(fall 2007 photo by Mark Bourne)
Today’s weather gives us one more chance to use that photo (as we did in rainy early June). If you are near the Alki Statue of Liberty today while tidewalking (very low tide @ 11:40 am), tomorrow for the fireworks, or Saturday for the Seafair Pirates Landing, take a last look because this section of Alki is about to change (as we first reported in this project update 2 weeks ago). Paul and Libby Carr of the Statue of Liberty Plaza Committee have just updated their sealady.org website but also included a few more details on the impending work in the following information e-mailed to WSB last night, including impending groundbreaking:

As Co-Chairs of the Seattle Statue of Liberty Plaza Project, we are very
pleased to tell all of you that the project is moving forward very quickly
now. Early next week, July 7 or 8, the Parks Department will begin breaking
ground for the new Plaza for the Statue of Liberty at Alki Beach. We have
no pictures to give you now, but we will be taking some from time to time as
work progresses and putting them on our website, www.sealady.org.

In the last month, representatives of the Parks Department, Susan Black and
Associates, the architectural firm, the SSLPP Design Team, Urban Sparks, our
Fiscal Sponsor, and ourselves have been sorting out all the costs and
details to have this project substantially completed by September 6. As it
stands, we are on target to have our Plaza Celebration on that date. Given
the time frames and, in spite of sharply rising construction costs, the
reality of the plaza will be very close to what was envisioned by the
community, and for which so many people donated their money and time.

There are only minor changes to the bench design; the three benches in the
front are now in more of an arc, not offset from each other. The donated
and inscribed bricks, which will constitute between 20% and 25% of all the
bricks in the plaza, will be arranged to follow the “nautilus” flow of the
general design, and the walkway coming down to the pedestal area will be a
stairway-the slope was too steep for any other entryway from the street to
be practical.

The final “change isn’t really much of the change from the original design,
but it is a change from what was previously reported. Although the plan the
community supported for so long never had backs on the benches, a City
Design Commission suggested backs be put on the benches, and most City
personnel initially agreed, as did the Design Team and the SSLPP. Also,
there was talk of changing it all to wood benches, because they are much
more comfortable for sitting than concrete. However, although the SSLPP
campaign did raise substantially more than the original goal, most of it has
been consumed by rising construction costs. It became apparent recently
that bench backs simply cannot be done at this time. The time to fabricate
wooden backs, given the overall bench design, would not permit it, and the
costs were prohibitive too. However, we can put a wood overlay on the
benches themselves, which will make sitting on the benches more comfortable.

As we said, we are only back to what we started with, and the wooden
“seating” will be a pleasant addition. Further, if another group wants to
get together and put backs on the benches at a later time, that could also
be done. However, it was ultimately beyond the financial scope of what our
committee could do. Considering that the Seattle Statue of Liberty Plaza
Project only got really up and running last September, and our goal was to
finish what the community had planned, we feel our goal is now being
substantially met. Given the short construction time, it will still take
some decent summer weather for this project to be a reality by September 6,
but it truly looks like that will now happen. A lot of the landscaping will
have to be done a little later, but it is being planned for now, and is part
of the project.

So, we are on track for a great Sept 6 Celebration. And we have one more
request-we will be needing volunteers to assist us in planning this party,
and in helping it happen on that day. Many hands really do make light work,
and we know there are some civic-minded folks, particularly in the West
Seattle area, who would like to be a part of this happy event. If you are
one of those people, please call Paul or Libby at 206-937-8720 or
206-938-8721. And again, thank you all so much for the support you have
given to this project, and to what it represents.

Bless you all.

Paul and Libby Carr, Co-Chairs,
Seattle Statue of Liberty Plaza Project
www.sealady.org

All WSB coverage of the Alki Statue of Liberty is archived here.