Admiral “playscape” supporters, opponents rally yards apart
Supporters of the proposal to add a “natural playscape” to the California Place mini-park in Admiral (map) invited neighbors to an ice-cream social at the site today, funded by the smallest of two grants they’ve received from the city. At the other end of the mini-park – just yards away, a group with a different invitation:
Nearby residents who want California Place to remain unchanged waved their sign at passing drivers, and invited their supporters to sign a petition. They’ve also attended the twice-monthly meetings that the pro-playscape group has been holding (here’s our coverage from a meeting last month). Despite the proximity, the two sides avoided direct conflict today, and opponents told us they were staying low-key so as not to spoil the afternoon for the youngest partygoers, some of whom played nearby, where California Place adjoins Admiral UCC Church:
Here’s where the California Place proposal stands: As we first reported last month, the city Neighborhood Matching Fund just awarded the pro-playscape group, FANNA (Friends and Neighbors of North Admiral), $15,000 to hire an architect to come up with designs; they are continuing to schedule meetings (open to the community) twice monthly – join the FANNA Yahoo! group to find out more.
More West Seattle weekend scenes, Saturday evening edition
As the West Seattle Gateway Cleanup wrapped up around 3:30 this afternoon, that was the scene in the neighborhood immediately west of the cleanup zone (near the ramp to the walkover bridge) – we heard one organizer saying they had collected a HALF-TON OF TRASH. We’re hoping for official wrapup info at some point later after organizers recover (they did a heroic job pulling this all together, and thanks to everyone in WSB’land who stepped forward to donate time, treats, etc.). When we get that info, we’ll post it separately with a few more scenes from today’s big event (earlier coverage was here and here). Meantime, here’s video of the four-legged cleanup crew now on duty along 34th north of Myrtle (map), on the east edge of Our Lady of Guadalupe‘s northern lot:
As mentioned here, the goats — from Rent-A-Ruminant — are expected to be on site through Tuesday. (Just note that it’s not too safe to get up close and personal to where they’re working – no sidewalk on that side of the street – but you can admire them from across the street, along High Point Playfield.) Meantime, we couldn’t resist going back to Alki to check in on the Evergreen State Barbecue Championship competitors’ progress. As usual, some of the booths show flashes of humor (note the sign AND the yellow tape here):
And there’s a little timely solemnity too:
We noted earlier that two booths across from 62nd SW are selling food (that was a big question last year, when we happened onto the barbecue event without advance warning). Pricewise for the main courses – the salmon sandwiches at the Tom Douglas booth are $7; offerings at the other booth (whose name we forgot to write down) range from $5 “German sausage on bun” to $25 dinner with a full rack of ribs. The main competition is tomorrow, but a little bit of judging was going on late today — an appetizer contest when we sauntered by around 5 pm. (The judges were sequestered mysteriously behind four walls of tent tarp.) The whole promenade smells amazing so you might just want to go be an olfactory spectator; the competitors will be camped out all night, some in tents by their massive grilling/smoking setups, some in RVs along Alki SW.
Reader report: Safety reminder after Fauntleroy crash
That photo comes from Fauntleroy’s Ron Richardson, along with this account of what happened, and the safety reminder it sparks:
Around 3 pm Saturday there was yet another rear-end accident as a car heading up Fauntleroy Way SW ran in to a parked car. The driver of the moving car was sent to the hospital to be checked out. One of the responding police officers said that there appeared to be no serious injury.
Moving cars slamming in to parked car is a common happening along Fauntleroy Way with northbound traffic. Drivers often are distracted by action in and around the park. Drinking has been a factor in some of the incidents. [editor’s note: there is no police report available yet on what might have been to blame in this case]
Some folks do not realize that Fauntleroy Way is a two-lane road and not a four lane road so they drive along what they think is a curb lane until they run in to a parked car. Drivers also need to be aware that this area has kids crossing to the park, fast moving traffic, cars pulling out from side streets, and drivers making dangerous U turns in attempt to get in to the southbound ferry lane. This latest incident happened at Fauntleroy Way and Rose Street.
That intersection is across from central Lincoln Park; here’s a map.
Also happening now: Fish-b-q with music; library fun
Atlas Stringband is playing at the annual Village Green Perennial Nursery (WSB sponsor) halibut barbecue (here’s the backstory) till 3 pm. As co-publisher Patrick put it after shooting that video, “They’re GOOD!” Meantime, here’s nursery owner Vera Johnson and halibut-catching husband Bill Curtin cooking, followed by a photo of the mid-barbecue crowd:
One more event under way till 3 pm — at High Point Library, you can meet one of the architects who helped design it, Brad Miller of Miller Hayashi Architects, and enjoy free coffee/snacks. This is part of a daylong, citywide celebration of Seattle Public Libraries (some other branches around Seattle have architects on hand too) — and at any library, till 6 pm, you can get a free “passport” that you can take to any and all libraries between now and January 2nd to get stamped (read more about it here).
