West Seattle, Washington
26 Friday
(UPDATED FRIDAY AFTERNOON with letter-writing info for roundabout support)
Toplines from the Highland Park Action Committee‘s last meeting before summer break, Wednesday night at Highland Park Improvement Club:
DEPARTMENT OF NEIGHBORHOODS: Yun Pitre visited – she’s an 11-year city employee who was formerly a Neighborhood District Coordinator, now a Community Engagement Coordinator, one of four working with community groups around the city. She’s assigned to Districts 1 and 2. (That’s City Council districts, as in 7 of them, rather than the old not-numbered neighborhood districts, of which West Seattle had two.) “We’re still your liaisons to city government,” she affirmed, when asked what her role now means. HPAC co-chair Michele Witzki said she hopes the department will offer added resources. “One of the reasons they broke everything up was for equity – and now not only are we getting (fewer resources), but it seems we’re competing with some of the other (disadvantaged) neighborhoods that have (greater) needs.”
If you haven’t seen it already, the annual WSB West Seattle 4th of July page is up and we’re continuing to update it – if an event is missing, or if your business has special hours (or is closed) on the 4th, please let us know and we’ll add that too. editor@westseattleblog.com – thanks!
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Kristine Atri is a United States Air Force veteran who says not much scares her.
She in fact is a huge fan of “escape room” game venues.
So much so, that she’s opening the first one in West Seattle, where she and her husband live.
We talked with her today about The Escape Artist, which Atri expects to open this fall in three vacant spaces spanning about 2,500 square feet in the commercial building at 4517 California SW – two on the ground floor, separated by the breezeway, and one upstairs.
First – if you aren’t familiar with the “escape room” concept – it’s a 21st-century phenomenon, Atri explains.
Thanks to Erika Lindsay with the city’s Office of Arts and Culture for news that “Engine 32 1/2” has been installed at the new Fire Station 32 in The Triangle. She included photos of the installation, which as you can see required a crane.
Sean Orlando of Engineered Artworks is the artist. Engine 32 1/2 is described as:
… a large-scale fabricated steel version of a wooden toy fire truck. Inspired by historic fire trucks of the late 1920s and 1930s … modeled after the original Engine 32 that Captain Steve Sanislo operated out of this station for many years … a 1924 Seagrave Apparatus … a custom designed and fabricated idealized version of a real vintage fire truck built to ½ scale with a toy-maker’s detailed aesthetic … endowing it with a sense of play, whimsy and imagination. The ladders of “Engine 32 ½” will extend, stretch and come alive behind the apparatus, organically and impossibly creeping up the outer wall of the firehouse. The extension of the ladders behind the truck represents the speed and urgency of the Fire Fighter’s mission. The overall shape of the ladders will emulate a chaotic abstract flame.
Capt. Sanislo is of course the namesake of the elementary school on Puget Ridge. But the truck has even more of a local backstory – inspired by toy trucks made by a man living near FS 32, as detailed on Orlando’s website.
The artist is quoted as saying, “This particular work of art represents an internal discovery and connection between the primal emotions and memory within children of all ages, as well as adults. By creating a piece that spans the generations, “Engine 32 ½” will act as a catalyst to bridge the gap between the adolescent child and the inner child of the adult.”
No date yet for when SFD will move into the new station (which was built on the site where the old one was demolished, at SW Alaska and 37th SW), according to our most-recent check with the department. Construction began with demolition more than 14 months ago. The call for artists originally went out in 2013.
From the “unusual theft” files, this report from Hannah:
Overnight, someone stole all the tree gator/water drip bags from our street (including ours and the neighbors). On Graham St SW, between 49th and 50th Ave SW in Seaview. Jerks! And also, WHY?
The missing bags are dark green.
Chaco Canyon Organic Café in The Triangle has a new proprietor, who we’re welcoming as a new WSB sponsor:
Mohamed Youssef is the new operator/manager of Chaco Canyon Organic Café in West Seattle, which is in its 7th year. He wants to be sure customers past, present, and future know that nothing has changed – the menu is the same, the hours are the same, the prices are the same.
