West Seattle, Washington
25 Thursday
Four major neighborhood/community group meetings this week, and really, it’s a huge first step to helping your neighborhood when you just show up. We go to as many of these meetings as we can every month and that’s what the groups’ leaders are dying to see (they’re all volunteers, by the way) … the more people the merrier. And you’d be surprised what you find out. Here’s your chances this week: TONIGHT – The Pigeon Point Neighborhood Council is having what’s been billed as its “most important meeting of the year,” 6:30 pm, Cooper Elementary (map). TOMORROW (TUESDAY): Admiral Neighborhood Association, 7 pm, Admiral Church basement meeting room (map); Fauntleroy Community Association, 7 pm, The Hall @ Fauntleroy (in the old schoolhouse, which itself is on the agenda, after last week’s big news). WEDNESDAY: Morgan Community Association‘s quarterly meeting, 7 pm, The Kenney; Delridge District Council (wireps from eastern West Seattle’s community groups and other organizations), 7 pm, Southwest Precinct meeting room. See our right sidebar, under WEST SEATTLE COMMUNITY GROUPS, for a list of other neighborhood associations who’d be thrilled to see/hear from you. MONDAY AFTERNOON ADDENDUM: One more neighborhood event this week where you would be more than welcome – the Junction Neighborhood Organization‘s quarterly cleanup (free treats!) is this Saturday morning. Help get the streets in shape before winter barrels into us. E-mail JuNO prez Erica Karlovits – erica@wsjuno.com – if you can help (or have a Q). TUESDAY AFTERNOON ADDENDUM: JuNO’s cleanup has been postponed – but e-mail Erica to get you on the list for helping when it’s rescheduled!
We reported last night that the Fauntleroy Community Service Agency has reached agreement on a “term sheet” for purchase of the Fauntleroy Schoolhouse and some of the property around it, months after opening negotiations with Seattle Public Schools, which is selling the property as surplus; FCSA’s Kevin Wooley had told WSB just last week that they weren’t currently negotiating for the entire site (see that report here). Tonight, we have some reaction to the announcement – read on:Read More
That’s one of the signs you can expect to see around North Delridge before the next meeting of the North Delridge Neighborhood Council – purchased with money from an outreach grant, and unveiled at last night’s NDNC meeting. Also discussed last night: They’re still working on next steps for the Cottage Grove “tot lot” playground upgrade, for which they have received a $15,000 matching-funds grant from the city. Expect an official update soon. Meantime, next year’s Neighborhood Street Fund plans for the area were outlined – projects that have been requested for years, as NDNC co-chair Mike Dady pointed out – including a sidewalk along Brandon from Delridge to the park and traffic calming on 26th SW north of Brandon, between Cottage Grove and Greg Davis parks; still some work to be done on projects approved for this year, as well, including calming on the 21st/Dawson hill that’s “supposed to start any day now” (that’s the hill heading down to Oregon, scene of this guardrail crash we covered recently). For the “juicy invitation” and a few more items, read on:Read More
No blockbuster items on last night’s agenda for the Southwest District Council, where reps from local neighborhood groups and other key organizations get and give updates on what they’re up to. One citywide hot potato did get the spotlight for a while – read on:Read More
IN WEST SEATTLE TONIGHT: The North Delridge Neighborhood Council meets at 6:30 pm @ Delridge Library, with its agenda including a playground-project update and a progress report on Chief Sealth HS @ Boren. Then at 7 pm, the Southwest District Council, with reps from neighborhood groups and other organizations in what the city considers West Seattle’s “Southwest District” (map here), meets @ the board room at South Seattle Community College. NOT IN WEST SEATTLE BUT WITH WS AGENDA ITEM: The Seattle School Board’s semimonthly meeting is at 6 pm at district HQ in Sodo; among the agenda items, the district’s share of the project to renovate Hiawatha Playfield (the city announced this summer that work would start this fall – although the timetable in that update has already slipped, since it anticipated an August vote). OTHER EVENTS: See the WSB Events calendar (including open-house nights at WSHS tonight, CSHS tomorrow).
