West Seattle, Washington
08 Monday
We don’t know how the first night of early Alki Beach Park closure went last night – except that no major incidents were reported – but tonight police are out in force. We drove the beach from 63rd/Alki to Seacrest and back between 9:55 and 10:20 pm, and saw groups of officers on foot, on bikes (photo above), and in vehicles. Some were staged at Don Armeni Boat Ramp. While the beach was still moderately busy at 10:15 pm, officers have since told dispatchers they’re “clearing the beach” now.
Seattle Parks announced Friday that Alki would be closed at 10 pm nightly through Monday, in hopes of deterring problems from violence to fireworks. Its northern counterpart Golden Gardens, meantime, is being closed at 10 pm nightly for nine months, also to tamp down on trouble..
(WSB file photo)
Last week, the city announced a 9-month pilot program closing Golden Gardens, the Ballard beach park, at 10 pm, but nothing for Alki. Today – four days after a deadly shooting – an announcement that Alki will close early too, but only for the next four nights:
Seattle Parks and Recreation is implementing new temporary closing hours at Alki Beach Park (2665 Alki Ave. SW) beginning on Friday, July 2 through Monday, July 5. The park will close daily at 10:00 p.m. (instead of 11:30 p.m.) and reopen as normal at 4:30 a.m.
This temporary closing time change, authorized by SMC 18.12.040, is intended to deter illegal use of fireworks and to help mitigate illegal activity at the park during the anticipated busy holiday weekend. Alki Beach Park has experienced an increase in public safety issues, including acts of violence, excessive noise violations, illegal fires, and unpermitted events.
SPR has already implemented several strategies to try to discourage illegal behaviors at Alki Beach Park:
· Public education: To clarify and publicize beach fire rules and other park rules, we are using our website and social media resources, sandwich-board signs at the park, and most recently, two large electronic reader-boards stating that fires are allowed in authorized firepits only, and the time by which fires must be extinguished. (Reader-board messaging may change to reflect updates.)
· Enhanced staffing: Five staff are on the beach nightly. They remind park users that fires can be in firepits only and must be extinguished by 9:30 p.m.; remind park users that amplified music is prohibited; pick up litter; clean and restock restrooms.
· Reduced hours for fires: Staff extinguish beach fires by 9:30 nightly.
· SPD coordination: We stay in close communication and strategize with SPD regarding efforts to enforce laws and prevent illegal behaviors.
Alki Beach Park will continue to allow beach fires over the holiday weekend in designated fire rings. All beach fires must be extinguished by 9:30 p.m. and all visitors will be asked to leave the park by 10 p.m. Please see beach fire rules here.
Alki Beach Park daily operating hours will return to 4:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. effective July 6, 2021.
(WSB photo, last week – Lowman Beach tennis court and swing set)
About 50 people showed up online Tuesday evening for the third meeting about a possible racket-sport court for Lowman Beach Park once the current one is removed along with the failing seawall nearby. Here’s what it boiled down to: Seattle Parks says it’s open to the idea of a pickleball court in currently open space on the south side of the park, but not another tennis court. And Parks doesn’t have money for any added features, so if a pickleball court is proposed and approved, the estimated $450,000 cost would have to be covered by a community fundraising campaign. A community group, the Seattle Sports Complex Foundation, got a grant to cover the cost of the process up to this point, working with HBB Landscape Architecture on concepts, but as was made clear last night, this meeting marked the end of that process. Furthermore, Kliment said Parks’ approval wasn’t guaranteed if this community group or someone else decided to pursue the pickleball option – just that Parks isn’t opposed to it, as long as it wouldn’t require removal of the park’s popular swing set, but Parks is opposed to a new tennis court. So now the ball is in community advocates’ court, so to speak. As for how much longer the current court will be available, the removal project (also grant-funded) is out to bid right now and expected to start later this summer. As explained in a separate series of public meetings, it will result in beach restoration and Pelly Creek daylighting.
P.S. Parks says it’ll post video of last night’s meeting on this page soon – we’ll add that link here when it’s available.