Happening now: Barbecue battle; open house; cleanup update
Lady Liberty isn’t the only one at Alki with a torch today – that’s Home on the Range barbecue (whose MySpace site declares the team “… is gonna win at Alki”) cleaning off the grill in dramatic style (go here for a few seconds of video including the roaring torch), just one of the sights late this morning as the competitors in the Evergreen State Barbecue Championships revved up for the first of two days. Two vendors are selling food – they’re both along the walkway that’s across the street from Pegasus (62nd/Alki):
Also happening right now (till 2 pm), the Neighborhood Matching Fund 20th-anniversary open house at Youngstown Arts Center. Scrapbook-making is under way; we caught Ron Angeles, Delridge Neighborhood Services coordinator (left), and Pete Spalding (Delridge District Council president, among other roles) making entries for Delridge:
You’re also invited to make sure any local NMF project you are or have been involved with is represented on this map:
Free treats too and reusable shopping bags while they last. That’s what the mayor also was supposed to be handing out at the West Seattle Gateway Cleanup, continuing till about 3:30 – we caught him as he posed for pix near the Fauntleroy walkover around 10:30:
After that, we walked onto the pedestrian bridge (an interesting experience for an acrophobe) to get an aerial perspective of what the history-making volunteers are up to:
As we mentioned earlier, more than 200 had signed up, including representatives of a variety of local groups – among those we spotted this morning, Mars Hill Church-West Seattle, local LDS church members, the Morgan Community Association (later we’ll show you a photo of their cute T-shirts) and more.
West Seattle Gateway Cleanup, report #1: Making history!
That’s a group shot taken just before the first group of volunteers in the West Seattle Gateway Cleanup left the staging area (ex-Huling Buick lot, future Gateway Center) about half an hour ago and headed off to start tackling the task. Kimberlee Archie from the city Department of Neighborhoods had just noted that this not only is the 89th cleanup under the umbrella of the Clean and Green Program, she thinks the 200-plus volunteers represent the biggest group EVER in a C&G cleanup. Archie also read a proclamation from the mayor (who’s visiting the cleanup crews later this morning) declaring today to be Earl Cruzen Day, and Earl himself was on hand to accept the honor:
(ADDED SATURDAY AFTERNOON – here’s video of the proclamation being read)
You probably see the results of Earl’s work every day. He’s the guy who hatched the idea for the West Seattle Murals, for one; the story of how that happened, and who else helped, is told nicely on this page of the Fauntleroy Church website; you can also read about it in this West Seattle 101 chapter. Cruzen and the murals group then went on to come up with Walking on Logs – the starting point for today’s cleanup. Those two lines barely scratch the surface of what he’s given to the West Seattle community (and continues to give, well into his 80s), but we’ve got to get back out to see how the cleanup’s going; volunteers will be at work from Walking on Logs to 35th/Fauntleroy until about 3:30 this afternoon, and that means a westbound lane closure on the Fauntleroy end of The Bridge, so if you’re going to be driving that way, PLEASE be careful – hundreds of your neighbors are giving up part of their Saturday to make that stretch less of an eyesore, so help them stay safe. More updates later, on this and other big events happening around West Seattle today.
Saturday highlights around (and near) West Seattle
LAST WEEKEND TO GO TO COSTCO THE USUAL WAY: By Tuesday morning, the sign beneath the sheeting should be unmasked, to point you toward the detour that will kick in from the 1st Avenue South exit on the eastbound West Seattle Bridge – because that’s when eastbound lower Spokane Street will close 1st-5th to all but local (deliveries etc.) traffic. You’ll have to turn left on 1st at the bottom of the offramp, head to Lander, then up to 4th, and then to Costco (etc.). It’s the very first phase of work that in 3 years will result in a double-the-current-width Spokane Street Viaduct (archived WSB coverage here).
PARKING ALERT: Long stretches of California SW between Alaska and Morgan Junctions are marked by “no parking” signs in effect for today; we’ll be checking shortly on exactly what sort of road work this is for.
ANOTHER TRAFFIC NOTE: Another reminder, the eastbound Fauntleroy end of The Bridge will have the outside lane blocked off for the West Seattle Gateway Cleanup most of the day today (hundreds of volunteers; not too late to join them, here’s how).
SPEAKING OF VOLUNTEERS: The volunteer hours and donated $ that communities contribute to city Neighborhood Matching Fund-assisted projects are celebrated today in an NMF 20th-anniversary open house at Youngstown Arts Center, 10 am-2 pm.
IT’S COOKIN’ ON ALKI: Only a couple tents were set up as of late last night but lots more should be showing up this morning for the weekend-long Evergreen State Barbecue Championships along the Alki promenade. More here (including a famous food-seller!).
CLEAN CARS FOR A CAUSE: Latest fundraising car wash – West Seattle High School girls’ volleyball team, 10 am-2 pm at the WSHS parking lot.
BONAFIDE BELL-RINGING: With a month and a half to go till the election, your doorbell’s going to start ringing a lot. Today, it just might be the folks trying to rev up support for the Sound Transit ballot measure, “Mass Transit Now”; they’re gathering at midmorning in Morgan Junction to launch a round of West Seattle canvassing.
Much more – live music! live theater! plant sale! rummage sale! fish-b-q! — in the West Seattle Weekend Lineup; here’s a quicklink to today’s events.
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