West Seattle, Washington
18 Thursday
(2013 aerial of Dragonfly Garden/Pavilion, by Long Bach Nguyen)
As that aerial view shows, North Delridge’s Dragonfly Park doesn’t just get its name from the pavilion structure, but also from the garden beds.
The volunteers of Friends of Dragonfly Park were preparing for a new season of work when they got startling news from the Parks Department, as Laura Bruco explains it, “that Parks plans to turf the gardens over and put an outline of the wings in crocuses.” Those, as you probably know, are short-lived early-spring blooms, so most of the year, the garden’s distinctive shape would be lost.
“This park is just too unique and special to replace with an outline of crocus bulbs,” Bruco says. “Our group worked really hard to prepare those beds to take new plantings last year, but Parks kept delaying. They said back then that they were working on figuring out who needed to approve the plans for native plantings that are lower maintenance with the artist Lorna Jordan.”
(October 2017 photo courtesy Friends of Dragonfly Park)
And then suddenly came the news of the Parks plan to just put in grass.
Bruco asked Parks for a chance to discuss this before it’s done, and that meeting is set for next week, open to anyone who’s interested. We asked Parks why the change, and spokesperson Karen O’Connor replied:
We have been working with the community that has provided many hours of volunteer time to keep the garden maintained along with the support from our SPR landscaping crew. We have concluded the planting and gardening design is not sustainable with the current level of volunteer and staff support.
After much work and consulting with the Office of Arts and Culture, our Sr. Landscape Architect has put together a design that is respectful of the Dragonfly Pavilion original design intent. The plan calls for the large areas of bark mulch to be replaced with grass and consolidate the plants that are doing well into the garden beds along the wall. We plan on planting crocus bulbs throughout the lawn so that there would be a bloom time in the spring where different colors would pop under the dragonfly sculpture. Having grass within the butterfly wings will allow us to mow the returning horsetail along with the other invasive weeds.
The garden dates back to the early 2005, with Seattle Public Utilities originally involved. The garden sections now scheduled to be replaced with grass are an integral part of the original intent, as explained here:
… Dragonfly Pavilion is the entrance feature to SPU’s Longfellow Creek Drainage and Habitat Improvement Project and serves as a creek overlook and outdoor environmental education facility. The artist-designed Dragonfly Garden, which surrounds the pavilion, is a landscaped area demonstrating salmon friendly and water-wise gardening techniques and is crucial to SPU’s mission and educational message at the site. …
Bruco is taking the case to Parks higher-ups as well as Councilmember Lisa Herbold and the aforementioned city Office of Arts and Culture, “and whomever else I can find who may have the power and influence to do something.”
If you’re available at 12:30 pm next Thursday (August 22nd), that’s when Bruco and other Friends of Dragonfly Park volunteers will meet with Parks reps at the park to try to save the garden, and all are welcome to be there (28th SW & SW Dakota).
Tomorrow morning, a swimmer who trains off Alki will be the next to tackle the Amy Hiland Swim – swimming from Bremerton to Alki Point, something seven others have done, from Hiland herself in 1959 to Stephanie Zimmerman two weeks ago. Tomorrow, Tricia Elmer plans to start at 7:30 am, according to Northwest Open Water Swimming Association president Andrew Malinak, and will likely finish about five hours later. As usual, the swim will be tracked by an escort boat and you can see the progress here. Big weekend for NOWSA – they’re celebrating a cross-Strait of Juan de Fuca swim that happened today, completed by Kim Rutherford in 10 hours, 22 minutes.
Peak season for free outdoor music! The ABBAgraphs – you can guess whose music is their specialty – are playing right now in the third of four shows as part of Providence Mount St. Vincent‘s summer concert series.
Something extra at The Mount’s shows – you can buy dinner if you want:
Tonight’s menu includes burgers, tacos, and baklava! And/or free snow cones and popcorn. The concert continues until 7:30; The Mount is at 4831 35th SW and the stage is on the south side of the campus.
Next week, this year’s series wraps up with the 85th Street Big Band, dinner available starting at 5:30, music at 6.
Missing a Gary Fisher Tarpon bicycle? L found one, abandoned, “at Lincoln Park near Fauntleroy and Othello. Likely stolen.” Contact us if it might be yours and we’ll connect you.
(Photo courtesy Alki Mail and Dispatch)
Above are Bree Fitts and Don Wahl of Alki Mail & Dispatch (4701 SW Admiral Way), who have a big announcement – Bree is taking over the business!
Bree was born and raised in West Seattle and is a graduate of Chief Sealth high school. She came to work for Alki Mail & Dispatch in 2011 after the California Ave. Blockbuster Video closed, where she had previously worked as a shift manager for about 5 years.
She has been managing Alki Mail for the past several years for Don and he has decided after 30 years (we celebrate 30 years in business on November 17th of this year) he is ready to step away, but it was important to him that it went to someone who was as dedicated to the business and its customers as he is, and there was no question it would be Bree!
She is passionate about customer service and dedicated to providing nothing but the best for her customers. She is so proud and so excited to join the club of women small business owners in her hometown and hopes to see Alki Mail grow even more with the support of the community.
We plan to have an anniversary/customer appreciation party sometime in November, so be on the lookout for the announcement when we decide on a date! A reminder of Alki Mail’s services: Private mailbox rental, packaging, shipping, printing services, notary public, faxing, scanning and coffee! We are open Monday-Friday 7 am-7 pm, Saturday 9 am-5 pm, and Sunday 12 pm-4 pm.