Thanks for the photos! Today just before noon, the minus-four-feet low tide was the lowest we’ll see this summer. Kathy Olson sent the photo above from Constellation Park south of Alki Point; the photo below is from Lisa Li:
(added) Michelle Green Arnson photographed this Gull-Crow faceoff during the low tide:
And Theresa Arbow-O’Connor was on Duwamish Head during Thursday’s almost-as-low low tide:
Tomorrow’s low tide is -3,7 feet at 12:41 pm, and Seattle Aquarium volunteer beach naturalists will be available 10:45 am-2:45 pm at Constellation and Lincoln Parks. Kathy photographed one of them in action today:
Wherever you explore, tread lightly and mindfully – these extra-low tides reveal near-shore creatures that usually aren’t out of the water. P.S. Next June’s low-low tides will be even lower than this year; -4.3 feet, the chart says.
Thanks to those who sent questions and photos (the one above is from Mike Munson) wondering why the renovated Lincoln Park beach restrooms aren’t open yet, though the construction fence is down. The question came up after we reported earlier this week on the pause in work on the new Alki restroom building (same contractor, JEM). Our contact for this project also is Seattle Parks’ Kelly Goold; he says, “Parks crews wanted time to clean up the landscape that was behind the construction fence and get the building ready to open. I believe the goal is to open it up before the holiday weekend.” The work started last fall and was primarily aimed at improving the restroom building’s accessibility.
(2012 Lowman Beach aerial photo – pre-Murray CSO Project – by Long Bach Nguyen
Last weekend we published the announcement of a third public meeting about what might happen at Lowman Beach Park once the crumbling seawall and neighboring tennis court are removed. The announcement said only that “two concepts” would be discussed. Today Seattle Parks revealed those two concepts are: Pickleball court, or no replacement. But Parks also says more tennis courts in the area will be opened to the public. From the announcement:
Two public meetings have been held and three concepts were reviewed. After reviewing the work from the community and the design team, SPR recommends either adding a pickleball court (and saving the swings) or allowing for no additional change than the beach restoration project. SPR does not support the tennis-court concept.
SPR’s recommendation takes into account the park location, its unique characteristics, proximity to other tennis courts, and future maintenance impacts. In addition, SPR reviewed the images from the public meetings, phone calls, emails, and the extensive community outreach to inform this decision. The decision also supports SPR’s Strategic Plan, as the Healthy Environment section calls out preserving a healthy ocean and marine environment that contribute to the health of the Seattle and Pacific ecosystem and a balance between active and passive recreation.
SPR did hear from the community about the importance of racket courts and has worked out an agreement with Seattle Public Schools to open the six courts at the Southwest Athletic Complex [WSB photo above]. The courts are free for drop-in unless reserved … Information about court reservations can be found here.
(We don’t see the SWAC courts listed there yet; we’ll check with Parks tomorrow.) Back to Lowman Beach – the meeting is online at 6:30 pm next Tuesday (June 29th); register here to participate. If the pickleball concept is pursued, funds have to be raised to build it, as Parks has no funding allocated beyond the beach restoration following the seawall/tennis-court removal.
(Photo by Gill Loring, from May’s low-low tides)
With the full moon, another round of low-low tides is coming up in the week ahead, including this summer’s lowest low tide (minus 4 feet) on Friday. Here’s what’s happening, plus how to get expert advice for your viewing (most important advice is simple – please tread lightly and be mindful of the near-shore creatures not usually exposed):
LOW-LOW TIDES
Tuesday (June 22nd) 9:37 am -2.1
Wednesday (June 23rd) 10:22 am -3.2
Thursday (June 24th) 11:07 am -3.9
Friday (June 25th) 11:54 am -4.0
Saturday (June 26th) 12:41 pm -3.7
Sunday (June 27th) 1:28 pm -3.0
Monday (June 28th) 2:16 pm -2.0
EXPERT ADVICE
Seattle Aquarium volunteer beach naturalists will be at Lincoln and Constellation (aka Charles Richey Sr. Viewpoint) Parks Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, usually starting about an hour and a half after the lowest-tide moment. Here’s the schedule.
