West Seattle, Washington
08 Thursday
One postseason high-school basketball game involving a local team tonight: The West Seattle High School girls’ season is over after a loss at Bainbridge HS. Final score: 59-52.
(WSB photos by Patrick Sand)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
The siding work under way at the West Seattle Church of the Nazarene is no mere renovation project.
It’s another milestone in a project that dates back more than 6 1/2 years and has created homes for six more families.
While some West Seattle churches have sold their sites and moved or closed, this one was determined to find a way to stay and continue serving this community. To do that, they needed to fix up their century-old building, not only an eyesore from the outside, but deteriorating on the inside. With a double-digit congregation, they didn’t have deep pockets to dig into. So they came up with a plan we first wrote about in September 2013 – raise money by developing and selling six townhouses on part of church-owned open space known as “the park.”
After a complex process that included partnering with local developer Joe Paar and getting the land rezoned (before HALA MHA upzoned the area anyway), the townhouses are built – and sold – and the church renovations are under way, so we asked Church of the Nazarene pastor Shaun Mattson and associate pastor Terry Mattson to talk with us for an update.
The siding is not the first work to be done. They began with the parsonage – the small house south of the main building, where they live. “We never intended to be general contractors,” Shaun recalled, but working on the parsonage first gave them some experience, “to learn all the things we needed to know.” After new roofing, siding, windows, and interior renovations, they finished last fall, and moved on to the main church building.
Heating and electrical work was a major focus – the latter being in the elder Mattson’s wheelhouse, as he has experience working as an electrician. “It’s a new building, in terms of the electrical (system).”
A heat pump replaced the old oil-burning setup. Other work included a third-floor multipurpose room that can even be used as lodging for visitors on missions. There’s also the space they’ve been offering as a free drop-in playspace as part of their ministering to the community as a whole.
And the basement gathering space and kitchen have seen some work too.
On the exterior, the siding work started earlier this month and should take about three months total.
They were still evaluating paint colors when we spoke; an artist who has a studio at the church has been among the many people with a role in the project. And while the townhouses are built and almost all occupied – “we love our neighbors!” – there’s still some work to be done.
Much of that will include visual clarification of what remains “the park” – some lighting, some signage, a bench. And this summer, for the first time in a few years, the church plans to resume outdoor movies, another community ministry, as it were. For now, their portable screen is in the sanctuary:
Also inside, work that’s yet to be done includes the sanctuary’s windows – that will take another year or so.
But it wasn’t all talk of work – they voiced a lot of gratitude, especially to the wider community who welcomed the project and the plan to fix up the church: “This is theirs, too.”
6:08 PM: Tomorrow brings the first public discussion of the biggest project since the city launched the Early Community Outreach for Design Review process – the early-stage plan for two mixed-use buildings with ~500 apartments on part of the Sweeney family’s land along Fauntleroy west of Avalon. (The official project addresses are 4440 Fauntleroy Way SW and 4406 36th SW.) The meeting’s at 6 pm Wednesday at nearby Chaco Canyon Organic Café (3770 SW Alaska); this stage of the process is generally informal and, as seen in the ECODR meetings we’ve covered, a good chance to truly talk with, more than listen to, the project team. No RSVP required.
9:33 PM: Checking the project’s files, we’ve found a few more details. Pre-application documents say the 4400 Fauntleroy site is envisioned so far as 215 apartments and 135 offstreet-parking spaces; the 4406 36th site, 285 and 185.
(Photo by Kersti Muul)
5:03 PM: Just got word from Kersti Muul– “orcas visible from Alki, southbound, mid-channel” – let us know if you see them!
5:49 PM: Kersti says it appears to be the same transient orcas – the T46s – that visited on Sunday.
For the first time since Sound Transit dropped the potential Pigeon Point tunnel from consideration, ST had reps at the Pigeon Point Neighborhood Council meeting on Monday night.
As with every appearance, they recapped how the project got to this particular point – that’s part of the slide deck above (also here in PDF). Many questions followed.
Thanks to the texter who reported a 2-car crash blocking SW Raymond at 35th, by High Point Library. Police are just now being dispatched. No serious injuries reported.
Last night at the Pigeon Point Neighborhood Council‘s meeting (full story to come), Southwest Precinct operations commander Lt. Steve Strand was asked how to prevent package theft. His reply: “Don’t have them delivered to your home!” The video above, sent by Chris, shows one more reason why: “Caught a porch pirate on video (Monday) stealing an Amazon package off my doorstep, around 15 minutes before I got home.” This happened in Gatewood, near 35th/Thistle; report # is 20-051869.
