West Seattle, Washington
03 Sunday
Just four days after it went up, much of the fence came down at Alki’s Statue of Liberty Plaza. David Hutchinson shares that photo and this explanation:
The Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza reopened to the public early this afternoon. Thanks to the great work of the Seattle Parks & Recreation construction crew, all 850 newly engraved pavers have been installed. Next week the 7 Tribute Plaques will be placed in the concrete ribbon along the promenade side of the Plaza, with the Time Capsule scheduled for burial at a later date. It will be placed in the landing at the top of the steps to the south of the Statue. A 12×12 inch bronze plaque will be installed at that time.
All WSB coverage of the Alki Statue of Liberty is archived here, newest to oldest.
Today is scheduled to be the second day of work on Phase 2 of the Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza. Fencing went up Tuesday morning, and when we dropped by late Tuesday afternoon, project volunteers including David and Eilene Hutchinson were continuing to sort through the 800-plus new inscribed bricks (and 7 tribute plaques like this one) that will be put in over the next few weeks, while work is also done to pave the way for the placement of a new time capsule. The money raised by the new brick/plaque sales will go toward plaza maintenance.
ALKI STATUE OF LIBERTY PLAZA: Phase 2 of work on the 9-month-old plaza is scheduled to start today; as announced last week, fencing will go up (for about 2 weeks) as new bricks and tribute plaques go in.
EMERGENCY CLOSURE OF SOUTHWEST POOL: As the Parks Department announced yesterday , Southwest Pool has to shut down noon-5 pm today for emergency repairs on its main circulation pump. They’re expecting to reopen at 5 pm for “evening programs.”
WEST SEATTLE CRIME PREVENTION COUNCIL: Main item on the agenda tonight – YOU, and whatever concerns you want to bring up to Southwest Precinct police leadership, who also will share their latest toplines on crime trends. Find out what’s happening and how best to keep your family safe, 7 pm, SW Precinct meeting room (map).
Look further ahead with the WSB West Seattle Events calendar – and please be sure to send info about any events you’d like to see listed!
(2008 photo by David Hutchinson)
It’s been anticipated for quite a while that the next round of brick installation, and time-capsule placement, would be happening soon at the Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza. Now there’s word from Libby Carr that it’ll start next week:
Seattle Parks & Recreation has informed us that the Phase II construction work on the Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza will begin on Tuesday, June 16th. The immediate area of the Plaza will be fenced for approximately 2 weeks while the 850 new engraved bricks and 7 Tribute Plaques are installed. Preliminary work will be done for the installation of the Time Capsule which has been prepared by the Log House Museum. The Capsule is scheduled to be opened in 2059. Some additional maintenance work will also be done at this time.
Funds raised in Phase II (by selling these bricks and plaques) are dedicated, through the Parks Department, to the future maintenance of this plaza, after paying for the cost of materials and labor.
We are anticipating a Celebration event for the completion of Phase II will be held in late September.
When new bricks are installed at the Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza, 
tribute plaques will be installed too – and one of them will feature the inscription you see above, in memory of JB Webster, the local real-estate agent, community volunteer and Seafair Commodore whose death shocked the community in April. (Original WSB coverage, with dozens of tribute comments, is here.) That’s according to his widow Christi Webster, who talked with us recently about it – she says it’ll be next to a plaque honoring Gregory Johnson, who recently piloted the space shuttle Atlantis, and that means two WSHS alums will be side by side. Christi told us the location is perfect because of her husband’s roots:
She says the wording for the plaque was created with the help of a family friend who’s a poet/writer, reworking part of what Christi read at her husband’s memorial (WSB coverage here). The Junction Keller Williams Realty office where she works as operations manager – where JB worked as an agent – will have a private fundraising event July 15 to help cover the cost of the plaque. As she summarizes, “JB’s roots are at Alki. So this is the perfect way to honor his wonderful spirit.”
That’s the mascot of the kids’ magazine “Ranger Rick” hanging out at Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza during Saturday’s Community Wildlife Habitat Certification celebration. While the habitat project is more about Alki’s present and future than its past, our area’s history will be in the spotlight during one of the next few big events at the beach. More from the Statue of Liberty Plaza Project‘s David Hutchinson (who provided the photos in this report, along with Eilene Hutchinson):
Thanks to the generosity of the Alki and West Seattle Communities, 851 new engraved bricks will be installed in the Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza. The engraving should be completed by the end of next week with the date of installation to be set by Seattle Parks & Recreation. This is currently planned for the early part of June, weather permitting. We will notify all donors when a specific date has been set. At the same time, a number of tribute plaques will be installed and a time capsule, scheduled to be opened in 2059, will be buried at the site:
Andrea Mercado of the Log House Museum has been sorting through the many submissions for inclusion in the capsule and is responsible for this part of the project:
The proceeds from the sale of the bricks and tribute plaques has been turned over to Seattle Parks & Recreation and has been placed in a separate account. These funds, minus the cost of the new construction, will be used for the future maintenance of the Statue and Plaza.
