West Seattle, Washington
28 Saturday
Thanks yet again to David Hutchinson for another update on plaza progress — along with that panorama of how the site looked as crews wrapped up work at the end of the week. (Panoramas are hard to appreciate in our formatted sizing, so click the image to see a full-size version.) He adds:
Forms are in place for the final pouring of cement on Monday. Work is in progress to drill holes for the hand railings for the steps. Scheduled for next week are the installation of the bench plaques and the beginning of the installation of the inscribed pavers.
The scheduled dedication ceremony for the new plaza – by which time the statue will be back, too – is four weeks from today. And looking ahead to that ceremony, Plaza Project co-chair Libby Carr is trying to track down any of the Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, or Sea Scouts who were present at the 1952 dedication of the original statue. If you were among them, or know how to reach one or more of them, she can be reached at libby@carrbiz.com or 206-938-8721.
(Providence, RI, Park(ing) Day photo by Laurencia Strauss and Kate Field)
In our coverage of the last Alki Community Council meeting, we mentioned that a Feet First rep had previewed the upcoming Park(ing) Day, which the Seattle Parks Foundation describes on this webpage as “a one-day, global event to highlight the need for more urban open space, rethink the way green space can happen, and improve the quality of urban human habitat.” Specifically, regular old parking spaces – like the one in the photo above – are turned into temporary parks for a day; this year, that day is Friday, 9/19. We’ve been waiting to hear about a specific West Seattle plan; looks like one’s in the formative stages now, and reaching out to you – here’s what we hear from Todd Burley at SPF:
… we are working with the West Seattle Junction Association to create a “park” at the Alaska Junction because of our partnership with them to create Junction Plaza Park. We’d love to raise awareness about
this opportunity for folks in West Seattle and see if anyone is interested in creating other “parks” at the Junction …
Right now, Burley says, SPF will team with WSJA to convert one parking space, but: “If we can do more, we just might. Ideally we’d like to get multiple groups from W. Seattle together to create many parks at the Alaska Junction under one street-use permit (which makes it cheaper).” If you want to get involved, this page at the SPF site explains how; a training session is coming up next week for interested participants, but the SPF would love to hear from you sooner.
august 13th
When this thread popped up in the WSB Forums from High Point residents wondering when the long-closed Lanham/Morgan intersection by the southwest corner of Commons Park will finally reopen, now that nearby construction’s done and a light’s been installed (photo above), we went to the city to look for answers. SDOT sent us to the Seattle Housing Authority, which is responsible for High Point, saying the street-reopening decision is up to SHA — and SHA just sent us this update:
Seattle Housing Authority shares the goal of opening up the Lanham-Morgan connection as soon as possible, while keeping in mind the safety of the public as well as traffic convenience. This process is not solely up to the Housing Authority — it is a collaborative effort between us and our SDOT sponsors.
The final traffic sensors in the streets are being connected and inspected next week, after which SDOT will turn on flashing yellow lights for about another week. We expect that to happen on Monday, August 18 or sooner.
Once the lights are flashing, the barrier from Morgan to Lanham can be removed to allow traffic to enter and exit with caution. After that time, the signals will shift over to green, yellow and red lights at the intersection. The pedestrian crossing signals will also be operating at that time.
We appreciate everyone’s patience as we move toward the street opening. We understand that this has been a significant inconvenience, but both Seattle Housing Authority and SDOT staff are also concerned with the safety issues.
Just got a note about the citywide “Healthy Parks, Healthy You” launch, which is happening 8/23 at Green Lake — and until we read it through twice, we almost missed this very cool related program briefly mentioned in the same announcement: “Try It for $2” is a city initiative to offer various classes and activities at community centers citywide in September/October, for only two bucks. This city webpage lists specific activities and times offered for the $2 sampler fee (scroll all the way down to $2 Trial Activities and look for “South Locations” to see what’s on tap at the community centers in West Seattle), from yoga to cooking to art to martial arts, and more.
Just in from SDOT:
Motorists are advised to use caution when traveling southbound on Highway 99, before the West Seattle Bridge exit, south of downtown Seattle. Pavement is damaged in the middle lane. Seattle Department of Transportation crews are responding to make emergency repairs. The lane will be closed until repairs are completed, later today.