Many neighborhood activists and advocates around West Seattle, as well as around the rest of the city, are watching to see what happens with city government’s announced intention to reopen the official neighborhood plans for potential updates. So we wanted to pass along the official city news release about action taken by council members today. West Seattle has no areas up for the first round of intensive review, but will have areas eligible for the “status review” mentioned here:Read More
(photos added 11:16 am)
The all-church sale happening today at Fauntleroy Church quite decidedly has “indoor” in its official name, so that’s one place you can go to stay dry till we get a break in the showers. The sale’s under way 9 am-3 pm today; the church is at 9140 California SW (map). Then, Wednesday night is your next chance to see the new Fauntleroy documentary on a big screen – here’s a preview from Judy Pickens:
The Fauntleroy neighborhood, past and present, will hit the silver screen on Wednesday, September 24, when The Fauntleroy Story: 100 Years of Community premieres at 7 p.m. in Fellowship Hall at Fauntleroy Church. The 35-minute documentary explores the neighborhood from its founding at the end of the streetcar line to present-day challenges of sustaining community.
The project originated as an idea for the church centennial and soon grew into a profile of the whole neighborhood. The steering committee has wide representation from the community and the Southwest Seattle Historical Society. Residents, businesses, and the church pitched in to help fund the $30,000 project and match a $15,000 grant from the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods.
The screening will include a Q&A with the production team. Take-home copies of the DVD will be available by donation.
If you miss the premiere, DVDs will be available starting Sept. 25 at The Original Bakery, church office, and Loghouse Museum gift shop. The next local screening will be during the Fauntleroy Fall Festival on Oct. 19.
We attended a preview of the semifinal cut back in July; here’s that report.
(click image to see full three-page document with city’s “final design”)
First update from tonight’s Alki Community Council meeting: Issues are still simmering with the city plan to finish the sidewalk on the north side of Alki Sw, from 63rd SW west to the other side of Alki Point. What you see above – difficult as it may be to decipher (even if you click on the image to see the full three-page document) – is what’s described on the city’s webpage for the project as “the final design,” and labeled on the document as “100% review” (dated tomorrow, by the way). At one point, the ACC had hoped that city project manager “Sam” Woods would be at tonight’s meeting; instead, she has been going door-to-door through the affected area this week to talk with residents. Just one problem, said a few attendees at tonight’s meeting: The letter from SDOT director Grace Crunican (read it here) says those visits were happening yesterday and today – but some didn’t even get the letter till today. They say they still have safety concerns about the plan and would like to see it presented one last time (the previous, contentious community meeting was this one in April) – with safety details highlighted (beyond the two raised crosswalks, at 64th and at Alki/Beach, as reported here in July) — before it’s finalized prior to construction (which Crunican’s letter says will start early next year). ACC secretary Larry Carpenter says he’s certain that such a meeting is already in the city’s plans; we’ll check with SDOT tomorrow, and we’ll also be asking about a report tonight that the project is $150,000 over the original budget.
ADMIRAL SAFEWAY: We first reported in February that Safeway had advised the Admiral Neighborhood Association its long-anticipated plan to redevelop the store site was ramping up. Last month, general bullet points emerged when Safeway applied for a permit. Tonight, the company unveils its design at a community meeting at Hiawatha, 7 pm.
THE KENNEY: Last night, the century-old Fauntleroy retirement center discussed its major redevelopment plan — all but one building will be torn down — last night with neighbors. (Our article will be published later this morning; two major changes were revealed last night, including the proposal for one building to be 6 stories high.) Tonight, The Kenney’s management and consultants are presenting the plan again, in a meeting geared toward local community groups and organizations (though everyone’s welcome), at The Kenney, 6 pm.
ALKI COMMUNITY COUNCIL: West Seattle’s fabled beach community has had a lot going on this summer – what’s ahead for fall? Attend tonight’s ACC meeting to find out. 7 pm, Alki Community Center.
Later today – we look ahead to a few of the big events coming up in the next few days beyond tonight, including Holy Rosary’s West Fest (WSB sponsor) tomorrow and Saturday and the first-ever West Seattle Junction Car Show (co-sponsored by WSB) Sunday.
