Delridge 1988 results

Photos: North Delridge labyrinth walk for Winter Solstice

This is the kind of event we would have covered in person if we hadn’t been Snowbound Atop Our Hill — we but thank heavens, Mike Dady of the North Delridge Neighborhood Council sent photos of the Labyrinth Walk at Cottage Grove Park last night (we originally told you about it here) — along with some notes on how it went:

All things considered, a good number of folks turned out for last evening’s North Delridge/Cottage Grove Park Labyrinth Winter Solstice Event. Michal-Ann McElhany was the person who made the event happen:-) She cleared the labyrinth of snow, spread some rock salt and provided candles and hot cider prepped on a campstove. Three young children arrived with a tin full of homemade cookies. Very thoughtful and sweet.

Michal-Ann herself (she’s also with NDNC – one of the many great West Seattle neighborhood groups we regularly report on for ongoing WSB news coverage) added:

Considering nearly every other activity in the city was canceled due to weather conditions, I am very pleased with the success of last night’s Solstice event at Cottage Grove Park. I was expecting literally a few North Delridge-ites to show up as a result of cabin fever. So, needless to say the event was scaled way back to simply a candlelit labyrinth walk with hot cider and no music. The snow extinguished the candle flames, but was so reflective it alone illuminated the event! Surprisingly, thirty people showed up, coming from as far as Bothell, and other areas of West Seattle such as Fauntleroy and Westwood Village. As it turns out, people participated for many different reasons– from romantic dates to having just moved into the neighborhood and wanting to meet some neighbors …

Michal-Ann’s looking forward to an even bigger one next year. One more photo from Mike:

Happening now: Holiday shopping at Delridge CC and C & P

December 13, 2008 12:41 pm
|    Comments Off on Happening now: Holiday shopping at Delridge CC and C & P
 |   Delridge | Fun stuff to do | Holidays | WS culture/arts

Just back from a whirlwind visit to two holiday bazaar/sale events under way in West Seattle till 3 pm. Above, sisters Danielle Aguilar and Bri’Anna Smith are selling not just warm handmade hats at the Delridge Community Center bazaar, but also the coolest recycled-material lunch bags we’ve seen in a while — quilted out of plastic grocery bags. Bri’Anna makes it all and you can find her online at myspace.com/knitagainstthemachine – meantime, we found another West Seattle sister team selling holiday-gift treats (including flavored nuts and creatively packaged candies) nearby:

Those are from Twisted Sisters Emporium, created by Connie O’Donnell and Diane Radischat (who you may know from Special Editions Studio). Also at Delridge Community Center till 3 pm, those gorgeous West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival handmade glass ornaments, with Hi-Yu Queen Margo Femiano and Junior Court Princess Anna Fuller on hand:

Next, it’s over to C & P Coffee, where a cozy but bustling arts/crafts sale also continues till 3 pm. We were captivated by these neighborhood-pride (little map segments of West Seattle and other Seattle neighborhoods) magnets that Cyn Moore (cyncity pendants) is selling:

She says you can find her neighborhood pendants and other items at Twilight in The Junction, too. One more craftsperson you’ll find at C & P today – Machel Spence of WavyShell:

More of today’s events (Christmas Ship tonight – three West Seattle stops!) are listed on the WSB West Seattle Weekend Lineup.

In Delridge tonight: Celebrating art, and the future skatepark

December 5, 2008 10:45 pm
|    Comments Off on In Delridge tonight: Celebrating art, and the future skatepark
 |   Delridge | Fun stuff to do | WS culture/arts

Brennan Coyle — who recycles old skateboards into creations like the one with which he posed — is one of the people we caught up with tonight at the skatepark-art celebration that accompanied the first night of the Youngstown Arts Center/Cooper Artist Housing holiday open house — and as you can see, he truly combines skating with art. Though construction of the Delridge Skatepark is on hold a while till money can be found to build it, after skatepark dollars were slashed from the new city budget, design is proceeding and so is the work of a community team focused on incorporating art into the skatepark. (The skating-related event was for tonight only, but the Youngstown/Cooper Housing open house continues tomorrow, noon-5 pm.)