Tide walk – Thursday at 10:30 am, meet up with Seattle Parks’ Rec’N The Streets program for a free all-ages beach walk at Constellation Park (3521 Beach Dr SW). Organizers advise: “Bring some water comfortable shoes, water bottle, and cameras. Be ready to get wet and see some cool plants and animals.”
The photo is courtesy of Charlotte, an Alki resident who wanted to publicly thank the Westside School (WSB sponsor) students who waved signs during that demonstration at the beach today. “It was refreshing to see the promotion of civility articulated from this diverse representation of the next generation,” she said. “I like to think they get it. They gave many local residents a lift this afternoon. I spoke with the group and the students came up with the idea at Westside School because they felt the message just needed to get out. We’d like to thank them.”
A little low-low tide exploring can give you new appreciation for what you don’t see when walking Puget Sound beaches the rest of the time. We have photos from Friday that we didn’t get to show you last night because of breaking news – first two, from Michelle Green Arnson, show a Moon Snail above, an Ochre Sea Star and Christmas Anemone below:
She was out at Constellation Park and has rave reviews for the volunteer Seattle Aquarium beach naturalist, too. Elsewhere on the West Seattle shore, Stewart L. photographed this Great Blue Heron (yes, with a long lens, at a distance):
And we were out along Duwamish Head, just east of Luna (Anchor) Park, looking out at the former site of its namesake amusement park:
Not everyone was looking for wildlife:
Tomorrow’s low tide is still fairly low but not nearly as much as the past three – it’ll be out to -2.5 feet at 2:37 pm Sunday; the naturalists will be out at Constellation and Lincoln Parks again (12:45-3:45 pm). Then set a reminder for 11:54 am June 25th, when the lowest low tide of the summer arrives, -4.0 feet.
ADDED: One more photo – this one from Gill, taken at Constellation Park, looking toward Alki Point:
The photo and report are from Peter:
In case anyone is missing a float from yesterday’s weather, one has washed up at the very north end of the new seawall at the foot of SW Jacobsen, where the wall meets the rockery.
(For smaller lost-and-found items, we have this section of the WSB Community Forums.)
This afternoon’s low-low tide was the second-lowest of the summer – out -3.9 feet, and it’ll be matched tomorrow. Christopher Boffoli sent the first three photos from Constellation Park (Charles Richey Sr. Viewpoint). That includes marine life revealed by the receding waters.
These are of course the reasons to tread lightly – many creatures on and between the rocks.
Constellation Park is also one of the two places in West Seattle where you’ll find volunteer Seattle Aquarium beach naturalists. But you can appreciate the low-low tide anywhere along the shore – even the heart of Alki Beach:
That photo’s from Theresa Arbow-O’Connor. Tomorrow’s low-low tide, -3.9 feet again, is at 12:58 pm, and the naturalists will be out at Constellation and Lincoln Parks 11 am-3 pm.
Thanks to Marc Milrod for the photos from Alki Beach. As we’ve been mentioning in previews, this week’s full moon has brought some of summer’s lowest low tides. Just before 11:30 this morning, it was out to -3.3 feet, and the next three days, the morning low tide will be even lower.
On Thursday and Friday – at 12:11 pm and 12:58 pm – the tide will be out to -3.9 feet, and on Saturday at 1:46 pm, it’ll be out to -3.4 feet.
Tread lightly because sea/shore creatures that aren’t usually exposed might be in your path.
(Sea cucumber, photographed last month by Eva Skold Westerlind)
Tread extra-lightly on local beaches starting Tuesday – sea creatures like that might be exposed as this week’s full moon brings the next wave of what we refer to as “low-low tides.” Here’s when, and how far, the tides will be out:
Tuesday 10:44 am, -2.3 feet
Wednesday 11:27 am, -3.3 feet
Thursday 12:11 pm, -3.9 feet
Friday 12:58 pm, -3.9 feet
Saturday 1:46 pm, -3.4 feet
Sunday 2:37 pm, -2.5 feet
Thursday and Friday, that low-low tide is close to the lowest this summer – only one day (June 25th, -4.0) will see a lower low tide.
