West Seattle, Washington
18 Sunday
(Photo by James Bratsanos)
8:26 PM: This year of sunset spectacles just doesn’t end. Thanks to everyone who’s sent photos of tonight’s painted sky – this is the start of a mini-gallery.
(Photo by Mark Dale)
Adding a few more shortly. The rain’s back tomorrow, and who knows when we’ll see this again!
ADDED 9:18 PM: Click ahead for more (or scroll, if you’re viewing this from the standalone story page and not the home page)
(WSB photos by Patrick Sand)
Two months after we first reported that Peel & Press was moving into the former Abbondanza space in Morgan Junction, it’s opening night. Just got that word from proprietor Dan Austin (below), with whom we talked in August.
His focus is “stone-fired” pizza and spirits – here’s the drink menu for happy hour (until 6) – and P&P will be open until 11 tonight at 6503 California SW.
For the first time since the fitness center at 2629 SW Andover closed last Thursday – billed as a two-day closure but then extended by an ownership change – members on a mailing list from the former ownership received a message this afternoon. This is the entire unedited text of the e-mail:
It is with great sorrow that I write to you that the West Seattle Club has closed. The landlord will be taking over shortly and the club will be back open as soon as possible. I am sorry that I was unable to turn the club around from its first bankruptcy and I take full responsibility for its failure. The strain on the relationship with the landlord became too much as he refused to fix anything structural or mechanical in the club. I invested money into systems and structures that are typically not the tenants responsibility. The landlord refused to fix the following:
The HVAC system. This caused the system to always broken. It was either too hot or too cold.
The swimming pool filtration system was always broken.
The electrical wiring was in adequate in the building which caused fires and the voltage spikes. These spikes would cause the pool and hot tub control equipment to always blow up, fail, or catch on fire. Thus the hot tub and pool are always out of order. These spikes also blew up a lot of the cardio equipment. That is why a lot of pieces were always down.
The pool is not VGB certified and was supposed to be certified back in 2011. By draining the pool the landlord can get this fixed so the pool is to code.
The sprinkler system in the locker rooms are too short so we could not put a ceiling up in the locker rooms.
The air exchange system in the locker rooms is broken so the ceiling do not always dry and they collect water which leads to the mold.
The air exchange system in the pool does not work properly and should be replaced. That is why the walls are dripping with rust.
Landlord needs to tear out the shower walls so mold and water will not continue to go into the shower walls.
Landlord needs to replace all of the leaky windows.I have also taken out most of my equipment and will hopefully be able to finish removing the remaining pieces in order to make room for your new owner to purchase newer equipment for the club. The club was not attacked or sabotaged. The swimming pool was drained so it can be repaired, the drains brought to code, and painted. There was no vandalism and there was a lot of good equipment left. I left the carpet shampoo machine, tile cleaning machine for the bathrooms, and many other cleaning supplies. All paper towel dispensers were left on the walls. The club needs cleaning from the move, upgrades in equipment, supplies purchased. All of which is a small investment by your new owner John Pietromonaco. If you have any question you can contact him by clicking on his name or you can call his office at (206) 232-7502 .
All of your membership and credit card information has been removed from the premises and will be destroyed. If you would like to sign back up at the club you will have to email John or stop by the club. Your memberships are officially terminated and you will not be charged again by the West Seattle Club. Some of you have not been charged for the last two months as we have been in transition with our new management software CSI. You will not be charged for those two months. For those of you that have been charged before the club was closed down or you joined less than 30 days ago, you will be receiving a full refund. If you have any questions please feel free to email us from the website at www.westseattleclub.com. We will be using the contact information that we have on file to send you your refund.
There are also many mistakes that I made that I will learn from. West Seattle is a great community and deserves a great club for people to reach their fitness goals. For falling short I apologize. Good luck and God Bless.
Sam Adams
The denial of sabotage is an apparent response to what the property owner’s representative, Dan Lehr, said in a message we published as part of our Saturday night coverage.
Meantime, a new document in Adams’s bankruptcy-case file confirms what had been mentioned in other documents the past few days – what technically happened is that he sought extra time to decide on whether to extend or “reject” the club lease, a decision required as part of the proceedings, and last Friday, the judge turned down the request, so the lease was “rejected” as of this past Monday. The newest information from the new ownership/management of the 2629 SW Andover facility is in this story we published Tuesday afternoon; we’ll update this with anything else that comes in this afternoon/evening.
4:21 PM: While the message suggests e-mailing “from the website,” we haven’t found an e-mail address on it so far. A couple layers in, we did find this form; let us know if you use it and get a reply.
(WSB photo: Excavation site at midday today)
As the excavation continues at the Murray Combined Sewer Overflow Control Project site across from Lowman Beach Park, another reminder of what the future million-gallon tank is for – King County announced that Saturday night’s windstorm led to a power outage and another overflow from Murray Pump Station, into Puget Sound. We’re still waiting to hear the amount of sewage that (updated) 200,000 gallons of sewage overflowed; county Wastewater Treatment spokesperson Annie Kolb-Nelson says bacteria levels “were never elevated,” but the beach was closed “as a precaution” and has since reopened. The county brought in a mobile generator to get the pump station back online and stop Saturday night’s overflow; once the entire Murray project is complete, that shouldn’t be necessary either, since the pump station itself is getting a “permanent back-up electrical system” in addition to the huge tank to hold overflows. Right now, the overflow tank site is more than two-thirds of the way into the 60-foot-deep excavation that’s planned for the $26 million project, which is designed to bring the county into compliance with orders to limit overflows to no more than one per year; currently, this pump station averages five.