From land-use land: Four West Seattle notes

A few West Seattle notes on the semiweekly Land Use Information Bulletin sent by the city (you can subscribe in the right sidebar here): The 3-story office-building project just north of PCC has officially applied for its land-use permit (notice here; here’s our report from its Design Review meeting last April). Also in today’s LUIB, a three-lot subdivision has been granted for 6739 25th SW (map); read the decision here – this is the Google Street View of the area:


View Larger Map

The LUIB also includes the official notices of the Design Review Board meetings 12/18 for 4502 42nd SW (as reported here a week ago) and The Kenney‘s redevelopment project (which, as mentioned here earlier, is the subject of a community meeting at 7 pm tonight, Fauntleroy Church [WSB sponsor]). On the 18th, the DRB will meet at Madison Middle School; 4502 42nd will be discussed at 6:30, The Kenney at 8.

Delridge Skatepark updates: Design continues anyway; Friday event

As we reported two weeks ago, money to build the Delridge Skatepark — announced last summer to a chorus of cheers, after controversy over a skatepark proposal at Myrtle Reservoir — was cut out of next year’s city budget. (At left, summertime photo of its future site.) Local skatepark advocates have been pursuing further clarification from the city Parks Department as to what happens now — and they have shared a reply just received from Parks Superintendent Tim Gallagher. Read on for details – and information on a skatepark celebration event planned this Friday night during the Cooper Artist Housing open house at Youngstown Arts Center:Read More

Memorial service planned for community activist Larry Kingen

November 30, 2008 2:09 pm
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 |   Delridge | West Seattle news | West Seattle people

This online obituary published today announces the death of Larry Kingen, a longtime West Seattle community volunteer and activist, former president of the Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association board. According to the obituary, Kingen died in his sleep, on a trip to Maui, at age 57. A memorial celebration is planned at his brother’s restaurant, Salty’s on Alki, at 1 pm Friday. (Thanks to Parks Board vice chair Jackie Ramels of Alki for the tip; she notes that Kingen was also involved in the ’90s efforts of Greater Harbor 2000, which helped pave the way for some later improvements such as getting the Alki Bathhouse renovations onto the 2000 ProParks Levy.)

Happening now: Holiday plant sale at SWYFS

November 28, 2008 3:56 pm
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 |   Delridge | Holidays | How to help | West Seattle news

Got word from Southwest Youth and Family Services that they’re open till 7 pm tonight and 9 to 1 tomorrow for their holiday plant sale, with poinsettias, wreaths, rosemary trees, and more. 4555 Delridge (map). SWYFS has a big new job ahead, in addition to what it already does – it’s this area’s lead agency for the city’s new youth-violence-prevention plan, so helping SWYFS can ultimately help make this a safer place to be.

Happening tonight/tomorrow: Delridge, Alki, Admiral Safeway

November 19, 2008 6:07 am
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 |   Delridge | Development | Safety | West Seattle news

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Two nights of major meetings — you’re invited, indeed encouraged, to attend any and all:

7 PM TONIGHT: Southwest Precinct meeting room — Delridge District Council with a busy agenda including a jail-site update from Highland Park Action Committee and the latest on the Southwest Healthy Youth Partnership (whose online survey will be available shortly).

6:30 PM TOMORROW: West Seattle (Admiral) Library branch — the next Southwest Design Review Board meeting (first mentioned here 10/30) for the proposed Admiral Safeway rebuild (here’s our report on the last one in September).

7 PM TOMORROW: Alki Community Center — the Alki Community Council‘s agenda includes a Block Watch presentation by SW Precinct crime-prevention coordinator Benjamin Kinlow.