2:44 PM UPDATE: SDOT says it now expects the lane closure/repairs to happen around 3:30 and to take less than half an hour. 3:34 PM UPDATE: The repairs are done, so this shouldn’t be an issue for the rest of the commute.
A little more than halfway through this year’s Elliott Bay Water Taxi season, we just got word from King County Councilmember Dow Constantine‘s office that ridership numbers for July were once again up double digits from the same month a year earlier – here’s the full news release:Read More
Community Harvest of Southwest Seattle, the folks behind last weekend’s first-ever Edible Gardens Tour of West Seattle (WSB coverage here) and volunteer tree-harvesting to collect food for those in need, is offering free canning classes this month, plus a Community Canning Kitchen, focusing on plums. The classes are at 10 am August 23rd at PCC and 6:30 pm August 27th at the Senior Center (Community Harvest says that one’s open to all ages). Here’s more info on the CHoSS website.
Per this story posted by the P-I tonight, West Seattle and South Seattle have air pollution that’s raising residents’ risk of cancer. This research apparently has been more than a decade in the making; the P-I doesn’t include a direct link to the full study – it mentions that Georgetown activists happened onto a “prerelease” version online – but does attribute it to the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
After the Alki duplex fire two weeks ago tonight, someone commented on WSB that their initial call to 911 was routed to Kitsap County. West Seattle-residing City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen read that comment, noting it’s happened to him too, and decided to check into it. He and his staff found out what happens in cases like that, why, and one good way to make sure it doesn’t hold up emergency reporting; they shared their discoveries with WSB – read on:Read More
If you vote by mail, you may have cast your ballot already. If you’re old-fashioned in-person voters like us, 12 days till polling places throw open their doors for the August 19th primary. Here’s all the ballot info you could possibly want; we also included some highlights in this WSB update a few weeks ago. (If you’re not registered, it’s too late for the primary, but you can follow the links on that same page to get signed up in time for the November 4th general election.) Meanwhile, West Seattle’s largest political organization, the 34th District Democrats, reminds us that tomorrow night is their biggest fundraiser of the year — the Garden Party and Auction, 6 pm @ West Seattle Nursery. And if you feel like talking politics right now, the never-dull 2008 Elections section of the WSB Forums has a provocative topic in progress: “Why vote?”
That’s some of the cast of “Crazy for You,” which West Seattle-based Twelfth Night Productions is opening tonight at West Seattle High School‘s theater. With hours to go till the curtain rises, we get word from Twelfth Night that it’s donating part of the ticket-sales proceeds to the White Center Food Bank (which also serves a big chunk of southern West Seattle). Twelfth Night says it’s an annual tradition to choose a local nonprofit to receive part of the proceeds from its summer production; over the past decade-plus, that tradition has racked up almost $20,000 for groups from DNDA to ArtsWest to Habitat for Humanity. “Crazy for You” plays Thursdays-Sundays for the next two weeks, 7:30 pm each of those nights plus 3 pm 8/10 and 8/17. You can buy tickets online up till 4 hours before showtime (here’s the link), or at the WSHS box office before the performance.
Denny Middle School principal Jeff Clark sent WSB pix of the new Denny-sponsored All-City Junior Marching Band in the recent Kiddies’ Parade, with an update letting us — and you — know there’s been a lot going on at his school this summer (vacation? what vacation?). And that dovetails with updates on two opportunities to get involved with both the new Denny/Sealth campus and with plans for the future of the Denny site once its replacement is built on that shared campus (where major work is under way now, as we reported last week) – and tomorrow’s the deadline to get in on one of those opportunities. Read on for all the details:Read More
Thanks to Adam and KB for e-mailing about a house fire at 4825 Delridge (map). Adam advises Delridge is blocked in the area (from Edmunds northward for about 2 blocks) because of the fire trucks. Thanks to KB for the pix (re: the first one, he says 4825 is “the house with the ladder” at left). King County property records show this is a four-plex owned by the Seattle Housing Authority. Additional info from Adam – he says the fire had “… flames reaching about 20 feet in the air. We watched from across the street. Firefighters had to use chainsaws to cut a hole in the roof to access the house while spraying water from the hydrants outside.” 2:30 AM UPDATE: Seattle Fire Department spokesperson Dana Vander Houwen gives this update on the media hotline: Firefighters found lots of smoke when they got to the scene and managed to put out the fire quickly; the fire was confined to the second story. Vander Houwen says one adult and four children got out of the residence on their own; nobody was hurt, and they are now getting Red Cross assistance. Too soon to say what caused the fire and how much damage it did; firefighters are continuing to investigate. 5:04 AM NOTE: No update yet on the SFD media line; we’ll check again in a few hours. 9:23 AM UPDATE: Not yet. However, we’ve heard back from Adam, who says the number on the building was 4845, not 4825; the latter number is what was both on the 911 log and the media hotline. 4845 is a privately owned duplex. 10:15 AM UPDATE: An update from the Fire Department — the cause is listed as “accidental electrical fire,” and damage totals $90,000. It was also noted that the people in the duplex were alerted by a smoke alarm.
