West Seattle, Washington
14 Tuesday
Actually this group probably wasn’t feeling all that cool, huddling around a barbecue by one of the picnic shelters to roast marshmallows. Nice umbrellas, though. Down on the sandy beach, a Malibu-size throng:
And a reminder that the Seafair Pirates’ Landing is one week from today – an Alki Ave. house has decorated its dolphin fountain with pirate headgear:
The official National Weather Service top-of-each-hour readings are here (KBFI is Boeing Field – 85 at 4 pm – KSEA is Sea-Tac Airport – 89 – K91S is Alki Point but that doesn’t measure temperature).
Up late? Up early? Go drop by West Seattle Stadium and cheer on the Relay for Life of West Seattle teams as they continue their 18-hour American Cancer Society fundraiser — yes, that’s 18 continuous hours; R4LWS started at 6 pm Friday with the scene you see above, the “survivors’ lap.” That video shows the “survivors’ lap” at 6 pm Friday. Among the survivors participating — Fauntlee Hills’ Tammy Wooley, who we interviewed along with husband Kevin in this Relay for Life preview. The relay continues till an awards’ ceremony at noon today (preceded by the “kids’ lap” at 11 am).
Sounds like Eugene Morgan of West Seattle had an amazing life, even after surviving the USS Indianapolis attack in 1945. The P-I had several stories about him in recent years (this one from 10 years ago is particularly fascinating)- and now, it reports he has died at the age of 87. His memorial service is set for tomorrow, 1 pm, Bonney-Watson in Burien (scroll down this funeral-home page for the obit he wrote himself).
We’ve chronicled the community dreaming, planning, and working that led to this point – now the Gatewood Elementary play structure (chosen just a couple months ago) is up and just a few finishing touches remain till it will be ready for kids to use. Next one happens tomorrow morning – see the pile of wood chips at the right side of the picture? Starting at 9 am tomorrow, show up and you’ll likely be handed a shovel to use to dig in. Next week, a little more work remains to be done before the school district can give it a final inspection and then hopefully thumbs-up for the fence to come down.
Just added to the city webpage for upcoming Design Review Board meetings: 3420 SW Graham, aka the shopping/residential complex to be built at 35th/Graham. 6:30 pm August 14, location TBA. Project page here (13k sf of retail, 300 parking spaces, 220 residential units, in three 4-story buildings).
Thanks to Christopher Bell for sending the link — the case wasn’t on our radar: The P-I reports a man was found guilty yesterday in the deadly shooting of 14-year-old David Chhin, who was shot in August 2003 while riding his bike at 35th/Juneau. (Coincidentally, just five blocks west of there, at High Point Pond Park at 11 this morning, the community is gathering for a Youth Blessing Ceremony, in hopes this summer will be a peaceful one.)
New listing — $1.5 million, with the notation: “Please drive by, seeing is believing.”
It’s drawn the most support at West Seattle public meetings about what will replace the “central waterfront” section of The Viaduct, which the state vows to take down 2012 no matter what — but the possible option shown above, a retrofit, is one of three options now totally out of the running, according to a state/city/county briefing this afternoon, presented by these three government representatives (left to right, Bob Powers from the city, Ron Paananen from the state, and Ron Posthuma from the county/Metro).
We liveblogged the briefing in detail here; the briefing materials are now available online here; but if you want a summary of what this all boils down to, and a quick look at the renderings for each of the 8 “scenarios” (plus what didn’t make the cut), here goes:Read More
That two-minute video shows you the most emotional moments — out of MANY emotional moments — at tonight’s city-organized public forum about the two West Seattle sites that are among the “final four” possible city-jail locations. Highland Park Elementary teacher Laura Drake truly brought down the house; we were at a table with Highland Park Action Committee leaders and members, and some were dabbing at tears after Drake finished. Concern, as well as raw emotion, also centered around the process, the meeting’s format, the lack of background information about how the city whittled down its original list of sites, and much more – here’s our full report (finalized in the early am):Read More
The jail meeting has wrapped up aside from “individual conversations” for which city reps have stayed, and Highland Park residents among others are busily engaging them in those conversations. The meeting got very emotional at times, particularly in the last 15 minutes or so during which the city reps were supposed to be addressing the concerns raised by small groups – but meeting attendees became very frustrated with the lack of specifics. Bottom line is that the city held this to gather public comment and notes that the final decision is still about a year away – a key point on the timeline will be a consultant study due next month that supposedly will show whether the city is on the right track in pursuing a low-rise option, or should perhaps pursue a high-rise option, which could send the whole thing back to the drawing board. Also ahead – the County Council is reportedly going to talk Monday about the proposal to extend its jail agreement with the cities. More to come.