City budget-crunch casualty: Delridge Skatepark on hold

We mentioned here yesterday that a big cut in city “skatepark implementation” money was among the latest City Council budget actions — and that we would seek more specifics on what that meant for the Delridge Skatepark project, which blossomed to life last summer (WSB coverage here), after months of controversy about the possibility of locating a skatepark by Myrtle Reservoir. Here’s what we have learned today, after Brian Hawksford from the office of City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen (who chairs the Parks Committee) helped us seek out clarification – and the news isn’t good for skatepark supporters: The official word is that Delridge Skatepark construction “has been postponed/deferred” because of the budget cut (which involves the city’s reduced receipts of “real estate excise tax,” aka REET). The final budget vote is next Monday; West Seattle-based skating advocate Matt Johnston has posted about this at SeattleSkateparks.org and is urging messages of support (his post has e-mail address links).

North Delridge park sights – and a special event ahead for one

November 9, 2008 3:14 pm
|    Comments Off on North Delridge park sights – and a special event ahead for one
 |   Delridge | Holidays | West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

Among the joys of attending neighborhood-group meetings for WSB news reports: Learning more about cherished features of each neighborhood — some of which we’ve managed to miss even though we’ve lived in West Seattle for 17 years. Above, one such feature – the labyrinth in the “recovery garden” at the southwest corner of Cottage Grove Park in North Delridge (map). We checked it out because of an announcement at last week’s North Delridge Neighborhood Council meeting: A candlelight winter-solstice event is being planned at the labyrinth, 6-8 pm December 21st – “candles, cider, music,” promised Michal-Ann McElhany, who ran the NDNC meeting this time. She also has gotten the labyrinth listed on the worldwide Labyrinth Locator; see it on this page with Seattle’s nine other listed labyrinths. (The solstice walk is now on our Holiday Happenings page.) Meantime, not too far north of there, a random blog post that came up in one of our routine searches called our attention to this public artwork on the west side of the park area at Delridge Community Center/Playfield (here’s a map):

The blog post (see it here) expressed delight in discovering that the third, darker boulder in the group (our photo doesn’t show part of the westernmost boulder because of tagger vandalism) isn’t a boulder at all, but a bronze sculpture. Subsequently searching for more information, we found this bit of the 1994 installation’s history – and thought we’d share for anyone else who’d never noticed before. P.S. Speaking of the North Delridge Neighborhood Council — congrats on another successful Adopt-a-Street cleanup yesterday — eight volunteers spent several hours brightening the neighborhood, and the rain stopped just in time. NDNC also has entered a new phase in the Cottage Grove Park tot-lot project; more on that to come.

Yes you can … get involved with your neighborhood group

November 5, 2008 12:39 pm
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 |   Delridge | How to help | Triangle | West Seattle news

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Ready to act on that call to action? Get involved with your nearest neighborhood council/association (we have a list in the right sidebar, for those that have webpages). First chance, 6:30 tonight, Delridge Library: Monthly meeting of the North Delridge Neighborhood Council. (And this Saturday, they could use your help too – it’s the periodic Adopt-A-Street cleanup for North Delridge; meet at Delridge Community Center, 10 am.) Next chance – 6:30 pm tomorrow night, the Fairmount Community Association (their turf is just south of the Triangle area, to around Providence Mount St. Vincent — aka “The Mount” — and vicinity), meeting at The Mount’s chapel with Triangle development updates on the agenda (reps from Harbor Properties and BlueStar are expected) and more. ADDED 4:09 PM: Another group with a meeting tomorrow is hoping you’ll come join in – this is out of the WSB inbox:

“We would like to remind the community of our meeting tomorrow 6-8 pm at Hiawatha
Community Center. Please come and share your ideas and explore the possibilities to make California Place Park a space for all to enjoy! Families are welcome! We will have a table with activities for the kids and light snacks as well. Hope to see you there!”
Ann Limbaugh and Manuela Slye
Project co-chairs
Friends and Neighbors of North Admiral

More on that meeting in this WSB report.