Thanks to Alki’s David Hutchinson for sharing photos (top and bottom) of the National Day of Prayer gathering tonight at the Statue of Liberty Plaza — first time this event has been held since the plaza’s construction and dedication last year. (Following sentence and photo added 11:27 pm) Thanks to Sandi for sharing this photo of the Holy Rosary Children’s Choir singing at the Day of Prayer gathering:
Holy Rosary was among 10 local churches that participated in this event presented by the West Seattle Ministerial Association, and attendees weren’t deterred by the steadily gathering clouds:
Gatherings were held across the country – here’s the event’s official coast-to-coast website.
One of the headlines from tonight’s Alki Community Council meeting: President Jule Sugarman announced that management of the maintenance fund for the Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza will move from Urban Sparks, which financially sponsored the Plaza Project Committee, to the ACC, with the Parks Department‘s blessing. “This does NOT mean we are raising money,” Sugarman stressed; instead, the council is creating a new committee — chaired by Plaza Project Committee co-chair Libby Carr — to oversee the extra maintenance, for which a $60,000-plus fund is already in place. Carr says that maintenance will include cleaning and staining the wood benches twice a year and washing and waxing the Statue of Liberty replica and its pedestal. Those jobs would be professionally done, but the new committee might rustle up volunteers for occasional work parties to do other kinds of cleanup, and would likely have regular meetings only a few times a year. Meantime, the additional bricks to be installed at the plaza are likely to be put in this spring, Carr said — along with the new time capsule — and replacements are in the works for the existing bricks that have had some deterioration problems. (Photo above left by David Hutchinson)
Remember last November 13th? The day people all over Seattle were invited to save a memento of the day and contribute it to a time capsule that the Southwest Seattle Historical Society is putting together? Turns out – there’s still time to get your contribution in, according to Andrea Mercado, who called us this weekend with the reminder. (Jogged our memory too, since we had failed to print out the 11/13/08 WSB entries we intended to contribute!) So if you set something aside and just forgot to send it in – a photo from that day, art you created, a program or agenda from an event you sponsored or attended, or anything else signifying “how life was lived in Seattle 11/13/08” – e-mail digital contributions (photos etc.) to loghousemuseum@yahoo.com , or, for postal mail, find the SWSHS address here. The time capsule will be going into the Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza when additional bricks are installed later this year, and they’d love to have more to put into it – just get it in by the end of this month. (Photo courtesy David Hutchinson)
ALKI TAGGING VANDALISM: We have chosen to subscribe to law enforcers’ belief that publishing photos of graffiti vandalism in its entirety does more harm than good, so the photo you see at left shows only the edges of two fluorescent-pink tags (picture’s left and bottom edges) scrawled on the new Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza pedestal last night. David Hutchinson from the Statue of Liberty Plaza Project has reported the vandalism to the Parks Department, saying, with hope, “This may be a good test of the anti-graffiti coating,” while adding, “This is just the latest incident in a recent outbreak of this type of activity at Alki.” He also included in his report to Parks four photos taken a few days ago showing even bigger tags painted on and around the Alki Bathhouse (on its siding, inside and outside restrooms, and on a utility box). We will follow up tomorrow on cleanup plans. By the way – here’s how to report graffiti/tag vandalism on public property.
1 WEST SEATTLE MURDER IN 2008: The statistic is official now that the year is over. 49-year-old Tracey Creamer, a Highland Park resident killed by her husband before he killed himself (first reported here May 5 though the Medical Examiner ultimately determined she was killed in mid-April), was the only West Seattle murder victim last year, among 28 citywide (each one catalogued in this P-I article today). In 2007, three murders happened in West Seattle; all three resulted in convictions, with the killers now serving time in prison (the last ’07 WS case was closed with a sentencing we covered just four weeks ago).
