48th and Charlestown site makes list of final park-levy Opportunity Fund recommendations

If the City Council agrees with the recommendations of the Parks and Green Spaces Levy Oversight Committee, that lot at 48th and Charlestown will become city-owned park space. It’s one of the proposed Opportunity Fund recommendation changes that committee chair Pete Spalding mentioned last Wednesday night while telling the Highland Park Action Committee that the new HP spraypark – funded with money from the first Opportunity Fund – is almost ready. The 48th/Charlestown purchase was proposed by the Genesee-Schmitz Neighborhood Council. The full list of citywide recommendations is here; in addition to $400,000 for that site, it includes two other spending recommendations for this side of the city – $374,500 for the Highland Park playground area (vicinity of the new spraypark), and $669,000 for land acquisition near the south end of the new South Park Bridge, to create a plaza. Those three projects are on a list of 14 citywide; a preliminary list of recommendations had included a plan for improvements to cabins at Camp Long, but we’re told that had to be dropped, which cleared the way for the two other West Seattle projects (culled from an original list of 7 from WS) to make the list. The council is expected to vote by mid-summer.

Dog owner May 25, 2013 (4:42 pm)

How about putting a dog park in the area? Westcrest is the only one we have, and that is far for many in the Admiral/Junction areas.

Another Dog Owner May 25, 2013 (4:54 pm)

That would be great! We would love to have a dog park closer.

J May 25, 2013 (5:20 pm)

How about a playground with natural elements?

Bonnie May 25, 2013 (5:20 pm)

I’ve always wondered why that sat empty. Does anybody remember when Pay n’ Pak used to be there? I think that’s what it was called.

mike May 25, 2013 (5:21 pm)

Who let the dogs out……let’s buy it!

kathleen May 25, 2013 (5:28 pm)

When I was a kid, that spot was a store. I vote for dog park too!

cblk May 25, 2013 (5:38 pm)

Make it a park but dont specify it for just a dog park… Also dosnt a church own the property?

West Seattle Hipster May 25, 2013 (6:03 pm)

How about an off leash park for cats?

Bonnie May 25, 2013 (6:21 pm)

Prairie Market! That was it!

The C-town Clown May 25, 2013 (6:30 pm)

How about a pot farm?

timh2o May 25, 2013 (6:30 pm)

Found this on the King County Parcel Viewer. I think it’s the correct parcel.

Parcel 5398600025
Present use: Vacant(Single-family)
Property name: VACANT
Jurisdiction: SEATTLE
Taxpayer name: PROVIDENCE MT SAINT VINCENT
Address: 3818 49TH AVE SW 98116
Appraised value: $575,700
Lot area: 14,394

G May 25, 2013 (7:04 pm)

Bonnie, I remember when it was the Pay n Pak grocery store. Used to walk that way on my way to Madison. That was a very long time ago :)

I don’t have a dog, but a dog park might give owners a place to go. Neighbors of such a park should have their say, though.

jkf May 25, 2013 (8:11 pm)

it was called grocery cart…i believe

KenK May 25, 2013 (8:13 pm)

Wasn’t there a gas station around there as well quite a few years back? Maybe a block east where those apartments are now.

Mke May 25, 2013 (8:47 pm)

I’m learning all sorts of history about that location now. Fun to know more. Also interesting that the city wants to pay $175,700 less than it’s crap King County valuation (which are ALWAYS low).
.
I’m all for a dog park there too, but it’s rather small for that once you have more than a few dogs visiting. West Crest is actually pretty small too. Magnuson and Marymoor are realistic sized dog parks. Not sure a dog park is the best use of that land.

rawkergrrrl May 25, 2013 (9:47 pm)

I think the Prairie Market turned into the PCC…

miws May 25, 2013 (10:37 pm)

Yes, Prairie Market was where PCC now is, and before it was a Prairie Market, it was a QFC.

The store at 48th was a Grocery Cart, as jkf mentions. I believe that was the last grocery to occupy the building that was there, or at least one of the later names of the store.

I’m drawing a blank on what grocery was there before Grocery Cart, but I want to say it was a Lucky Supermarket, or another common grocery of the time.

Pay-n-Pak was a local hardware store chain, and although I don’t recall West Seattle having one, there was one in White Center where McLendons now is.

Mike

JanS May 25, 2013 (10:45 pm)

yes, it was the Grocery Cart….and Prairie Market is now PCC. There was a Chevron station at Calif and Charlestown, NE corner, where the dentist’s office is now. And there was an IGA on the NW corner across from the Chevron station.

G May 25, 2013 (11:08 pm)

That’s right, the Grocery Cart…….Prairie Market, Tradewell, J.C. Penney’s right in the Junction. Miss having a department store in the Junction.

Greg May 26, 2013 (12:34 am)

Post #126 on this thread: https://westseattleblog.com/forum/topic/remember-when-ws-reminiscing-thread/page/3 has a good history of the supermarket that used to be on that property.

WSB May 26, 2013 (5:25 am)

Thanks for mentioning the old Forum thread, Greg. Little-known fact: You can right-click on the # mark below any Forum post for a direct link to that post. So here’s the direct link:
.
https://westseattleblog.com/forum/topic/remember-when-ws-reminiscing-thread/page/3#post-136761
.
The classic ongoing clash of corporations vs. independent businesses. Shop local. It means more than you know. Not only are you supporting the independent business itself, but you are supporting the businesses and organizations that THEY support … like WSB, for example … and on down the line. /soapbox

Bonnie May 26, 2013 (5:56 am)

Thanks everybody. I remember a grocery store. I just don’t remember which one! I’ve been coming to West Seattle since 1984 so it was there sometime around that time frame.