West Seattle Election Night ’08: The celebration; the counting

(scroll down for latest updates on state/local vote notes)

That’s what it was like inside Skylark two hours ago a few minutes after Sen. Obama was declared President-Elect Obama (the bigscreen TV had switched from Jon Stewart to CNN by then). Half an hour later, as we drove back to WSB HQ, we saw more signs of revelry: Along Delridge, a woman and kids, jumping up and down and shouting at passing cars. Not far from where we caught one last voter scooting in with seconds to go till the doors closed on a tremendously busy Election Day at Delridge Community Center (more than 1200 ballots, we were told):

STATE/LOCAL RESULTS LINKS:
Governor and other major statewide offices
Seattle Pike Place Market and Parks levies
Sound Transit Prop 1
Statewide ballot initiatives (985, 1000, 1029)
Local legislators (all unopposed)
King County charter amendments

10:15 PM UPDATE: CNN is projecting Gov. Gregoire will win re-election; currently leading in the vote count, 52%-48%. Initiative 985 losing, 1000 and 1029 winning. Seattle levies both passing. Outside Seattle but notable – Darcy Burner well ahead in rematch with U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert (results here).

10:50 PM UPDATE: New ballot totals released by King County in past half-hour still show the parks and Pike Place levies passing handily (both needed only simple majorities). All county charter amendments except 1 are passing – looks like more county leaders will have to run as nonpartisan candidates in the future. In notes from elsewhere, the California same-sex-marriage ban is leading; Minnesota Senate race is almost a tie – less than 200 votes between challenger Al Franken (former Saturday Night Live cast member) and the Republican incumbent he ran against.

New Metro Route 50, Delridge-to-Junction? Days left to comment

November 2, 2008 6:03 pm
|    Comments Off on New Metro Route 50, Delridge-to-Junction? Days left to comment
 |   Delridge | Transportation | West Seattle news

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(click to see full-size potential route map on Metro website)
Two weeks ago, we told you about proposed Metro Route 50, which would include a leg between Delridge and The Junction. It’s not getting a ton of attention in West Seattle because it’s included in a package of proposals that Metro is spotlighting as Southeast Seattle changes — all related to the launch of light rail next year. Metro’s taking public comments through next Thursday, so we’re reminding you about this one more time in case you want to pipe up. this page has all the details on your commenting options, including e-mail, phone, and postal-mail methods, or this online questionnaire (note that you’ll find Route 50 about halfway in). Metro says it will decide in January whether this (and other) proposals go forward; more comments will be solicited, and then a final county decision is expected by May.

Cottage Grove playground update: See the site plan; pitch in!

We’ve reported before about North Delridge neighbors banding together to add play equipment for younger kids to Cottage Grove Park. Today, we have an update from Betsy Hoffmeister with the North Delridge Neighborhood Council — who sent the newly released site plan (click the image to see a larger version, with the full legend) and this message to the community:

Dear neighbors and concerned citizens,

The North Delridge Neighborhood Council would like to seek your input on proposed additions to the Cottage Grove Park Playground. We are contacting you directly because you previously attended a meeting or gave comments on projects around Longfellow Creek, Cottage Grove Park, or Greg Davis Park. Many of you put a great deal of effort into creating the beautiful green spaces the neighborhood enjoys today and we are grateful for the thousands of hours you have all put into this work.

Since Cottage Grove Park was conceived of and built, neighborhood demographics have shifted a little bit. Along with conceiving of a park, many neighbors conceived babies and we now have a baby boom in the area! We have two sets of twins on 26th Avenue alone. Many of the parents of young children in the neighborhood have expressed a wish for a play space appropriate for children under the age of five. The current play structure is brilliant for older kids, but impossible for younger children to use, forcing caregivers to shuttle younger children to other area play spaces. As a consequence, the existing playground may be underused.

A group of interested parents and grandparents under the auspices of the North Delridge Neighborhood Council brought forth the idea of a small addition to the current playground, to include at bare minimum a swing set with toddler and big kid swings, a small climber, and some rocking toys. We had a series of public meetings, posted on West Seattle Blog, and met repeatedly with the Parks Department and the Department of Neighborhoods. Children in the neighborhood were enthusiastic about the idea. A Landscape Architect created a site plan, which is attached.