(Orange-crowned Warbler, photographed by Ann Anderson)
Since we celebrate birds with great photo contributions almost every day on WSB, we want to mention this here in the news stream as well as on the Event Calendar – a free event this Sunday (February 16th):
“Fall in Love with 25 Seattle Birds”
2/16/2020 @ 1-3 pm
Youngstown Cultural Arts Center
4408 Delridge Way SWHave you ever wondered what that little brown bird over there is? Or who on earth is singing so loudly outside your window at 4 a.m.? Do you consider yourself … bird curious?
Well, have we got a workshop for you!
Join Seattle Audubon and the Delridge Neighborhood Development Association to learn how to easily identify 25 common bird species right in your own backyard. You’ll learn to tell a Song Sparrow from a Dark-eyed Junco, and a Dark-eyed Junco from a Black-capped Chickadee. But that’s not all. We’ll discuss the cultural importance of Pacific Northwest birds to local tribes, threats to our feathered friends and what we can all do to protect them. Finally, we’ll end with a hands-on, in-the-field exercise that puts your new ID skills to use with the eBird community science mobile application. Participants will be challenged to continue practicing their new ID skills and eBird with the top contributor after a month receiving a special gift from Seattle Audubon!
Workshop leaders strongly recommend that participants download, install, and create an account with the eBird community science application on their smart phones prior to the workshop. Android users can download the app from Google Play. iPhone users can download the app from the App Store.
Cornell University’s Lab of Ornithology developed and maintains eBird. The app allows users to track bird observations and links to resources to aid with bird identification. Observations contributed through eBird are used by researchers at Universities, the National Audubon Society, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and have resulted in dozens of peer-reviewed scientific studies that are helping resource managers understand and protect birds.
More info here; registration is NOT required but if you want to sign up, go here.
(Brant, photographed by Mark Wangerin)
From the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
SOCCER TRYOUTS: High-school boys are invited to try out for HSA soccer tonight at Southwest Athletic Complex, 5:30-7 pm for U-16, 7-8:30 pm for U-17 and U-18. (2801 SW Thistle)
ROXHILL BOG’S FUTURE: 6:30 pm at Southwest Teen Life Center, everyone with an interest in the historic headwaters of Longfellow Creek is welcome at a meeting to learn about the next steps toward saving the bog. (2801 SW Thistle)
ADMIRAL NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION: 6:30 pm at Admiral UCC, postponed from last month because of weather. The upcoming census and ANA’s community survey are among the topics. (4320 SW Hill)
FAUNTLEROY COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION: 7 pm at Fauntleroy Schoolhouse, monthly board meeting, all welcome. (9131 California SW)
TUESDAY TRIVIA: 8:30 pm at Admiral Pub. 21+. (2306 California SW)
With less than one month to go until our state’s presidential primary, and other elections later this year, it’s time for a registration reminder – especially first-time voters! Tthe announcement is from Bonnie Gilbert:
Hey Chief Sealth Students, are you registered to Vote?
Did you know that anyone 16 or older can pre-register? As long as you turn 18 before any upcoming election you can then vote in that election!
Stop by the registration table during lunch on Wednesday or Thursday. It’s quick and easy! Know the last four digits of your social security number or bring your license.
OR sign up online!
Signing up is SO EASY – go to this link to the voter registration website – https://olvr.votewa.gov – Make your voice heard!
See Ms. Whited if you have questions. bdwhited@seattleschools.org or email Bonnie Gilbert at fatkitty@comcast.net
Not a Chief Sealth student but want to register? Simply follow the link to the voter registration website above.
If you go to that site now and see a screen that says it’s too late to sign up for “the current election
– THAT’S NOT TRUE for our area; we’re not part of today’s special election. Our area’s next election is the March 10th presidential primary, and March 2 is the online registration deadline.
(SDOT MAP with travel times/ Is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE/ West Seattle-relevant traffic cams HERE)
7:59 AM: We’re off to a late start this morning but there’s an incident to note: WSDOT has just reporte, “A stall is blocking the right lane of the NB SR 99 tunnel (roughly in the middle of the tunnel itself).”
8:14 AM: Cleared.
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