We’re at the Machinists’ Union Lodge in South Park for the first of two city-organized public forums on the two proposed West Seattle sites in the running for a possible city misdemeanor jail. The Highland Park Action Committee has a big presence here, of course – that’s HPAC’s Dina Johnson above, in the lodge hall with one of the signs group members have brought (cameraphone photo, sorry it’s not clearer). We’re NOT currently planning to liveblog the meeting – but if you are interested in occasional updates, follow us on Twitter, where we probably will post a few updates (twitter.com, and sign up to follow westseattleblog) if the wireless signal holds – a little spotty so far. The actual meeting doesn’t start till 6:30 – right now folks are milling about chatting; some citywide media crews are here. The agenda will include a “brief background presentation” at 6:40, small-group sessions to gather public comments and report back to the full group; at 8:40, it’s “city responses to issues raised,” closing comments at 8:55, meeting scheduled to end at 9 pm. (If you missed this one, the second city-organized public forum is July 26 at South Seattle Community College, 9 am, and HPAC will meet again 7 pm July 21.) 7:39 PM UPDATE: Highland Park Elementary teacher Laura Drake brought down the house with a speech full of fury and heartfelt emotion – some people are actually crying – we have it on video and will post it as soon as we get home when this is over; we can guarantee you’ll see part of it on the 11 pm news (though tv self-limits to about 20 seconds – we’ll show you the whole 2 to 3 minutes).
We took that photo in The Junction this morning, then checked to see what the signs were for — a little sealing work tonight, we were told, no big deal. Well, now the city has issued an advisory because the work’s been pushed back, so if you’re planning on Junction nightlife late tomorrow night, you should be forewarned – read on:Read More
We’re still working on our summary of the briefing we liveblogged earlier – where state/city/county reps presented the 8 “scenarios” now under consideration to replace the “central waterfront” section of the Alaskan Way Viaduct – but in the meantime, we wanted to let you know the meeting materials including artist renderings have just been posted online; find them here (look for Scenario A through Scenario H).
Update on our post from this morning … here’s what we saw as we just passed through 35th/Morgan headed southbound on our way home from the Viaduct briefing downtown (liveblog notes here; summary still in the works, along with images of the options – if WSDOT doesn’t put them online soon, we’ll take pix of the printouts we have).
Thanks to Erin for the tip on this – she spotted that new basket of pedestrian flags at Avalon/Yancy (map) – while out and about this morning, we spotted two others on California SW, one north of The Junction, one south. The basket says they’re from SDOT and bears the slogan “Grab, Walk, Wave” – we’re checking to see if more are on the way (we checked some previously flag-bearing intersections around WS like the notorious 47th/Admiral, and it still has the old orange flags). Also seen while out and about:
The signal at 35th/Morgan is off at the moment (see the temporary stop sign at lower left) and a new configuration of turn lights appears to be on the way — this view is facing south on 35th.
JAIL: Tonight is the first of two city-organized public forums about the two potential jail sites in West Seattle. This one’s in nearby South Park, 6 pm, 9125 15th Place S. (Archived WSB coverage of the jail-sites fight map). (is here.)
VIADUCT: This afternoon, city, county and state officials will discuss where the search for a “central waterfront” Viaduct replacement stands, before the Viaduct Stakeholders’ Committee has its next meeting. We’ll be at the briefing downtown at 2 pm; the public is welcome at the committee’s meeting, 4 pm, City Hall.
SAFETY: If you’re in southeast West Seattle or White Center, the South Delridge/WC Community Safety group meets tonight, 6 pm, St. James Place (9421 18th SW). As with the nawly renamed West Seattle Crime Prevention Council, this group focuses on crime and other safety issues and gets updates from law enforcement – with free dinner as a bonus.
CAMPAIGNS: West Seattle’s three state legislators – Sen. Joe McDermott, Rep. Eileen Cody, and Rep. Sharon Nelson – are having a joint reelection-campaign kickoff event at Youngstown Arts Center, 5:30 pm.
Those are just four of today’s highlights – see more on our West Seattle Events Calendar.
Bernicki sends two updates from Ercolini Park west of The Junction – first one explains the two photos above:
We spent the afternoon at Ercolini Park. The kids were spinning around on the merry-go-round while three parks dept. guys stood by. Once the kids all got off, the parks guys moved in to adjust the “governor†(the big doohickey that regulates the speed) around the merry-go-round’s base. The kids were sidelined for about ten minutes, and then whirling resumed, at (presumably) a safer speed, as the parks guys admired their work. I was impressed at just how thoughtful these guys were: instead of throwing everyone off the toy, they waited for the kids to finish.