Based on community input, we raised $16,000 in in-kind donations and cash, and received a $15,000 matching grant from the City. Before we proceed, however, we want to make sure that stakeholders have had a chance to comment on the proposed site design.

If any of you are so excited about this idea that you would like to participate, that would be fantastic. The landscape architect estimates the total cost of the project at around $42,000, although the parks department figures it will be quite a bit more than that, meaning we have a long way to go before we can dig dirt. So any experienced fundraisers out there would be dearly welcomed!

If you have already commented, it would still be great to hear back from you. I am grateful for any responses.

Sincerely,
Betsy Hoffmeister
Co-Vice President, North Delridge Neighborhood Council

E-mail Betsy at: northdelridge@gmail.com. Meantime, NDNC’s next monthly meeting is 6:30 pm Wednesday at Delridge Library.

Take a spin: “Open Turntables” tonight at Skylark

recordspix.jpg

Straight from the semi-fabulous vinyl collection at WSB HQ, that’s some of what co-publisher Patrick hopes he might get a chance to spin during the second monthly “Open Turntables” night tonight at Skylark Cafe and Club (WSB sponsor) – and if you have those old school things known as “records,” you’re invited to come down too. As proprietor Jessie Summa-Kusiak explained in her initial announcement: “You’ve got a lonely collection of vinyl — from hand-me-down gems to awesome yard sale finds. We’ve got the Technics turntables, atmosphere, and late night happy hour prices to turn your secret DJ dreams into reality. It’s easy and fun!” Bring “half an hour’s worth of vinyl and some friends to witness your debut”; signups start at 9 pm, the spinning continues till Skylark closes at 2, and the “late-night happy hour” is from 9 till 1. Skylark’s at 3803 Delridge (map).

Happening tonight: HPAC; Poet Populist contenders @ Youngstown

October 27, 2008 6:34 am
|    Comments Off on Happening tonight: HPAC; Poet Populist contenders @ Youngstown
 |   Delridge | Highland Park | West Seattle people | WS culture/arts

HIGHLAND PARK ACTION COMMITTEE: Monthly meeting at 7 pm tonight, at the Highland Park Improvement Club building — if you live in HP (map here), this is YOUR neighborhood group, with a lot going on that you can find out about, and help with, by showing up. Friday night, same location, it’s Highland Park Halloween, 5:30-8:30 pm (spooky scoop here; more West Seattle Halloween goodness here).

POET POPULIST CONTENDERS: We mentioned a month ago that two West Seattleites are in the running to be Seattle’s next Poet Populist. Tonight, one of them, South Seattle Community College‘s Mike Hickey — along with six other contenders — will read (and answer questions) during PP “Candidate Forum #2” at Youngstown Arts Center, 7 pm, free. Meantime, you’ve got one more week (till 11/4) to cast your vote here.

North Delridge development: 2 sites to watch

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Two sites to update in North Delridge — one more mysterious than the other. That would be the one shown above, right behind the DSHS/Kidney Center building. Its official address is 4040 26th (map), and we got a few notes after that fence went up around it a week or so ago. No activity has ensued — yet — and its official city webpage doesn’t show any recent permit-granting; most of the applications were from a few years ago, save a “phase III” construction permit application last May. In the original 2005 application, for which a land-use permit was issued in 2006, this was proposed as a “six-story, 154-unit apartment building with 2,500 square feet of retail and 11 live-work units.” We contacted Anka Developments, listed as the applicant on most of the DPD pages, and a spokesperson wrote back that the company is no longer involved with the site, noting that it was sold a year ago. The purchaser, PortVue LLC, has the same address and phone number as Woodinville-based Sierra Construction, where we have left an inquiry that has so far gone unanswered; we’ll keep working it. Meantime, there’s a fuller picture of information about this nearby site:

