is interested in linking to special events and/or including programmed activities to enhance public awareness of the program and have a critical mass of public participation.
You can read the whole briefing paper here. A public hearing is planned on the proposed road closures during tonight’s Seattle Parks Board meeting; it starts at 7 pm at Parks Department HQ in Denny Park, 100 Dexter Ave. N. (scroll down this page for directions), and the sign-up sheet for public comment is available starting at 6 pm. It’s one of a mountain of major events tonight (all listed on West Seattle’s most comprehensive events calendar) – if you can’t go, here’s how to send written comments.
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