King County Sheriff Sue Rahr may think the county should have regional responsibility for housing jail inmates (WSB was there as she made that pronouncement earlier this summer), but King County Executive Ron Sims apparently doesn’t agree: He issued a statement the other day saying “… the county does not have the ability to fund construction and operation of jail capacity for cities.” The statement came with this report, Integrated Regional Jail Initiative Phase 1, which contains more information on future projections of jail population – why the county says the cities need to step in — among other things. Next jail-related meeting: Highland Park Action Committee, 8/25; archived WSB coverage of the jail-sites issue is archived here.
This time last night, thousands of West Seattleites were out in the streets enjoying a summer night with their neighbors, as part of National Night Out. (Previous WSB coverage, with lots of pix, here and here.) Tonight – we have a few more photos to share, thanks to folks who sent pix from parties we didn’t get to. This one’s from the party Michal-Ann says was the “best ever” for the 4700 block of 25th SW:
That’s a homemade pinata that later yielded its treasure trove of candy. The block also got a visit from the firefighters of Engine 36:
And that meant kids got an up-close-and-personal look at Engine 36, too:
From another party last night, Luckie says her block’s turnout was the best ever — they expanded the invitation zone — and they were even visited by “royalty”: two little girls turned up in identical princess garb!
And from one of the parties we DID get to, Susie‘s block, one more photo – all 16 kids on the block posed for a group shot:
Beach Drive Blog, meantime, has not only a party photo, but also a recipe.
Just got this in the Youngstown Arts Center e-mail newsletter:
As the weather finally starts to cooperate, we have many exciting events on the horizon for August. Please mark your calendars for Thursday, August 21st, at 6 PM, as we join forces with Rock School, Arts Corps, the Service Board, and Blank Canvass to host a fundraiser to support our afterschool classes here at Youngstown. We’ll have some special guests (members of Pearl Jam, Presidents of the United States, Guns and Roses, and the Dusty 45’s), as well as youth and teaching artist performances. There will also be an auction of collaborative artwork created that day, including work by Modest Mouse, and our very own staff and tenant organizations. All of the proceeds will cover the cost of space and teaching artists so that we can continue to offer our afterschool classes for free.
If you have somehow managed to not have visited Youngstown – it’s the renovated ex-school on Delridge across from the playfield/community center, and an AMAZING amount of activities happen there.
Just got word from the county that the next phase of noisier-than-usual work in the Alki pump-station project, pile driving — which literally will shake things up in the area, too — may start as soon as tomorrow. (First warning of the impending pile driving was reported here four weeks ago.) As it’s described in the county’s online project update:
Approximately 120 shoring sheets will be installed which are 20 inches wide by 35 feet long. A crane will be used to pick up the sheets and a vibratory driver will be used to vibrate them into the ground. After installation, the sheet piling will be left in place and additional excavation will occur.
Residents in the area can expect to see large construction equipment on site, such as a 200-ton crane and a large power unit, and should expect to hear additional noise. Residents may feel some vibrations during this work and may want to pack up breakable valuables as a precaution. King County’s contractor will closely monitor vibration levels to minimize disruption and protect against property damage.
If you have a construction-related complaint or question, the county has a 24-hour hotline: 206-205-5656.