Bonus – the Seattle Aquarium Volunteer Beach Naturalist Program is back this year, and naturalists will be at two West Seattle spots Wednesday-Sunday to answer questions: Lincoln Park and Constellation Park (labeled “South Alki” on the program list) – see the times and locations by going here and choosing the dropdown to reveal them.
With summer approaching, the Alki Community Council focused on beach concerns at its monthly meeting online tonight. Here’s what happened:
POLICE UPDATE: Representing the precinct was acting Lt. David Terry, a 20-year SPD veteran who currently leads the night shift. He started off by saying that “a lot of officers are dedicated to Alki” because it’s a priority for the precinct, which has “added extra resources” to work in the beach area. He mentioned the SPD crime-data dashboard, which you can use to track incidents in specific neighborhoods, Alki included. In the last four weeks, 3 misdemeanor assaults, 12 property crimes. West Seattle in general has seen 2 shots-fired incidents with no injuries and 1 injury shooting (16th/Roxbury) recently. One person complained that she was on hold for 20 minutes one recent night and never saw police despite street racing and other problems. Lt. Terry explained that some major incidents have taken away personnel – such as a South Seattle shooting response that required officers to be pulled from the Southwest Precinct. He said SW commander Capt. Kevin Grossman has since tried to work out a way that the local precinct won’t be totally depleted by any such future calls. Some West Seattle calls have taken every available resource too, like the aforementioned shooting. On weekends, they have extra OT crews until midnight on Alki. If something is happening now, call 911, not the non-emergency line, he stressed. The attendee said she had been told by an officer later that they weren’t supposed to interfere with street racing, and Lt. Terry said that’s not true – there is no such directive – so he’s talking to his officers to stress that they are not under orders to “stand down.” Racing calls are now “priority 1.” he said, which means mandatory dispatch – even if that means pulling someone from elsewhere in the city.
The fire rings are back; the summer crowds are on the way. Want to talk about the beach? It’s the third Thursday, so the Alki Community Council is meeting online tonight, and you’re welcome to participate. Agenda highlights as sent by the ACC:
Update on Southwest Precinct, Sgt. David Terry, SW Precinct, SPD
Report on Alki Beach concerns
The meeting starts at 7 pm; you can attend via videoconference by going here, or by phone at 206-337-9723. (For both, the meeting ID is 995 1615 6974, passcode 638862.)
(WSB photo)
11:20 AM: Seattle Parks announced last month that it would return the fire rings to Alki Beach by Memorial Day – and today, with the holiday weekend still two weeks away, they’re back. Thanks to Guy for the tip; we just went over for photographic proof. In the early pandemic weeks, Parks locked the fire rings to discourage “crowding and congregating,” and then removed them last July. Neither of those steps kept people from having beach fires; many nights in the ensuing months, we heard Seattle Fire crews dispatched to “illegal burn” reports. (During one recent callout, the arriving crew radioed to dispatch that no lives or property were in danger, so they were canceling the dispatch.) Here’s a recap of beach-fire rules; we’re checking with Parks to see when they’ll be officially open (unlocked).
2:34 PM: Not until Memorial Day weekend, says Parks spokesperson Rachel Schulkin.
Thanks to Steve for sending the photo and tip! The path atop the new seawall on the south end of Emma Schmitz Memorial Overlook [map] is now open – just in time for a view of this week’s low-low tides. The path was completed this month after a few months of delay attributed to ADA compliance. The new 400-foot-long, $3 million seawall was built adjacent to the failing old one after years of planning.
Thanks to Brandy DeWeese for sending the photo of a sea-star sighting this morning on the shore at Lincoln Park. It wasn’t even a minus tide – those start tomorrow, and before the week’s out, we’ll see low-low tides. From our favorite tide chart:
Tuesday (4/27): -1.6 feet, 11:52 am
Wednesday (4/28): -2.5 feet, 12:34 pm
Thursday (4/29): -3.0 feet, 1:19 pm
Friday (4/30): -2.9 feet, 2:07 pm
Saturday (5/1): -2.3 feet, 2:59 pm
If you walk on the beach at those times, please be very careful of the exposed animal and plant life. Wondering what you might see? Here’s a field guide from the Seattle Aquarium (whose volunteer beach naturalists will be out during low-low tides later this spring and summer).