If you’ve driven the westbound Fauntleroy Way end of The Bridge in daylight since Saturday, you’ve probably noticed the difference more than 200 people made with long hours of work under the blazing sun that day: Months in the making, the West Seattle Gateway Cleanup cleared tons of overgrowth, trash, and other materials from the stretch between Walking on Logs and 35th/Fauntleroy, which is where, at one point, we passed this solo worker:
No doubt, getting out there and slogging through the mess last Saturday was a chore. So was organizing the whole thing – with a lot of hard work done by the woman whose name you saw on updates posted here in the weeks and months leading up to it:
Nancy Driver took the podium for a moment before the cleanup started on Saturday morning, just for final logistics and marching orders. After it was all said, done, bagged, picked up, cleared away, hours later, we asked her to put together a final wrapup when she had a chance. And we wanted to share that with you tonight, interspersed with more photos:Read More
The latest bimonthly edition of the Alki News Beacon is now available online (see it here) – including a challenge to the community from Jule Sugarman, president of the Alki Community Council, which meets at 7 pm tomorrow, Alki Community Center.
As the West Seattle Gateway Cleanup wrapped up around 3:30 this afternoon, that was the scene in the neighborhood immediately west of the cleanup zone (near the ramp to the walkover bridge) – we heard one organizer saying they had collected a HALF-TON OF TRASH. We’re hoping for official wrapup info at some point later after organizers recover (they did a heroic job pulling this all together, and thanks to everyone in WSB’land who stepped forward to donate time, treats, etc.). When we get that info, we’ll post it separately with a few more scenes from today’s big event (earlier coverage was here and here). Meantime, here’s video of the four-legged cleanup crew now on duty along 34th north of Myrtle (map), on the east edge of Our Lady of Guadalupe‘s northern lot:
As mentioned here, the goats — from Rent-A-Ruminant — are expected to be on site through Tuesday. (Just note that it’s not too safe to get up close and personal to where they’re working – no sidewalk on that side of the street – but you can admire them from across the street, along High Point Playfield.) Meantime, we couldn’t resist going back to Alki to check in on the Evergreen State Barbecue Championship competitors’ progress. As usual, some of the booths show flashes of humor (note the sign AND the yellow tape here):
And there’s a little timely solemnity too:
We noted earlier that two booths across from 62nd SW are selling food (that was a big question last year, when we happened onto the barbecue event without advance warning). Pricewise for the main courses – the salmon sandwiches at the Tom Douglas booth are $7; offerings at the other booth (whose name we forgot to write down) range from $5 “German sausage on bun” to $25 dinner with a full rack of ribs. The main competition is tomorrow, but a little bit of judging was going on late today — an appetizer contest when we sauntered by around 5 pm. (The judges were sequestered mysteriously behind four walls of tent tarp.) The whole promenade smells amazing so you might just want to go be an olfactory spectator; the competitors will be camped out all night, some in tents by their massive grilling/smoking setups, some in RVs along Alki SW.
Lady Liberty isn’t the only one at Alki with a torch today – that’s Home on the Range barbecue (whose MySpace site declares the team “… is gonna win at Alki”) cleaning off the grill in dramatic style (go here for a few seconds of video including the roaring torch), just one of the sights late this morning as the competitors in the Evergreen State Barbecue Championships revved up for the first of two days. Two vendors are selling food – they’re both along the walkway that’s across the street from Pegasus (62nd/Alki):
Also happening right now (till 2 pm), the Neighborhood Matching Fund 20th-anniversary open house at Youngstown Arts Center. Scrapbook-making is under way; we caught Ron Angeles, Delridge Neighborhood Services coordinator (left), and Pete Spalding (Delridge District Council president, among other roles) making entries for Delridge:
You’re also invited to make sure any local NMF project you are or have been involved with is represented on this map:
Free treats too and reusable shopping bags while they last. That’s what the mayor also was supposed to be handing out at the West Seattle Gateway Cleanup, continuing till about 3:30 – we caught him as he posed for pix near the Fauntleroy walkover around 10:30:
After that, we walked onto the pedestrian bridge (an interesting experience for an acrophobe) to get an aerial perspective of what the history-making volunteers are up to:
As we mentioned earlier, more than 200 had signed up, including representatives of a variety of local groups – among those we spotted this morning, Mars Hill Church-West Seattle, local LDS church members, the Morgan Community Association (later we’ll show you a photo of their cute T-shirts) and more.