4106site.jpg

From the corner of Delridge/Dakota, that’s a look across the street toward the site that’s in city records as 4106 Delridge, subject of its first “early design guidance” meeting this past week – reviewers told the architect they want to see the project for a second round – read on to see why:Read More

Sunday miscellany: Park updates from Lowman, Delridge, Bronson

In recent days, we checked on a few park projects around West Seattle, but didn’t get a chance to report the results immediately. Before these quick updates gather dust in our notebook/inbox any longer, here they are, in one roundup:Read More

West Seattle Gas Price Watch: First $2.80s sighting

arco280.jpgMinutes ago at Arco on Delridge. Down eight cents from a day earlier, down 28 cents since the time of our weekly West Seattle-wide gas-price check on Sunday night. (With most West Seattle stations now below $3 for regular, we’re notably below the AAA citywide average.) Anybody want to bet on whether it’ll go below $2.50? Or dare we wonder, even below $2? 2:23 PM UPDATE: Hopey just texted to say it’s $2.79 at Costco.

Big day Saturday @ Chief Sealth High School: You can help

October 23, 2008 9:30 am
|    Comments Off on Big day Saturday @ Chief Sealth High School: You can help
 |   Delridge | How to help | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

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From the Chief Sealth PTSA, a confluence of events this Saturday that they’d like you to know about:

• Our adoption of Delridge Way SW, from Orchard to Brandon, through the Seattle Public Utitlies Adopt-A-Street program, which is part of our outreach efforts to the North Delrdge community while Sealth is located at Boren. In addition, we will plan to pick up litter on the school grounds and on other neighborhood streets within a 1-2 block radius of the school

Make a Difference Day – We would like this to be a new PTSA tradition that we participate in each year

The Teacher & Staff Wishlist program that we launched this school year. We are midway through fulfilling their request to make the teacher & staff lounge at Boren more friendly. Phase 1 was a furniture placement re-design in the space; Phase 2 is painting the walls (part of our event on 10/25); Phase 3 is decoration & finishing touches. We are working with a wonderful West Seattle designer, Gwen Williams of Space Transform

Volunteers are still needed for the Saturday 10/25 event, which starts at 10 am and finishes with a free lunch for volunteers when the work is done (around 1 pm). Chief Sealth students who participate will earn service learning hours. All materials and equipment will be provided. Contact PTSA president Leslie
Menstell
: president@chiefsealthptsa.org

See the flyer here. Side note: Friday night is the big annual Chief Sealth vs. West Seattle HS “Huling Bowl” football game; we’ll be live-tweeting it (and reporting afterward) as we did with WSHS-Rainier Beach last week.

Delridge Council tonight: West Seattle Stadium update, and more

October 15, 2008 11:18 pm
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 |   Delridge | Delridge District Council | West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

From tonight’s Delridge District Council meeting: Several notes of interest, including the first official presentation on the West Seattle Stadium private-operation proposal search, with some answers to questions that have come up since our first reports (here and here) – read on for tonight’s full report:Read More

That explains it

In our first-in-a-while West Seattle-wide gas-price check published Monday morning, we noted that the Delridge Exxon was, at least temporarily, out of the gas business – its pumps removed, a construction fence around the service islands. A just-issued city permit explains what’s going on: like the Exxon at Andover/California did a few months back, this one is switching to 76.

Tonight: Morgan Junction, Delridge District meetings

October 15, 2008 7:52 am
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 |   Delridge | Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

This month’s biggest week of community-group meetings continues tonight: The Morgan Community Association‘s quarterly meeting is at The Kenney at 7 pm; same time, different place (Southwest Precinct meeting room) for the Delridge District Council. A variety of items on both agendas, notably including local parks/rec projects — MoCA will get updates on the parks-in-progress at Myrtle Reservoir and next to Beveridge Place; the Delridge District Council includes a briefing on the West Seattle Stadium private-operation proposal (here’s our most recent report).