(WSB photo, July 2020)
The fire rings at Alki will be back by Memorial Day weekend, Seattle Parks announced via Twitter today. The rings’ absence hasn’t stopped people from having beach fires; SFD is dispatched often to “illegal burn” reports there. The rings were removed last July, months after Parks locked them, resulting in people building fires on or by them instead.
Thanks to James for the tip. The University of Washington beach-volleyball team is playing at Alki today, Saturday, and Sunday. From the announcement:
Washington Beach Volleyball gets to compete in the sands of Seattle for the first time in over two years this weekend, making up for lost time with a total of seven matches over three days at Alki Beach this Friday through Sunday, April 16-18. The first two days will make up one tournament, the Husky Invitational, featuring UW, 15th-ranked Hawaii, Oregon, and Portland. Then Sunday will be three more dual matches separate from the tourney, with UW, Hawaii and 9th-ranked Arizona all playing each other once.
It’s the first home matches for UW since March of 2019. It’s also the last week of the regular season as the Pac-12 Championships are next up for the Dawgs starting on April 29.
Though past visits have drawn crowds, this time they’re asking you to stay away:
Fans are respectfully requested not to attend the weekend’s matches at Alki Beach. Due to Covid-19 protocols and the openness of the area, crowds cannot be controlled nor can seats be assigned.
Going into the weekend, the Huskies are 1-7. Their appearances at Alki date back to 2016.
(September 2020 photo from Shelly)
Also from the “you asked, so we checked” file — we have a status report on the Lincoln Park restroom renovations toward the south end of the beach. Janet emailed this week, wondering how much longer before the comfort station reopened. The work started more than six months ago. We asked Seattle Parks project manager Kelly Goold for an update – here’s his reply:
We are using an epoxy floor for Lincoln Park Comfort Station – similar to what is used in commercial kitchens and many other Parks Comfort Station buildings. The flooring requires that the existing concrete slab meet moisture level requirements before we can install. That is proving to be a challenge given the existing building is built into a hill near water. The contractor thinks with recent good weather we will be able to meet moisture level requirements by next week. Approximately 3 weeks left to install flooring, partitions, and accessories and have final inspection with our maintenance staff. Roughly that would be the week of April 19th when the building could potentially reopen.
JEM Contractors is handling this project and the 57th SW restroom rebuild on Alki Beach.
SIDE NOTE: When we last mentioned this project in September, we also noted the long-awaited South Play Area project was supposed to get going this winter. Checking that project website – now construction isn’t expected before fall.
(Seattle Parks photo)
If you walk, run, or ride along the Lincoln Park beach, you might have seen this cleanup operation – removing a damaged floating dock and the Styrofoam beads with which it was contaminating the water and shore. A post by Seattle Parks today explains how volunteers and city crews teamed up to get rid of it after an initial report came in from a park visitor. Friends of Lincoln Park, Puget Soundkeeper, Green Seattle Partnership all had a hand in it. The cleanup started last Thursday with Parks’ Heavy Equipment crew removing the dock, and continued Friday with work to remove the bits of Styrofoam. That involved a variety of tactics – from vacuuming up dry bits of foam to filling buckets with scooped-up beach stones, sand, and shells, adding water so the foam pieces would float up for removal. (See more photos here.) If you ever see a problem like this, you can report it via the Find It Fix It app or the Parks maintenance line, 206-684-7250.
Thanks to Keri for the photo, taken Wednesday evening: “Out rollerblading with my 13-year-old and was so lucky to see this at the viewpoint on Alki Ave. Had I not been on rollerblades, I would have climbed down to try to include the living city with the sand drawing. Love the fleeting works of art in our community. Bravo to the artist.” (If you’re reading on desktop/laptop, click the pic for a larger view.)
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