That’s a group shot taken just before the first group of volunteers in the West Seattle Gateway Cleanup left the staging area (ex-Huling Buick lot, future Gateway Center) about half an hour ago and headed off to start tackling the task. Kimberlee Archie from the city Department of Neighborhoods had just noted that this not only is the 89th cleanup under the umbrella of the Clean and Green Program, she thinks the 200-plus volunteers represent the biggest group EVER in a C&G cleanup. Archie also read a proclamation from the mayor (who’s visiting the cleanup crews later this morning) declaring today to be Earl Cruzen Day, and Earl himself was on hand to accept the honor:
(ADDED SATURDAY AFTERNOON – here’s video of the proclamation being read)
You probably see the results of Earl’s work every day. He’s the guy who hatched the idea for the West Seattle Murals, for one; the story of how that happened, and who else helped, is told nicely on this page of the Fauntleroy Church website; you can also read about it in this West Seattle 101 chapter. Cruzen and the murals group then went on to come up with Walking on Logs – the starting point for today’s cleanup. Those two lines barely scratch the surface of what he’s given to the West Seattle community (and continues to give, well into his 80s), but we’ve got to get back out to see how the cleanup’s going; volunteers will be at work from Walking on Logs to 35th/Fauntleroy until about 3:30 this afternoon, and that means a westbound lane closure on the Fauntleroy end of The Bridge, so if you’re going to be driving that way, PLEASE be careful – hundreds of your neighbors are giving up part of their Saturday to make that stretch less of an eyesore, so help them stay safe. More updates later, on this and other big events happening around West Seattle today.
The centerpiece of tonight’s High Point Neighborhood Association meeting was a presentation about Somali/East African culture – including Gurey Faarah (pictured) talking to attendees. Non-Somali speakers on hand got a bit of a language lesson too (sample, from a handout distributed tonight: “Nabad miyaa” means “how are you?” – literally “are you at peace?”). All this, under a peaceful moonrise (which we photographed near the meeting scene at the Commons Park Amphitheater):
High Point doesn’t currently have a venue in the West Seattle Second Thursday Art Walk, but almost everywhere else in West Seattle does, from Delridge to Alki to The Junction and beyond. WSB video cam #1 (celebrating its first anniversary tonight!) was along for the ride at Twilight Art Collective, where Grayface (Christopher Hydinger on keyboards, and Space) played:
Then we strolled up the street for a look at art we thought WSB dog fans might enjoy – canine portraits at Clementine by Janet Wold:
Next West Seattle Art Walk is October 9th.
We’ve been keeping you up to date on plans for the city’s “community-parking review” in The Junction — which ultimately will lead to a decision on whether changes are made in management of the parking spots managed by the city (pay stations? Residential Parking Zones on nearby streets? status quo?). We published our first report last February, when WSB went to the Municipal Tower downtown for the first media briefing on the plan; then in May, the city Transportation Department (SDOT) told us it expected to start the review in September — and in our May update, we included the West Seattle Junction Association‘s call for your comments on the parking situation. Now that it’s September, we checked with SDOT – and here’s what communications director Rick Sheridan told us about the parking review’s status, and how you’ll get to have a say:Read More
WEST SEATTLE GATEWAY CLEANUP: Even if you’re not one of the hundreds of volunteers joining in this huge cleanup effort, you should know that it will shut down a lane on the Fauntleroy end of the The Bridge, so that participants will be safe – the cleanup is happening from Walking on Logs till 35th/Fauntleroy, but the lane closure will start before there. Hours are approximately 9 am-3:30 pm. (Here’s our most recent preview.)
NEIGHBORHOOD MATCHING FUND CELEBRATION: A whole lot of projects around our part of the city (and elsewhere) wouldn’t have happened without the city chipping in NMF money. The program is celebrating its 20th anniversary and throwing parties around town including one Saturday, open-house style, 10 am-2 pm at Youngstown Arts Center.
BARBECUE CHAMPIONSHIPS: Once again this year, the Evergreen State Barbecue Championships are happening on Alki this weekend. Saturday-Sunday are the official days but you are likely to see setup happening (and a lot of RVs) starting Friday night. Last year when we covered this, a big question was “does anyone SELL food?” We have word of at least two vendors – one of which is a sponsor, Tom Douglas Restaurants, which says it’ll be selling “Rub with Love BBQ Salmon Sandwiches with Arugula and Fennel Mayo.” We don’t have precise hours for vendors but on Saturday we’ll report what we find out at the scene.