THEFT REPORT: The police report is of course the most important report you can make if crime happens to you, but we also publish reports here on WSB to help neighbors keep track of what’s happening where – and better to hear about it late than never – Scott in the 6000 block of 42nd SW (map) sent this note:
Week of December 8: Yakima bike rack with 3 bike trays, including an ATOC topper, was stolen off my Toyota Camry. The rack was 10 years old and probably worth less than $200. Unfortunately, the thieves also damaged the car’s rain gutters because two of the four rack towers were locked. Probably an $800 loss. Our first incident since moving to the neighborhood
Once we have posted crime reports here on the main page, we link them to the Crime Watch page, where you also will find the latest major Southwest Precinct reports posted on the Seattle Police SPDBlotter site, as well as some handy resource links about crime prevention and reporting. If a huge story is taking up the home page (as was the case during Snowmare ’08), you will see some crime reports appear on the CW page first.
From Alki photographer extraordinaire David Hutchinson, a photo of the Statue of Liberty Plaza‘s first New Year’s Eve — though we never got around to drawing up the traditional “Top Stories of ’08” list (too busy covering NEW news!), certainly the plaza’s construction and September 2008 dedication (WSB coverage here) would have been on it. With the photo came this message from the Plaza Project Committee:
New Year’s has arrived and the “Final Sale” of inscribed bricks for the new
Plaza is over. The Seattle Statue of Liberty Plaza Project would like to thank all of you who have made this great addition to Alki Beach possible. The order for the new bricks will be sent to the engraving company by the end of this month and we will notify donors when their bricks will be installed as soon as Seattle Parks and Recreation sets a firm date.We wish all a Happy New Year!
Seattle Statue of Liberty Plaza Project
Another gorgeous Alki shot by David Hutchinson – who also happens to be with the Seattle (Alki) Statue of Liberty Plaza Committee, which has a year-end reminder for you: Just a couple more days to buy inscribed bricks/plaques to be added to the new plaza next year, with proceeds going to a maintenance fund. There’s also been a decision about how to handle the mineral-deposit problem on some of the already-installed bricks, as you can read in an update from the committee – click ahead:Read More
Always nice to have pix to share as the weekend comes to a close. That one actually was sent Thursday by WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli, who says hummingbirds have been busy in his garden lately. Next, the beautiful sunrise from Saturday morning, while both of us were up early to cover special events (TR at the Kiwanis Pancake Breakfast, PS at the Rotary Shopping Spree) – actually got this scene looking northeast from the Southwest Community Center parking lot:
Later on Saturday, more of those unusual cloud formations gave David Hutchinson the chance for this postcard-perfect shot of the Alki Statue of Liberty:
David sent that along with this reminder from the Statue of Liberty Plaza Project about a holiday gift opportunity:
We would like to remind everyone that there are only a little over 3 weeks left to get your engraved brick for the Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza. We have received orders for over 290 bricks to date. All orders for this final sale must be mailed to Urban Sparks, our fiscal sponsor, no later than December 31st of this year.
It was originally planned to have the bricks engraved on site but we want to take advantage of a lower cost per brick by having them produced at the engraving company’s facility and trucked to Alki for installation. All orders will be submitted to them in January of 2009 and Seattle Parks and Recreation will be responsible for the installation in the spring. Due to this cost savings, the price has been reduced to $100 per brick. Everyone who purchased their bricks at the $150 price will be notified of their options. We have also begun our 3 for 2 Christmas Brick Sale.
For additional details see www.sealady.org or contact Eilene at 206-933-8352 or sslpp@msn.com. If you are interested in a bronze Tribute Plaque that will be installed along the front edge of the Plaza, see our website or contact Libby Carr at 206-938-8721 or libby@carrbiz.com.
Three weeks ago, we brought you first word of the plan to preserve images and mementos from November 13, 2008, for the time capsule to be buried next year at the new Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza. (November 13 is the day the Denny Party landed at Alki — 157th anniversary this year, and the time capsule will be opened in a half-century, 11/13/2058.) As Andrea Mercado of the Southwest Seattle Historical Society/Log House Museum told us at the time, they’ll be collecting items from all over the city, so the openers will get an idea of what life was like on 11/13/2008. Now that the big day is just six days away, we checked back for the latest on requirements/deadlines for submitting what you collect/create that day. Read on for the info:Read More
David Hutchinson from the Seattle (Alki) Statue of Liberty Plaza Project sends an update on the “brick legibility problem” (previous report here): He says the city Parks Department has been investigating methods for “safely removing the calcium deposits that have formed on about 100 of the 1,500 inscribed pavers.” The photos at left show the results of a white-vinegar cleaning method that was tested – for spot-cleaning, it looks “encouraging,” but an evaluation by a professional cleaning company subsequently suggested it wouldn’t be appropriate for the large-scale plaza cleaning Parks wants to do initially. He explains, “It is not possible to use many of the standard cleaning methods for ordinary masonry products in this situation due to the nature of the engraved inscriptions.” So the tests continue – as do the sales of additional pavers (through 12/31/08; order info is available at sealady.org) to be placed next spring or summer, probably “in the east and west paths and in the brick landings of the stairs.”