Just got word of a crash on the high bridge, westbound, causing backups on The Viaduct and elsewhere. Stand by for details. 5:55 PM UPDATE: The bridge cam and 911 show the Fire Department just closed the incident, so hopefully it will clear before too long. In the cameras on the Traffic page, you can see that while the view looking east at the westbound bridge looks like a semi-normal backup, it’s clearly a chokepoint just before the camera view, because the view looking west at the final stretch of the westbound bridge (same one you see in the righthand sidebar on all WSB pages) is way too empty for this time of day.
The bit of yellow you see at the left side of that photo is from the lone flag that remains out of the two baskets of pedestrian flags delivered to California/Dawson (by Rite-Aid) a month and a half ago. Days after the delivery, the flag baskets at Avalon/Yancy (one of two other West Seattle ped-flag spots) were already empty, but quickly replenished, as reported here; we advised Kim, who e-mailed us about California/Dawson, to call the SDOT hotline at 206-684-ROAD in hopes they can fix the situation fast.
We’re at Alki checking on Heat Wave ’08 (warm and hazy but not THAT bad) and just noticed the Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza is really taking shape in a big way. The big dedication celebration, in fact, is scheduled for exactly one month from today (tomorrow marks one month since construction began with site demolition/prep). After we took today’s photo and went across the street for a beverage and wi-fi, we looked back across the street and noticed two people we believe to have been the original architects, Matt Hutchins and Chris Ezzell, over at the construction site, taking pictures (added later: Matt confirms it was an onsite meeting for SSLPP reps and adds, “Construction is proceeding nicely, and we’re pretty excited to see it starting to take shape!”). We’d also received word a few days ago from David Hutchinson that “Kenadar has just about finished the production of all inscribed bricks. The bronze bench and landscape plaques will be cast by the end of (this) week and the new pedestal is being cast offsite for later installation.” All our Alki Statue of Liberty coverage is archived here, including video from the early stages of construction last month, such as the semi-famous “flying lady” clip.
Two weeks into serious work at the Fauntleroy Place site (current status: big dirt piles, as seen above), we checked as promised with developers BlueStar this morning to ask if the Whole Foods trouble has led to any concern for them about the grocery chain’s participation in the project (mentioned here last night). BlueStar’s Eric Radovich says no — “We have a lease that’s signed and recorded” — 25 years — and adds that they’ve been working closely with Whole Foods in recent weeks to finalize the design, looking ahead to next week’s Design Review Board meeting (8 pm 8/14, High Point Community Center). He adds that Whole Foods is considering the design for this store to be something of a template for their next generation of stores.
Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) barista Blayne is still in the running on “Project Runway,” and for week 4 tonight, the guest judge is from Seattle — Olympic speedskater Apolo Anton Ohno (the challenge apparently has an Olympic theme). You can watch PR with a congenial group at Ginomai around the corner from Hotwire (SW corner of 42nd/Genesee); bring a nonalcoholic beverage and small dessert to share, doors open 8 pm, show at 9, fun way to beat the heat.
Seattle Weekly just posted its “Best of 2008” winners’ list, with some West Seattle representation: In the readers’ poll, Buddha Ruksa was voted “best Thai restaurant,” Husky Deli was voted “best takeout deli food,” Cupcake Royale (which of course has branches outside WS too) got “best cupcakes,” and we thank you for voting WSB “best neighborhood blog” – the Weekly kindly included the description, “keeping us astoundingly well-informed on goings-on across the bridge.” You can read the entire Best of 2008 readers’-poll list here. In addition to the reader votes, the Weekly also profiled its staff “best of” picks; Spring Hill is “best new restaurant“; Rocksport is lauded as “best unvarnished sports bar”; Redline Music and Sports is written up here as “best way to keep your Cougar pride in Seattle,” Kitty Harbor is profiled here as “best place to melt your heart,” and WSB also got a bonus shoutout in this section, courtesy of Weekly managing editor Mike Seely, who lives on this side of the bay. You can browse all the writeups from this “Best Of” start page; there are a TON of categories and we just read through as quickly as we could but have to leave the computer for a while – let us know if you see a West Seattle winner we missed and we’ll add it here later.
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