Alki Mail has been at this location for 15 years, after the first 15 at the beach.
A 32-year-old man is in jail today after a resident caught him trying to climb into his patio near California/Charlestown late last night. We requested and obtained the report, which says police got the call around 11:23 pm. Police arrived to find the victim following the suspect, with a baseball bat, southbound on California. Officers detained both until they sorted out what had happened. The victim explained that his dog alerted him to noise on the back patio; he said he walked out to find the suspect halfway over the fence. First he grabbed “a pellet gun resembling a rifle” and pointed it at the suspect, who he said dared him to shoot and then threatened to burn the house down. The suspect kept yelling and took off. When stopped, he claimed to police that he had had “a rough day,” had been in the alley collecting trash, and was just trying to get back to California SW to head toward Morgan Junction. Once the suspect was under arrest, the report says, investigating officers noted that the victim’s patio does not connect to California SW. The suspect was booked into the King County Jail on suspicion of criminal trespassing. Records show this is his third arrest in less than two months; the other two were for allegedly harassing/threatening people outside their homes in Morgan Junction, and the second report says he is a known troublemaker in that area.
If you use the high bridge, you’ll want to know about two things next week for which SDOT has issued traffic alerts (thanks to Mike for spotting them first!):
HYDRANT TESTING: Next Monday (August 19), SFD will test the bridge’s fire hydrants. That requires closure of the eastbound and westbound inside lanes, SDOT says; the work will start around 8:45 am and end by 2:45 pm.
SPOKANE STREET VIADUCT REPAIRS: As you probably know, the eastern section of the bridge, from the Highway 99 overpass eastward, is technically the Spokane Street Viaduct. Its surfacing needs some repairs, and SDOT has plans to do that between 10 pm next Friday (August 23) and 7 pm next Saturday (August 24). During the work, the two left eastbound lanes will be closed.
Thanks for the tip! After a reader told us they’d heard that The Nook (2206 California SW) in North Admiral is ending their coffee operations, we stopped by this morning to verify. That’s Johnny at the espresso machine and he tells us Sunday’s the last day for morning operations at The Nook because he’s moving to Alaska. But the evening bar operation WILL continue under the helm of his brother Jimmy. The Nook’s been open for 2 1/2 years and added coffee just after their first anniversary.
(Red-breasted Nuthatch, photographed by Mark Wangerin)
From the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
WADING POOLS AND SPRAYPARK OPEN: Lincoln Park wading pool (8011 Fauntleroy Way SW) is open until 8 pm, Hiawatha wading pool (Walnut/Lander) is open noon-6:30 pm (second-to-last day of the season!), and the Highland Park Spraypark (1100 SW Cloverdale) is open until 8 pm.
BINGO! Weekly bingo! 11 am-2:30 pm at the Senior Center of West Seattle. (4217 SW Oregon)
TALK WITH YOUR COUNCILMEMBER: 2-7 pm, City Councilmember Lisa Herbold is holding this month’s “district office hours” at South Park Community Center. Drop-ins welcome. (8319 8th Ave. S.)
CONCERTS AT THE MOUNT: 5:30 pm, dinner’s available for purchase; 6 pm, music begins. The ABBAgraphs‘ ABBA-tribute performance continue the series tonight. Free, bring your own chair/blanket. South side of Providence Mount St. Vincent campus. (4831 35th SW)
MUSIC AT THE COFFEEHOUSE: 7 pm at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor), live music with Nelson Wright, Steve Beck, & Brian Cutler. (5612 California SW)
OUTDOOR MOVIE: “Captain Marvel” is this week’s movie at Aegis Living, 7 pm. (4700 SW Admiral Way)
‘9 TO 5, THE MUSICAL’: This summer’s Twelfth Night Productions show continues tonight at the West Seattle High School Theater, 7:30 pm. Ticketing info and more here. (3000 California SW)
MARLEY’S GHOST: 7:30 pm at Kenyon Hall, celebrating the release of their latest album. (7904 35th SW)
3 BANDS AT THE PARLIAMENT: Human Ottoman, Moon Letters, and Funk Jazz with Peter Daniel, 9 pm, $8. 21+. (4210 SW Admiral Way)
LOTS MORE! See it all on our complete calendar.
(Photo courtesy West Seattle YMCA)
The approach of fall not only means back to school, it’s back to sports for many local kids. The West Seattle YMCA (WSB sponsor) has opened soccer signups – here’s the announcement:
Get in the game this fall with Y soccer for ages 3 to 8. Kids learn the rules of the game, sharpen skills like dribbling, passing, defense and offense while learning teamwork and sportsmanship.
YMCA youth sports encourage and promote healthy kids, families, and communities by placing a priority on family involvement, healthy competition rather than rivalry, the value of participation over winning, team-building as well as individual development, a positive self-image and a sense of fair play and mutual respect for others. Parents are encouraged to be more than mere spectators, by contributing their time as volunteer coaches—as well as being their kid’s greatest fan.
For more information and/or registration, go here.
(SDOT MAP with travel times/ Is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE/ West Seattle-relevant traffic cams HERE)
7:06 AM: Good morning! No incidents or alerts in our area.
TUNNEL CLOSURE: Maintenance closure of southbound Highway 99 tunnel overnight tonight at 10 pm until tomorrow (Saturday) at 8 am.
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