Too busy a day for a calendar preview (please go directly to our calendar to browse everything that’s up) but there’s one spotlight event, as the Highland Park Action Committee reminds us:
*Highland Park Playground Public Meeting #1* will be held tonight, 6:30 to 7:45 p.m.at Highland Park Elementary School, 1012 SW Trenton St. An Opportunity Fund Grant was awarded to the park with the goals of improving access into the park, and making better connections to SW Thistle, 10th Ave SW, and SW Cloverdale so that it can evolve into an easily accessible node between Riverview and Westcrest. Participants can learn about this community-initiated project that will improve the access, usability, and safety of Highland Park. More information on their website.
(Photo courtesy Amanda Kay Helmick)
Thanks to Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council chair Amanda Kay Helmick for sharing the photo of liftoff for the community-created turret at Roxhill Park‘s “castle” play structure. She observed its removal this morning and said the Parks staffers worked very carefully and respectfully.
(This photo and next by WSB’s Patrick Sand)
As first reported last Thursday, safety concerns regarding the turret led to the closure of the castle until it could be removed. We got there this morning after the turret, created during the play structure’s construction a year and a half ago, was bundled onto a Seattle Parks truck:
Helmick says she’s been told that Parks hopes to replace it on the structure by reinforcing the area beneath, and the structure itself, so it can bear the weight. No timeline yet; we’ll be checking in with Parks. Meantime, the play area is expected to reopen today (if it hasn’t already reopened since we were over there about an hour ago).
12:59 PM UPDATE: Just went back over – fence is gone, play structure is reopened:
Fence is down at Roxhill Castle – playtime! pic.twitter.com/9G36CJnXJa
— West Seattle Blog (@westseattleblog) October 29, 2014
10:50 AM: Heard this on the scanner and just checked it out. The signals at Fauntleroy/Oregon are out – a truck is believed to have taken out part of the equipment. People are zipping through the light rather than treating it as an all-ways stop as they should be. No sign of a repair crew yet.
11:37 AM: Just added two photos, including the pole that was knocked down on the north side of Fauntleroy. If you’re in the area, please let us know (206-293-6302 text/voice or editor@westseattleblog.com) if you see a repair crew; we’ll otherwise be checking back in an hour or so.
3 PM UPDATE: We went by within the past hour; the light’s back on and other repairs were being completed:
Fauntleroy-Oregon signal working again & @seattledot fixing knocked-down pole pic.twitter.com/5n0lhgWLun
— West Seattle Blog (@westseattleblog) October 29, 2014
You see the announcements and stories go by – this project, that community council, this meeting, that survey – but you’re still not quite sure how to get fully community-connected. Here’s an excellent opportunity: This year’s Gathering of Neighbors, organized by local community advocates and volunteers, just announced for 9 am-1 pm Saturday, November 15th. If you’ve been in the past – this one’s different; instead of another resource fair where you can circulate between tables and booths, it’s a chance to talk and listen. After a one-hour opening program at 9 am, here’s what’s scheduled:
10:00-11:00 AM – 4 BREAKOUT SESSIONS
*Land Use (led by Delridge & Southwest District Councils’ Joint Land Use Committee)
*Transportation (led by West Seattle Transportation Coalition)
*Public Safety (led by West Seattle Blockwatch Captains and Seattle Neighborhood Group)
*Staying Informed & Getting Connected (led by Tracy Record, West Seattle Blog)
About that last one … along with info on where to find and share info, we’ll also share the best ways (not just WSB) for you to get maximum exposure for what YOU need to announce, including the best way to write a “news release” (hint, sometimes you don’t need one at all) and the top things you DON’T need to do (but might think you do) to get media coverage/attention. Back to the schedule:
11:15 AM-1:00 PM – 2 MODERATED DISCUSSIONS
After choosing one of the breakout sessions to learn more about how you can stay informed and get involved, join in one of two discussions about major projects underway in West Seattle:
*North Delridge Action Plan (led by DPD/DON staff)
*Fauntleroy Way SW Boulevard Project (led by SDOT staff)
The Gathering of Neighbors will happen this year at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center (4408 Delridge Way SW). See you there!
From Denny International Middle School teacher Luther J. Carr III:
West Seattle Veterans!!! Denny International Middle School is looking for YOU to join us and be recognized & honored for your service to America at our annual Veterans Day Assembly, November 10, 2014 at 1:15PM. This invitation is open to the first 10 Veterans (limited seating) who respond to this invitation.
At our assembly you will be given priority seating, enjoy music, guest speakers, and inspirational videos along with our Denny scholars and staff.
If interested, which we hope that you are, please contact me at ljcarr@seattleschools.org
(WS bridge and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
6:59 AM: Nothing unusual reported on the routes through/from West Seattle so far this morning. So we start with transportation news you might have missed:
TUNNEL PIT ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION BEGINS: You’ll recall that the digging stopped last Thursday at the pit to access the Highway 99 tunnel machine’s broken cutter head, when a concentration of shells was found. The archaeological investigation of those shells has begun, WSDOT announced late Monday.
Also of note:
SEATTLE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OUT EARLY: Today is a two-hours-early-dismissal day for students district-wide.
7:39 AM: First commenter traffic report of the morning – Avalon backed up.
8:09 AM: “20 big blocks of wet concrete” reported as a traffic hazard on the eastbound bridge. No further location details heard via scanner – police are checking it out.
8:33 AM: Just got a phone call about this – whatever form it’s in, cars are driving through the concrete and the mess is getting worse. The caller pins the location from the Fauntleroy entrance to the bridge, down and around the curve and parallel with Nucor.
8:50 AM: We’re seeing what looks to be cleanup, under way on the eastbound bridge entrance – screengrab from the nearby traffic cam:
11:38 AM: If you haven’t seen this story – beware Fauntleroy/Oregon until the light’s fixed.
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