ANOTHER BARBECUE: Village Green Perennial Nursery (WSB sponsor) is having its annual halibut barbecue, with live music, noon-3 pm Saturday; we wrote about it in this White Center Now post about the fishing trip that brought in the halibut!
PLAYGROUND PROJECT: Supporters of a “playscape” in Admiral’s California Place mini-park plan a neighborhood ice-cream social starting at 3 pm (the park’s at California/Hill; here’s our most recent coverage of the proposal).
FUNDRAISING CAR WASH: Just got word the West Seattle High School girls’ volleyball team has one in the parking lot, 10 am-2 pm Saturday. Lots more events, and you’ll see them in the West Seattle Weekend Lineup tomorrow.
ART WALK NIGHT! It’s the second Thursday of the month, which means tonight’s the night for the West Seattle Art Walk — more than 30 venues all over West Seattle, all listed here (including these WSB sponsors: Click! Design That Fits, Hotwire Coffee, M3 Bodyworks, Dream Dinners, Seattle Wellness Programs). 6-9 tonight. You can even enjoy the first hour and a half or so, then move on to:
SECOND WEEKEND FOR “IN THE SAWTOOTHS”: Burnt Studio Productions (WSB sponsor) starts its second of three weekends for “In the Sawtooths,” tonight and Saturday night at Youngstown Arts Center. Read more about the production here, including a special discount offer for WSB’ers. (And after you see it, Burnt Studio would love to hear your thoughts here!)
DESIGN REVIEW FOR 5020 CALIFORNIA: If board members don’t have serious concerns, this may be the last public design review for the mixed-use project at California/Dawson (see the planned presentation here). 6:30 pm, Hiawatha Community Center.
HIGH POINT NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION QUARTERLY MEETING: Should be a beautiful night to gather at Commons Park Amphitheater to learn about Somali/East African culture 6-7 pm, then discuss other neighborhood issues after 7.
A city celebration last night honored groups citywide who successfully sought “Small and Simple” grants from the Neighborhood Matching Fund; among them, four in West Seattle. Three, we’ve mentioned before — the play-area projects in North Delridge (Cottage Grove “tot lot”) and Admiral (California Place) got $15,000 each; the Pigeon Point neighborhood celebration (coming up 9/20) got $2,100. The fourth is $15,000 for the ongoing restoration of the West Duwamish Greenbelt, this time going to the “Genesee Ravine Action Committee.” All of these projects involve matching funds – the city doesn’t just hand out $ without the groups showing a commitment of their own, money and volunteer labor. Here’s the full list of 24 “Small and Simple” recipients citywide; the city accepts applications four times a year, and the next deadline is October 6 – here’s more about the program. Meantime, the Neighborhood Matching Fund program itself is marking its 20th anniversary with events around the city, including an open house (free food!) this Saturday, 10 am-2 pm, at Youngstown Arts Center.
No massive topic on tonight’s Fauntleroy Community Association meeting agenda, but some things you should know about: The time’s set for the Fauntleroy Fall Festival, 2-6 pm October 19 at Fauntleroy Church, Fauntleroy Schoolhouse, and Fauntleroy YMCA (WSB sponsor) – “better than ever,” promises FCA; some volunteer help is still needed – the FF page explains who to contact. Next week, the church will host a state meeting about the Alaskan Way Viaduct (updated from our original post – FCA’s Phil Sweetland says after further discussions, the meeting WILL be at the church, 5:30-7:30 pm). The following week, Fauntleroy Church WILL be the venue for a screening of the “final cut” of “The Fauntleroy Story: 100 Years of Community,” the 35-minute documentary produced in part with city $ (we attended a preview earlier this summer), 7 pm 9/24 (DVDs will be available for a suggested donation of $10). We recently mentioned the Fauntleroy Art Show is in the works for early November at the church – Judy Pickens sent word a few days ago that artists from outside West Seattle are now welcome as well as WS artists (read more here about what they’re looking for; Oct. 1 is the deadline to apply). Also in the works: Calling the salmon home at the Fauntleroy fish ladder, set for 5-6 pm Sunday 10/26, BOYD (bring your own drum). And right before then, scheduling will begin for volunteer shifts between 10/27 and 11/27 to document coho coming into the creek to spawn — more info available on the FCA website.
