(WSB file photo)
Earlier this week, when we published the Seattle Parks update on the Hiawatha Playfield turf project, some asked for an update on the biggest project at Hiawatha – the community center “stabilization” project. In this case, the saying “no news is good news” might apply. We reported in December that the city planned to move ahead despite not having word at the time on a half-million federal grant. City Councilmember Lisa Herbold‘s office now tells us they learned that Parks has since been awarded the grant and is still on the timeline they gave us in December – expecting to open bidding shortly and start work in May. (We have a followup inquiry out with project management to see if there’s a date when they plan to send the project out to bid, as it’s not on the city’s bidding website yet.) The upgrades include earthquake-resistance work, which is why the city sought what’s formally known as a Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant – in the 2019 funding cycle, according to what Parks spokesperson Karen O’Connor told us in December. She also said the work is expected to last 14 months, so even if the May start really does happen, that makes Hiawatha a construction zone continuing into summer 2024. The circa-1911 community center has been closed since the heart of the pandemic. P.S. Along with the long closure, the price tag for the project has grown – the city website now says almost $4 million, though just last year Parks told us the half-million-dollar grant represented about a quarter of the budget (which that would have put at $2 million).
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