Before taking over the West Seattle Chaco Canyon, he spent time at the main Chaco Canyon Café kitchens in Green Lake with the Seattle chain’s chefs, learning about the preparation methods, ingredients, and serving styles. He wanted to master each step of the process so everyone who comes in is guaranteed both good food and comfortable surroundings.
As Mohamed stresses, Chaco Canyon Organic Café is Seattle’s best choice for fresh, organic, GMO-free, vegetarian, and non-allergenic cuisine. That all being said, most people who come to Chaco Canyon do not come for those reasons. Chaco Canyon‘s many regulars come because the food is delicious, no matter what their diets are, and it leaves them feeling satisfied and energized.
Many people find Chaco Canyon Organic Café from word of mouth – the customer base cultivated over 14 years are the restaurants’ best spokespeople, and they tend to bring in family and friends to see for themselves: “When people come in once, they tend to come back because they see and experience the value of our business. Coming to Chaco Canyon is not only a great thing for the planet, since we are decidedly environmental and make sustainable business choices, but also often a great thing for our customers health, diet, and well-being. We’ve heard hundreds of accounts through the years of how Chaco has transformed people’s lives, their health, their relationships with food, and become an essential part of their daily lives. We love serving this great community and being a business that can be a benefit to all.”
West Seattle’s Chaco Canyon Organic Café is at 3770 SW Alaska – phone 206-937-8732. Find the newest menus here.
We thank Chaco Canyon Organic Café in West Seattle for sponsoring independent, community-collaborative neighborhood news via WSB; find our current sponsor team listed in directory format here, and find info on joining the team by going here.
21 candidates for Seattle Mayor (and no, there won’t be a 22nd), eight for City Council Position 8, seven for City Council Position 7, two for City Attorney, plus King County and Port of Seattle races, and the “Access for All” sales-tax increase. Want to help decide them all? If you’re not already set to vote in the August 1st primary (voting actually starts in about two weeks, when ballots arrive), Monday (July 3) is your deadline. Here’s how.
(Added: WSB photo, from Emma Schmitz Memorial Overlook this morning)
Highlights for the rest of your Thursday:
FAMILY STORY TIME: 10:30 am at Southwest Library. (35th SW/SW Henderson)
WADING POOLS AND SPRAYPARKS OPEN TODAY: 11 am-8 pm, Lincoln Park wading pool. 11 am-8 pm, Highland Park spraypark. Noon-6:30 pm, Hiawatha wading pool. Noon-7 pm, EC Hughes wading pool. (Addresses are here)
BEER JUNCTION ANNIVERSARY: 7th anniversary beer release today at The Beer Junction, 11 amm – details on TBJ’s website. (4511 California SW)
SUMMER LUNCHES AT THE LIBRARY: 12:30 pm at High Point and Delridge libraries, free lunch for 18 and under.
HALA REZONING HEARING: If you have something to say about the Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda‘s Mandatory Housing Affordability rezoning proposal, now in Draft Environmental Impact Statement stage, tonight’s the big event at City Hall, first-floor Bertha Knight Landes Room – 5:30 pm “open house” with one-on-one Q&A, and sign up to speak at the public hearing, which begins at 6:30 pm. (600 5th Ave.)
HOT ROD: 8 pm at Parliament Tavern. No cover. 21+. (4210 SW Admiral Way)
THAT’S NOT ALL … see our complete calendar for today’s full list.
(Added: WSB photo)
7:35 AM: Seattle Fire has sent a full response to an apartment building in the 7100 block of California SW [map]. First crews on scene say they’re seeing smoke.
(Added: Photo tweeted by @katelynchowell)
It’s reported to have started as a grease fire.
7:43 AM: The fire is reported to be under control.