Bernicki also reports there’s a “Parade around the Park” at Ercolini at 11 am on the 4th of July, with neighbors invited to decorate strollers, bikes, trikes, whatever, and join the fun. We’ve added it to our West Seattle 4th of July page, where you will also find links to info about the Admiral 4th of July Kids’ Parade that morning and lots of other holiday happenings (as well as the practical stuff like bus, ferry, and Water Taxi schedules).
That’s how the exterior of Cafe Revo – at the former Murphy’s site on Avalon – will look soon, compared to this:
and if you want to go back further (almost 60 years), here’s a blast from the building’s past:
We got those pictures while talking last week with Chef Sean Goff and wife Sofia Zadra Goff, who are happy to report they now have the liquor license and electrical-work permit – which means work can accelerate on the Italian restaurant they are creating in the space (first reported here on WSB early last month) – Read on to learn more about their plans (and to see a video tour of the space before construction really revs up):Read More
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That video clip shows something we might never get to see again – the underground view of a 50-million-gallon reservoir before it’s filled. (That’s 250 times what it takes to fill Southwest Pool.) This is Beacon Hill Reservoir (map), one of four reservoirs the city is putting underground — two of the other three are in West Seattle, and when we joined various city officials including Mayor Nickels for the Beacon Hill underground media tour this morning, we learned about a milestone happening today at Myrtle Reservoir here in West Seattle:
You can’t see it from that above-ground photo, of course, but “final acceptance testing” has begun at Myrtle today – testing all systems together for about a week, after a period of testing each system individually – and if that goes well, the reservoir could be filled as soon as next week. We also got some info on the Highland Park project to put West Seattle Reservoir (map) underground – read on for that, other views beneath Beacon Hill, and some words from the mayor:Read More
Since few people check comments on posts more than a few days old, we wanted to highlight this here – an update this week on the motorcycle rider hurt in a West Seattle crash 10 days ago. “Sarg” wrote:
Visited Derby [Sunday], she was in very good spirits but not very hungry yet. Her foot, ankle and facial orbital surgeries are this week. She is very optimistic and talkative … that is a very good sign. Keep your prayers coming as our dear gal has a long road of recovery ahead of her. I would like to mention that she is in a room with another gal who incurred a m/c accident. Her name is Zoe and she is in much worse shape than Karen. Say a few words for her too. Thank you
The popularity of new Ercolini Park is a reminder of just what a playground, and park, can mean to a neighborhood. Neighbors in two areas of West Seattle are working now to make similar dreams come true, and we have updates on both: The first one’s a dream for this Admiral park that you might not even recognize as a park:
Just beyond the tree in the foreground, that triangle of land at California/Hill (map), immediately southeast of Admiral Congregational UCC Church, is indeed a park, called California Place (official city page here). Manuela Slye, who also happens to be opening the new Spanish-language preschool Cometa (as mentioned here), spoke to the Admiral Neighborhood Association at its last meeting about her dream of creating a playground there. She is in the very early stages of trying to figure out what that would involve, but already has a touching presentation (as read to the ANA) with children’s art and words about what it would mean to have “a place to play” there.
Second, in North Delridge, the “tot lot” project (previous WSB coverage here) for Cottage Grove Park is now seeking an architect. They are hoping to find a landscape architect that can donate her/his services for this small playground project, but there’s a possibility their grant-seeking could include some money for fees, so they want to hear from anyone interested. Read on for a full description of the work and who to contact:Read More
Just out of the WSB inbox, from Karen:
I wanted to let you know that there was a burglary in our Blockwatch area today, in the 5000 block of 35th Ave SW, mid-block, on the west side of the street. It occurred sometime between 7:00 AM & 5:30 PM while the owners were gone. The burglars entered through a window & took small electronics & other things that are easy to carry.
Our Blockwatch area covers a two block area just south of Providence/Mt. St. Vincent, between Dawson & Hudson streets. It is called the Hansen View neighborhood, which is part of Fairmount.
Thanks for getting the word out!
At center, it’s R.E.M. co-founder Peter Buck, flanked by West Seattle residents David Belisle (L) and Corianton Hale (R), at the launch party for their new book R.E.M.:HELLO tonight at Easy Street in The Junction. (Read more about it in our original report.) Here’s some video looking over their shoulders at the crowd for the signing during the first hour of the party:
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