Whatever you do on Thursday, November 13th, might just wind up making history. Southwest Seattle Historical Society/Log House Museum director Andrea Mercado has word of a plan that not only will commemorate the anniversary of the Denny Party‘s landing (this year, it’ll be the 157th anniversary), but also will fill the time capsule that is to be buried next year at the new Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza. According to Andrea, SWSHS plans to collect photos and other items from all over Seattle — NOT just WS — to create a collection of items showing life in Seattle as it’s lived on November 13, 2008. That could include almost anything – minutes from a meeting that’s held that day, a photo of parents walking to school with their kids, a list from someone’s grocery-shopping trip that day, something a class of schoolchildren works on that day … This plan is the result of brainstorming that included a meeting this past weekend to plan the time-capsule effort. Lots of details remain to be worked out, including exactly how/when the items will be accepted, once November 13, 2008, is in the books. But right now, Andrea adds, they need help in a couple of ways: One, spread the word. We’ve asked some of our fellow neighborhood-news site operators around Seattle to help get the word out; anyone you think might be interested in participating, let them know (you can use the “Share This” link below this post to share this item a variety of ways, including e-mail). Two, Andrea’s looking for more people to be part of a committee to set the guidelines for submissions, and more people to work on outreach to get word of this to schools and others around the city — just e-mail amercado@loghousemuseum.org to volunteer. You’ll hear more about this as November 13, 2008, gets closer – we’ll bring you followups – but for starters, think about what might help tell the story of that day to people looking back on it a half-century later, and get ready to be part of the time-capsule creation.
(Above-right photo courtesy David Hutchinson)
We told you last night about the problem that’s materialized on some of the inscribed bricks at the new Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza. Click ahead to read the update from David Hutchinson (who also provided the closeup photo above) on behalf of the Plaza Project Committee:Read More
The permanent plaque on the south side of the Alki Statue of Liberty‘s new pedestal is now installed, covering over the spot where vandals tore away the placeholder (as reported here three days ago). Now the plaza’s dealing with a different problem:
David Hutchinson (who provided both photos for this post) from the Statue of Liberty Plaza Project Committee sent this followup on the brick problem that committee co-chair Libby Carr mentioned earlier this week:
We have been checking on the condition of a number of inscribed bricks that were installed in the plaza back near the end of August. Others have commented to us that the inscriptions on these bricks appear to be “wearing off.” On closer examination, it seems to be a substance that has developed on the surface of the bricks and when it forms over the letters can make them difficult to read. This material adheres to the brick and can’t be removed by simple washing with a soft brush and water. Matt Hutchins, one of the designers of the plaza, and Patrick Donohue, Project Manager from Seattle Parks and Recreation, have been out to the site and a meeting has been scheduled later this week with a representative from Kenadar, the company that produced the inscribed pavers. This problem appears to be confined to bricks in 2 specific areas of the plaza. I have attached a couple of photos to illustrate this problem. During production, the bricks had the inscriptions sand blasted into the surface and then the letters are filled with “black epoxy grout”. The Seattle Statue of Liberty Plaza Project chose to use this technique as it was recommended for high traffic areas.
We’ll update you when a plan of action is developed.
Just three weeks after the plaza dedication, we’ve received a couple reports of vandalism on the new Alki Statue of Liberty pedestal – a missing plaque – but David Hutchinson of the Statue of Liberty Plaza Project Committee reports it’s not exactly what it seems: What’s missing off the pedestal is a placeholder plaque, with the real thing scheduled to be installed sometime soon. He adds that he “noticed over the past 3 weeks as the corners of the fake plaque were gradually peeled back and finally someone simply ripped the whole outer layer off. There have also been a few other acts of minor vandalism – scratching graffiti on an armrest and on some of the blank bricks.” (Thanks to David for the pedestal photo; he also sent photos of the armrest and bricks but since we don’t want to publicize the actual tags, we’re not using them.) MONDAY MORNING UPDATE: More information from Libby Carr of the plaza committee:
The plaque on the street side of the Statue was a temporary until
the new bronze plaque, containing the background story of our Statue, was
cast. It’s now done and will be permanently mounted very soon on the street
side of the pedestal.