7:56 AM: The fire is tapped. California remains closed between just north of Myrtle and just north of Orchard. No injuries reported.
8:05 AM: Some units are being dismissed. SPD is directing traffic.
9:59 AM: California is open again. We have followup questions out to SFD and will update this story when the answers are in.
(SDOT MAP with travel times/video links; is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE)
7:29 AM: A stalled vehicle on the eastbound West Seattle Bridge has just cleared. No incidents otherwise.
7:36 AM: A fire response in the 7100 block of California SW – we advise diverting to 35th SW instead.
8:05 AM: Or divert to Fauntleroy. California is still blocked between Myrtle and Orchard.
Meantime, the 8:15 am Vashon Water Taxi is cancelled because of mechanical trouble.
8:46 AM: California is till blocked as of a few minutes ago, per commenter KMWS in our fire coverage. Photo added above showing SPD helping divert SB traffic at SW Myrtle.
Tuesday night’s “Legends of the Road” screening at the Admiral Theater, to benefit the fund for restoring its historic murals, was a success on multiple levels.
“Pier 4” at The Admiral was almost full by showtime.
(Videos courtesy Southwest Seattle Historical Society. Above, pre-film introductions)
In pre-film remarks, executive director Clay Eals of the Southwest Seattle Historical Society – which is leading the restoration effort – observed that the crowd included former mayor Greg Nickels in a Kansas City Monarchs hat. (The Monarchs were the team honored by the high-school baseball players featured in the movie as they “barnstormed” on a 5,100-mile baseball trip in 2000, organized by students from Chief Sealth HS to pay tribute to the Negro Leagues players’ legendary travels.)
Also at the screening – Negro Leagues Baseball Museum president Bob Kendrick, who’s part of the film, and “Legends of the Road” producer/director Gary Thomsen, the former Chief Sealth teacher whose students carried out the ambitious-to-say-the-least project. They answered questions after the screening, joined by one of the former Sealth students who produced the barnstorming trip (with all the filming done by students too). Before the screening, Kendrick had a story about Seattle barnstorming history, with the Monarchs playing games here against a team called the House of David, which he described as “an all-white religious sect based out of Michigan. … Seattle has long been an important part of this story.”
Every cent raised Tuesday night goes to restoration of the 75-year-old murals, which, as Eals noted (you can see part of one in the video), were hidden under curtains when the theater was twinned in 1973, and uncovered during last year’s renovation work that turned The Admiral into an all-first-run fourplex. With paid admission approaching 200, and a post-film auction of two donated 1942 Monarchs replica jerseys for $600 each, that totals at least $5,000.
Another fundraising effort is in the works, Eals tells us. The formal announcement is expected within a week or so, but you can save the date – July 25th – for a full evening “consisting of an in-person presentation by the world-renowned, France-based ‘silent film guru’ Tim Brock, who scores films for the Chaplin Foundation and countless other films, and who grew up in West Seattle and got the inspiration for his film-scoring career when, as a 10-year-old in the early 1970s, he watched organ-accompanied silents at West Seattle’s Granada Theater, which was razed in 1977. Tim will be interviewed on stage by his childhood friend, West Seattle’s Dave Beck (current KING-FM host and longtime former KUOW-FM host), show stills and clips from films he has scored and, after an intermission, introduce the full-length ‘Modern Times’ by Chaplin.”
As for what’s next for “Legends of the Road,” it’s on the film-festival circuit, having premiered in Kansas City, and heading to Minneapolis. That was part of Tuesday night’s post-film Q&A:
Thomsen hopes to screen it eventually in the cities that were part of the barnstorming-tribute tour. As for here at home, he says its next local screening isn’t scheduled yet but he’s working on another event that might include it. Whenever it happens, you’ll want to take anybody who needs a little inspiration … as Paul, one of the former students, told the audience last night, the project gave him a lot of confidence. Bob Kendrick declared that “every educator should see this film,” to get a view into an “amazing experiential learning project.”
| 1 COMMENT