Trying! May 26, 2013 (7:01 am)

The Genesee Schmitz Neighborhood Council, especially, a few intrepid members have be lobbying, going to Park System meetings, and creating poster boards and proposals, trying to have a park established in our neighborhood. Originally we wanted to ask the Parks Dept. to create a large park out of the Genesee Hill School property. We even had an architect donate her time to draw up a wonderful plan with many of the features mentioned above. But soon after the Seattle School system said they would be rebuilding on the site so we had to go back to the drawing board. It took us almost a year to get the Charlestown site noticed by the Seattle Parks Dept. and even then we only made the cut when the Parks System had some leftover money after the current Parks Levy was distributed. It’s still in process so I won’t go into details. We’ll know by September if we get the OK. Even then, it will be a Parks Acquisition and they will not be using funds to develop the land as a park. P.S. The land cost is more in the $800,000 range and it involves a second contributor, as well as, the Parks Levy money.

Greg May 26, 2013 (7:08 am)

Thanks for the heads up WSB! I’ll remember that for the future.

miws May 26, 2013 (8:03 am)

Jan, do you remember the California Charlestown intersection having three corners of gas stations?

Chevron on the NE as you mentioned, then there was a Shell on the SE, Charlestown Cafe corner, and a Texaco on the SW, 7-11 corner.

Tracy, thanks for the reminder on how to link to specific Forum posts. I was trying to do that, knowing it could be done, a few weeks or so back, and for the life of me couldn’t remember how. I’ve long known to click “#” here on the Main Page to link to a specific comment.

If someone would have asked me, offhand, if there was an Octothorp below each Forum post, I would have probably said no.

Guess it just kinda blends in with the time stamp for me! ;-)

Mike

Del Martini May 26, 2013 (9:49 am)

Any specifics on why the Camp Long cabin rehab/insulation project was pulled off the table?

WSB May 26, 2013 (12:43 pm)

DM – I’m sorry I did not take copious notes on that aspect – I was in something of a juggling situation when I spoke with Rick Nishi and focused on confirming what was added rather than what was taken away. It was along the lines of, if these changes were made to the cabins, they would be classified as different types of structures from what they are now, and an extra level of cost and bureaucracy would kick in. – TR

Del Martini May 26, 2013 (9:52 am)

So sad that what was once a thriving and truly neighborhood grocery store at 48th and Charleston was forced out of business by large stores moving in. Specifically Safeway Admiral and Safeway Junction.
–
Frankly, I would rather see some kind of Opportunity Fund for bringing back small neighborhood grocery stores instead of building more parks. We cannot even afford to maintain the parks and open spaces we currently have in the inventory and here we go again adding yet more. Maintenance, maintenance, maintenance.

Kim May 26, 2013 (10:14 am)

Isn’t there a park just 4 or 5 blocks away? Ercolini ?

Kim May 26, 2013 (10:23 am)

And what about Schmitz Park itself?? How about that park-levy money help establish parks in neighborhoods with very little??

WSB May 26, 2013 (12:32 pm)

Schmitz Park, I believe, is not considered to be in the urban village. With the Admiral “urban village” on the verge of a building boom – the 3210 California development is the start – I believe 48th/Charlestown is considered to relate to that wider area. Will be following up on Tuesday on a variety of fronts; thanks to “Trying” for more from the G-S perspective – TR
.
PS – I finally found the PDF we had received of the original list of proposed projects citywide (can’t find it currently on the Opportunity Fund page) and it confirms that Providence is the current parcel owner:
.
https://westseattleblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Opportunity-Fund-Applications-by-Sector_09-26-2012.pdf

Trying! May 26, 2013 (5:15 pm)

So much to say! Briefly, we have no parks in the Genesee Schmitz neighborhood where we can have a community picnic or event. Ercoline is a small park for younger children with very few facilities. Schmitz has no facilities for the community. Hiawatha is always booked and does not have meeting or picnic facilities available. At the Parks meeting they did admit that our district was shorted in the last levy and almost shorted in this levy except for the Charlestown concession and that is a small project. But we can’t blame the Parks system. They just did not receive enough creditable applications from our district. Unless the community works together for parks we will continue to be left out of the process. And yes, WSB as has stated if the Camp Long cabins were insulated they would have to be brought up to code and that would take at least 4 times the money allocated for insulation.

Rainier May 26, 2013 (6:12 pm)

Can we have too many parks? I don’t think so. I’d support a dog park or just keeping it as it is for everyone, including dogs to enjoy. A park doesn’t have to contain equipment of some kind to be enjoyed. I say less is more.

Mike May 27, 2013 (11:19 am)

Rainer, I like your idea. Less can be more, we need to save open space while there is still open space to save. Spending money on fancy stuff is a waste of resources during these economicly difficult times.
Also I like the idea of off leash cats for the dogs……

Del Martini May 27, 2013 (4:23 pm)

WSB – Thank you for the info that you were able to recall regarding the Camp Long cabin application.

Rick May 28, 2013 (7:08 am)

Mike,I didn’t get the “off leash cats for the dogs” until I read it a second time. Too funny.

frank June 5, 2013 (8:50 am)

“And yes, WSB as has stated if the Camp Long cabins were insulated they would have to be brought up to code and that would take at least 4 times the money allocated for insulation.”

WSB can you tell me where this info came from? Thanks.

Sorry, comment time is over.