Tilden School students adopt Dakota Place Park
(Photos courtesy Tilden School)
It’s all about partnerships. Our previous story included a public-private partnership to fix up a stretch of local sidewalk, and here we have what you might call a public-private partnership with local students adopting a park. In this case, Tilden School‘s fifth-grade class has been taking care of their closest park, and sent along this story:
Tilden School has officially adopted the beautiful Dakota Place Park, and we, the fifth grade class, are enjoying being park stewards! We will visit the park weekly to clean up trash, pull weeds, and remove invasive species. Before the end of the school year, we will teach the fourth graders how to care for the park so they can be the park stewards next year.
We would like to thank MARK SINDELL of GGLO for designing such a beautiful green space for the West Seattle community and for all of the many small mammals, birds, and insects that are native to the area. Mark gave us a tour of the park to explain its history, design, and plant life.
We would also like to thank all of the kind donors for giving us the tools we needed to begin our stewardship project. Thanks to JUNCTION TRUE VALUE, MCLENDON HARDWARE WHITE CENTER, and WEST SEATTLE NURSERY. Your generosity is truly appreciated!
Come visit the extraordinary Dakota Place Park, and bring all your friends and Fido on a leash!
Dakota Place Park is at California/Dakota (map) and itself, like many local park projects, involves community partnership, with community volunteers playing a huge role in making it a reality. Tilden is less than a block south of the park.
Turn Lowman Beach into a “utility site”? Overflow options draw ire
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
For the second time in two weeks, King County Wastewater Treatment brought a team to West Seattle to explain and discuss proposed solutions for a problem that sends more than a million gallons of untreated wastewater and stormwater into this part of Puget Sound in the average year.
This time, at Monday night’s meeting about proposals for the area feeding the Murray pump station at Lowman Beach, the proposed trio of solutions drew even more concern than the trio explained earlier this month for the area served by the Barton pump station by the Fauntleroy ferry dock. (The entire meeting presentation, by the way, is now online – see it here.)
One of them would involve digging up most of Lowman Beach Park, including its unique beachfront tennis court and two century-old trees. Another would involve acquiring homes across the street from Lowman, through eminent domain if necessary. Read on for a look at all three and what the crowd of about 40 at the Southwest Community Center meeting heard and said about them:Read More
Money misery: Seattle Parks wants you to know what’s at stake
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Seattle Parks Finance Director Carol Everson would have rather been almost anywhere else than in front of the Parks Board last night downtown, presenting a grim look ahead.
“I wish I weren’t here talking about this,” she grimaced from the podium at one point.
But talking is essential – not just to plan ahead for possible midyear cuts this year and all-but-certain cuts for the next two years, but to make sure you understand what Parks is facing, and what might eventually be requested to minimize the misery – maybe even the formation of a Metropolitan Park District (explained here) taxing authority.
Before the board meeting, we met briefly with the West Seattleites who are chair and vice chair of the board, Jackie Ramels and Neal Adams, and Superintendent Tim Gallagher.
Their message: If you care about city park services, please listen up and pay attention, because whatever is done to bridge the budget gap, it will affect the services delivered to you. And that was hammered home again during Everson’s briefing.
Part of the problem is good news with an underside of bad news.
Read More
@ the Parks Board: Junction Plaza Park has a construction contract
(Junction Plaza Park design from last round of meetings in 2009)
We’re at the Seattle Parks Board meeting downtown – where the big news will be a briefing on the Parks budget situation, which we were just told in a pre-meeting conversation with board leaders, is a lot worse than you might think. One big problem: No money to maintain the new parks facilities funded by the Parks and Green Spaces Levy, and barely enough to maintain what the department has now. But that’s not the reason we’re writing this in-progress update: Speaking of new parks (though this was NOT in that levy), Superintendent Tim Gallagher has just told the Parks Board that a contract has been issued for construction of Junction Plaza Park, and work should start soon, with completion in time for “several summer events.” (The park is on the northwest corner of Alaska/42nd.) We’ll be tracking that; meantime, we’ll have the full Parks Board story later after the budget briefing.
Tree trouble: Park project panned at Alki Community Council
At tonight’s Alki Community Council meeting: Carol Baker from the Parks Department was there mostly to talk about spring planting plans for Statue of Liberty Plaza, but wound up spending time defending the new landscaping along sections of Alki Avenue. Part of the newly landscaped area was planted with trees, on the water side, and residents are worried about blocked views. Those upset about the trees wanted to know why they had no say; 
Baker explained it was a small project, not subject to public review, and that the trees will help them deal with “irrigation problems” along that stretch of the waterfront. There had to have been a better solution that wouldn’t have affected the view, residents retorted. Baker stressed that the trees won’t grow to be very tall – how tall, though, she couldn’t say. That was no consolation to the concerned residents, who insisted they want the trees removed. Finally she suggested they directly contact the Parks landscape-architecture point person on the project, Joe Neiford. Meantime, back on the topic of Liberty Plaza, Baker said she had met with ACC reps to look at areas where plants didn’t make it through the winter; the dead plants have been removed, but she says the Parks budget has no money to replace them right now – maybe in fall, and in the meantime, the area’s been mulched. One other Statue of Liberty note; David Hutchinson reported that 237 bricks and 1 plaque have been sold by September, for more than $32,000 in revenue, with 7 percent going to the ACC. The new bricks went off to engraving this week and will be ready around start of May for installation. The group also heard tonight from School Board rep Steve Sundquist. (If you have education issues to discuss with him, by the way, his next community meeting is Saturday morning, 11 am, High Point Library.)
