More than a year and a half after first word of a renovation project at Don Armeni Boat Ramp, it’s finally ramping up. The ramp’s floating docks are set to be replaced. Early this year, the city announced it had received a state grant to help pay for the project, and an update was promised by summer, but none followed. Then a related notice turned up in the newest city-circulated Land Use Information Bulletin, so we checked the project’s status with Seattle Parks, whose senior capital-projects coordinator Garrett Farrell replied with this update:

The City of Seattle Parks and Recreation Department is really happy to be getting the renovation of Don Armeni back underway.

The long delay is tied to the late state budget signing last year that held up our grants from the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO)

RCO project 16-2356D provides $374,950 in grant funds allowing Parks to move ahead with the $500,000 project to replace the aged floating docks at Don Armeni. We were happy to see a budget get passed at the state level but really had nothing to report until that grant agreement was signed this quarter.

With the agreement in place we are working to secure our permits and move the project through design. We immediately started with those efforts as they will dictate when we can bid and perform the work.

When permit approvals are in, Farrell adds, there will be a public meeting about the project. Too soon to estimate the start date, but once the work gets going, he says, it should last about three months, and during that time, “we will keep one ramp open while we work on the other.” He expects a website for the project to be up and running next month.

P.S. The new notice we mentioned above is a Determination of Non-Significance – saying that a full environmental-impact review is not needed. The publication of that notice opens a window for comment/appeal – this explains how.