We also wanted to let folks now about our concerns about some of the
bricks in the plaza floor. We are having a meeting this week with the brick
engraving company to determine what the problem is with about 100 of the
bricks having what looks like faded lettering. We are not sure what the
cause is, so we are having a meeting to discuss it and find an acceptable
solution. We want brick owners (and potential brick buyers for the
remaining) to know that we are addressing this problem and will be fixing
it.
Also, since many people didn’t have a chance to see Ken Burns
documentary “The Statue of Liberty” on the day of the Celebration event, we
are showing it again at the Log House Museum (61st & Stevens) on Saturday
October 11 (at 1:00 & 3:00 PM) and again on Sunday at 2:00 PM. We will send
in more info as the time approaches, but people may want to put that on
their calendar. People who have seen this thought provoking and informative
historical film have been very impressed with it.
We found those three neighboring homes on 26th SW near Westwood Village, displaying flags on today’s anniversary. No official West Seattle commemorations that we know of (please advise if you’ve heard of one) – we will be visiting the Alki Statue of Liberty later to see what’s happening there, given its informal role as a remembrance location, dating all the way to the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. On this date last year, the recast statue made its debut in a ceremony that was both an unveiling and a tribute (WSB coverage, including video, here); a year earlier, on September 11, 2006, the old pedestal stood empty, as the original statue (now at the Log House Museum gift shop) had been taken away so the recasting process could begin.
If you wondered what a lantern would look like in the new Alki Statue of Liberty pedestal – there’s two views of the answer: A soft blue. That’s one of the lights that graced tonight’s sunset concert capping the daylong dedication event, along with luminarias on the seawall:
While the bagged candles gently flickered (with a precautionary fire extinguisher here and there!), Jeanette Anderson played piano, accompanied by violin, on a waterfront stage – hmm, how about an Alki sunset concert series next year?
A few more sights and sounds from today (besides the unveiling and ribboncutting video featured in our earlier report), just ahead:Read More
(video no longer available due to blip.tv shutdown)
Almost exactly a year after the recast Alki Statue of Liberty was unveiled for the first time – it was unveiled again this afternoon during the dedication ceremony for the Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza, which also included a ribboncutting for the plaza itself — as you can see in our video, a beautiful sight with a city fireboat show just offshore (and a little bit of a breeze-fueled snag before the draping came off!). Hundreds of people were on hand, including many who worked on the project, and even some of the men (like Harald Sund, featured in this P-I story) who were among the Boy Scouts that helped dedicate the original statue (which is now on display at the Log House Museum‘s gift shop) more than half a century ago; the city was represented by West Seattle-residing Councilmember Tom Rasmussen (who chairs the Parks and Seattle Center Committee) and Parks Department Deputy Superintendent Christopher Williams (they’re standing screen-right from Plaza Project Committee co-chairs Paul and Libby Carr in this short clip of the ribboncutting):
(video no longer available due to blip.tv shutdown)
We’ll add a few more notes and images later, but first an advisory: If you’re going to the luminaria-lit concert at the plaza tonight, it was announced at the ceremony that the time has been moved up to 7 pm – we’ll have some video of the concert, luminaria, and hopefully the new pedestal’s lantern, in addition to some more of today’s sights and sounds. (All WSB Alki Statue of Liberty coverage is archived here, including many updates from the past 14 months of plaza fundraising and construction.)
Quick highlights from the West Seattle Weekend Lineup:
ALL DAY TODAY, AND INTO THE NIGHT: 11 am is the start time for the Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza dedication celebration, which continues on into the evening, with the actual dedication ceremony at 1:30 pm; schedule here.
MIDDAY TODAY: The first Grad Night fundraiser car wash of the year for West Seattle High School‘s Class of ’09 is 10 am-2 pm in the school’s parking lot. Bonus for all patrons and volunteers: Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) donated coffee gift certificates!
ALSO MIDDAY TODAY: You’re invited to tour Chief Sealth High School‘s temporary digs at Boren (5950 Delridge; map) and enjoy a barbecue, 11 am-2 pm.
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