The Alki Community Council usually meets on the third Thursday, 7 pm, Alki UCC; next meeting, April 15th.
Medic response at Lincoln Park: Playground injury
That photo’s by Christopher Boffoli, who went to Lincoln Park to check out a big fire/medic callout this past hour – the Fire Department transported a girl (we don’t know her age) to Harborview Medical Center after she fell off the zipline just east of the playground by the park’s south parking lot. Witnesses told Christopher the girl was one of two people riding it when she fell off, took a hard fall, and told her mom she couldn’t get up, then got sick, which can be a sign of head injury, so medics were called. The scene has now cleared, but at one point two medic units and three engines were summoned, so if you saw all the commotion, that’s what it was about.
Delridge Skatepark gets thumbs-up from Design Commission
We’re at City Hall downtown, where the Seattle Design Commission has just reviewed the Delridge Skatepark 
project for the second time, and has given its final blessing to the skatepark’s design. “Good luck!” chair Mary Johnston said to Parks Department project manager Kelly Davidson, after the unanimous vote. Commissioners had just a few lingering concerns they recommend Davidson and the designers, West Seattle-based Grindline, address – in particular, to make sure there’s maximum functionality for an element between the skatepark and the nearby wading pool, considered as a barrier to keep little kids from bolting across the 25 feet and into the skate bowl – not just a wall. A few other tidbits: Davidson says there’s no final decision on whether to have gravel paths around the skatepark, but suspects that will be the final decision because of cost concerns (the commission remains concerned about the gravel getting “onto the skating surface” and is urging Parks to look at a “different pervious” material) … Davidson mentioned that the community-powered art project to accompany the skatepark has three muralists assigned to it, which one commissioner thought might not be optimal since the project has few planned elements suitable to that kind of painting. (The community group working on the art project is meeting tomorrow night, Davidson mentioned, to continue discussing details.) She also was urged to consider adding a bike rack, and also to keep in mind that it will be optimal if people waiting for buses along Delridge will be able to watch the skaters (provided there’s no blockage from trees, since none are to be removed as part of the project). The $750,000, 12,500-sf skatepark at the northeast corner of the Delridge Community Center park site is expected to break ground this summer and be done by fall.
Next Clean and Green event in West Seattle set for March 27
(Photo from June 2009 Clean and Green event in West Seattle, preparing Genesee P-Patch)
Just got word from Stan Lock, the city’s Southwest District Coordinator for the Department of Neighborhoods, that a Clean and Green event is coming up March 27, 9 am, Fairmount Playground (map). Tree-planting and litter pickup are part of the plan, and the official city flyer says those who are already on board include Rotarians, Boy Scouts and city officials. The city brings the tools; refreshments are provided; just bring yourself, family, friends, neighbors to help “spruce up” the area. Need more info? Ron Harris-White (ron.harris-white@seattle.gov or 206-684-7389)
North Delridge notes: NDNC meeting set; playground-pickup plan
First – after a little time in semi-limbo following the schedule change at Delridge Library, the North Delridge Neighborhood Council has now settled on a regular meeting time/place: Second Tuesday of the month, 6:30 pm, Youngstown Arts Center conference room next to the office. That means NDNC’s next meeting is one week from tonight. Then, a bit later this month:
(July 2009 photo by Hai Truong)
Remember the sea of people who pitched in to build the Delridge Community Center playground in a single day last July? Seven months have gone by, and volunteer power is needed again on March 20th to show it a little love. From NDNC co-secretary Holli Margell:
With our new playground, and unusually warm weather this year, the playground and surrounding park is getting littered with trash. With budget cuts, the Parks Department is unable to keep it picked up. The planting beds could use some sprucing up too, so if you have some gardening tools you can pull weeds too. Let’s work together and have fun! All ages are welcome.
We’ll provide some coffee and hot chocolate to warm you up. Please dress appropriately for the weather. Prizes will be awarded – the very last chance to own a (Heart) Delridge Tee Shirt!
The cleanup won’t take long – they’re planning for 10 am-noon on March 20th, which is two weeks from this Saturday. Can you help? E-mail Holli at holli.margell@gmail.com – or talk to her at next week’s NDNC meeting.
Don Armeni Boat Ramp to shut down a few days for lot paving
Just got word tonight from Seattle Parks and Recreation that West Seattle’s Don Armeni Boat Ramp is going to close for several days for lot repaving, possibly as soon as next week. Parks’ Jason Frisk sent the above photo to show how badly the current asphalt has deteriorated; while Don Armeni is the city’s most-used boat ramp, Frisk says it hasn’t been paved in a quarter-century – since 1984. Parks will be working with Statewide Parking Lot Services to “apply an overlay over the entire asphalt area.” They expect the ramp will be off-limits for 3 to 5 business days, but they have to wait for good weather; optimally, Frisk says, they might be able to close on Wednesday and reopen on Friday. But right now, they just want to get the word out that the lot will close for this work on short notice – signs will be up at Don Armeni on Monday. According to Parks, alternate city-run salt-water boat-ramp access during the closure is at Eddie Vine Boat Ramp, 8001 Seaview Avenue NW (Golden Gardens; here’s a map).
7:06 PM: Also at the Seattle Parks Board meeting downtown: This hasn’t been announced by the county yet, but Superintendent Tim Gallagher has just told the board that a celebration at/for the King County Water Taxi’s new dock at Seacrest is set for Sunday, April 11, noon-2 pm – that’s the first Sunday after the Water Taxi season starts on April 5. 9:49 PM UPDATE: This is now 
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