Raccoons have sparked more than a few conversations here on WSB – including the comments on the original post last month with that photo Jenny Simonds took in her neighborhood near Lincoln Park — and here’s word of an alert that the Fauntleroy Community Association is issuing: FCA is getting reports of “raccoon latrines” in Fauntleroy — communal spots the critters single out for elimination. They’re a concern not just for the obvious reasons but because what FCA notes is “a parasite called raccoon roundworm … Raccoons excrete roundworm eggs and larvae, and if ingested, the resulting infection can cause severe disease and even death. There is no known cure. Particularly at risk are young children and pets.” Please note, however, this is not cause for hysteria – we looked up the incidence of this disease, and online references say there’ve been 25 cases of “serious roundworm disease” in the U.S. in the past five years. Meantime — FCA leaders say they’ve asked the City Council to “take appropriate action regarding this serious public health issue” but have learned, “As it stands now, there is no department that will offer assistance.” FCA says it’s received the following advice that everyone can follow:
• Don’t feed wildlife because they become dependent on it
• Don’t feed feral cats, which provides a food source for raccoons
• Don’t feed your pets outside except when supervised, then remove bowls and spills
• Prevent raccoons from entering your home through pet doors by securing them
• Feed birds by planting bird-friendly vegetation since bird seed attracts raccoons, and
• Compost wisely because food waste attracts raccoons.
How to tell if there’s a raccoon latrine on your property, and what to do about it? Here’s some info from the King County website. Also note, this topic is likely to come up again at FCA’s monthly meeting tonight — 7 pm, Fauntleroy Schoolhouse, public welcome.
Lots happening in the week ahead, so we’ll try doing previews in installments. First: Tomorrow night. The big Tuesday night event is the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce-sponsored transportation forum at West Seattle High School — open-house format 6-7, moderated Q/A 7-8 pm. The Chamber has gathered reps who are experts on all the pieces of the increasingly complex getting-in-and-out-of-WS transportation puzzle – Alaskan Way Viaduct, Spokane Street Viaduct, Metro buses, Water Taxi, etc. Two neighborhood groups that usually meet on the second Tuesday of each month have changed their plans because of the forum, and two have not – Admiral Neighborhood Association will have a short business meeting at 8 pm at WSHS after the forum; Junction Neighborhood Organization is canceling its meeting so members can attend (and rallying volunteers for the Gateway Cleanup coming up this Saturday). Still on as usual tomorrow night: Westwood Neighborhood Council (7 pm Tuesday, Southwest Community Center, focusing on its current top issue, the future of the current Denny Middle School site) and Fauntleroy Community Association (7 pm Tuesday, Fauntleroy Schoolhouse). One more Tuesday night note: Another Seal Sitters training session, 7 pm at Alki Community Center (here’s our coverage of the one they had last month).
Just so you can’t say we didn’t give you the heads-up (more than a dozen of them, actually, going all the way back to first word six weeks ago): Tomorrow’s the day that the third of the city’s three “Car-Free Days” this summer will shut down Alki SW (and a bit of Harbor) to most traffic from Harbor/California Way to Alki/63rd (see map above, and click it to see the doorhanger from which it was taken), noon-6 pm. No-parking signs have been up since Thursday; 10 am tomorrow, two hours before the actual road closures, the no-parking rules take effect, from Maryland (map) to 63rd. We will be posting updates – with photos as well as info – from the area by then, watching to see whether anyone gets towed; then, as noon gets closer (as we did on the 4th of July) reporting on the street closures; and once noon arrives, we’ll post updates on the activities that are under way (here’s our preview) and how many people are actually down on Alki to participate (will it be the “ghost town” some predicted? in less than 15 hours, we’ll find out). More questions? Here’s our post from yesterday with the final official city advisory; here’s the city’s own information page about the event. Once things start kicking in around 10 am, if you have anything to report, please e-mail us, or text or tweet (see the Contact page for all the different options). P.S. We walked the Alki business district this afternoon looking for any evidence any businesses are closing tomorrow because they think it’ll be quiet (as had been hinted when this was first announced); found NO evidence – let us know, though, if you’ve heard of any, otherwise we’ll be checking on that again tomorrow too.
| Comments Off on How to help your ‘hood: For starters — just show up!