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The Board of Education rocks Alki Community Picnic
August 31, 2010 11:35 pm
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 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

(Photos, Story and Video by Christopher Boffoli)

Tonight’s Alki Community Picnic had to move off the playfield and into the Alki Community Center due to the weather. But the gray skies, drizzle and blustery winds certainly didn’t diminish the energy of the crowd of children who danced to the music provided by The Board of Education.

Here’s guitarist Jon Goff inspiring a new generation of musicians by handing out guitar
picks at the end of the show.

And here’s a short video clip with some musical highlights:

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West Seattle Golf Course driving range: Next meeting set for 9/15
August 24, 2010 2:29 pm
|      9 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle parks | WS & Sports

Almost three weeks have passed since the first design meeting for the new West Seattle Golf Course driving range (WSB coverage here), so we just checked in with Seattle Parks‘ Garrett Farrell, who’s leading the project. He tells WSB the date has been set for the second public meeting: Wednesday, September 15th, 7 to 8:30 pm, at the golf course. According to Farrell, “Meeting #2 will answer questions from meeting #1 and put some of the design team’s ideas in front of the public.” As you might have read in our story from the August 4th meeting, some big issues were raised – not just for golfers, but also for those who will see the driving range’s tall nets from 35th SW, Rotary Viewpoint Park, and/or nearby neighborhoods – so they’re hoping for a big turnout at the Sept. 15 meeting.

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PARK(ing) Day deadline nears: At least 1 planned for West Seattle
August 22, 2010 3:32 pm
|      11 COMMENTS
 |   Environment | West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

parktodd.jpg

Two years ago, The Junction was home to that PARK(ing) Day setup, calling attention to the final push to get nearby Junction Plaza Park completed. Now it’s done – but another PARK(ing) Day (explained here) is rolling around – September 17 – and the deadline to apply for your own temporary park is almost here. Friday’s the deadline to apply – this item on the Sustainable West Seattle website explains how. And we’ve already gotten word of one PARK(ing) Day “park” planned for West Seattle – arborist and tree-protection activist Michael Oxman shares the following rendering, followed by an explanation of what it will feature – and how you can be part of it:

Now that I’m located out here in West Seattle, it’s time to give back a little to my new community. Some decoration and greenery in a vast sea of asphalt is in order. This is a demonstration project of what to do when we run out of oil, and have fewer cars. We certainly won’t need as many parking spaces. Parking Day shows what to do with them, by setting out plants, trees and oxygen-producing greenery to soak up some of that excess CO2.

West Seattle interpretive designer Pat Whempner and experience designer Sam Stubblefield are creating the design concept for the “Park.” Our Park will be a Free Speech Platform with a Free Speech Garden in the Junction neighborhood. Anyone can get up there on the podium and say anything they want for 15 minutes. No restrictions. The platform will provide space for speakers or musicians, and the garden will create a journey through a maze of plants telling the story of important historic free speech moments or asking important free speech questions.

Since the timing of the Sept 17th event is right for politicians, we usually have candidates sign up to reserve a time slot in advance to give their pitch. We’d love to have musicians serenade the strollers. If anybody wants to help with the construction, some carpentry, set up assistance, & plant loans would be appreciated. Other spaces can also be created by people that submit the $10 application for the street use permit through the sponsor, Feet First. It would be really cool to have a few spaces scattered around West Seattle.

A design competition among the expected 100 Parking Day spaces across the city will result in prizes being awarded to the most innovative projects. The Seattle Department of Transportation will be issuing one day permits to occupy the street. Did you know the street right of way footprint covers almost a quarter of the total land area in Seattle? We can certainly spare a few spots for a day.

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Take that, taggers: Dad-daughter team vanquish vandalism again
August 21, 2010 1:33 am
|      9 COMMENTS
 |   How to help | West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

They’ve done it again – the wants-to-remain-anonymous West Seattle dad who went on an anti-graffiti tear with his daughter in summer 2009 – here’s the resulting story – found himself back for round 2. The vandals have been busy again lately – so, he wrote:

(Thursday) we had a father/daughter outing planned for a day of swimming and enjoying the summer day. Unfortunately, the weather did not quite cooperate but we still wanted to get outside. On a recent walk through Schmitz Park, we noticed the beautiful log benches in the center of the park were once again covered with graffiti. So we decided to spend our day cleaning up the benches and other graffiti around our neighborhood. We had a wonderful time together, cleaned up a lot of graffiti, and ended the day with a great sense of accomplishment as well as a great feeling of West Seattle community pride.

He shared numerous before/after photos; we’re putting up a couple here – though, as is our policy, we’ve blurred the tags in the “before” photos.

We asked what they use to remove tags. Answer: “We use ‘Goof Off’ and some scouring pads. They make a great product, and one specialized for graffiti. As for the log benches, the only way to get it off is with a hand-held wood planer.” If you’re not up for removal but want to be sure it at least gets reported – which police stress is important – here’s how to report tagging/graffiti vandalism on public property.

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West Seattle Golf Course driving range: Nine stories of net?
August 5, 2010 11:44 am
|      30 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle parks | WS & Sports

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

A team of Seattle Parks managers and design consultants made it clear last night: They’re just beginning to dig into the details of one potential layout for the West Seattle Golf Course‘s future $3.4 million driving range.

Here’s what else they made clear: Whether you’re a golfer, a neighbor, or an occasional visitor to the vicinity, they want to hear from you about what they’re looking at – right now, and down the line as the design proceeds.

The 50-stall driving range has to go somewhere between the golf course’s 9th hole and 35th SW. The very-tentatively-sketched-out location (photo above shows roughed-out art displayed at the meeting) would require a whole lot of earth-moving and tree-removal – and would dramatically change the experience at West Seattle Rotary Viewpoint Park immediately west of the driving range (see the “dash” type marker on the left side of the drawing): What’s now a greenery-framed view to downtown would wind up on the other side of the net setup meant to keep golf balls from flying onto 35th – a net that would rise 50 to 90 feet above the street level at the viewpoint site.

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Video: Camp Long Lodge reopening celebration
July 31, 2010 5:26 pm
|      7 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

He’s scheduled to ride in the Seafair Torchlight Parade downtown in about two hours, but right now, Mayor Mike McGinn is in West Seattle, at the Camp Long Lodge reopening party. It continues till 7 tonight, with tours of the million-dollar renovation work (including the expanded kitchen), cake, and other festivities, and at 7, you’re invited to stay in the park for GreenStage‘s free Shakespeare performance. More photos later; the mayor’s Twitter account just posted a photo of West Seattle-residing Councilmember Tom Rasmussen speaking (video added later):

Rasmussen was chair of the council’s Parks Committee when voters passed the Parks and Green Spaces Levy, which paid for this project – plus this pic of the grand-reopening cake, attributed to Fauntleroy’s own Original Bakery:

(video substituted for photo, 7:48 pm) And of course, it can’t be a grand opening without a ribboncutting:

While, as Parks project manager Kelly Goold told us during our sneak-peek tour last week, this renovation is meant to help extend the lodge’s life into the future, its past is also something to honor, as Camp Long’s Sheila Brown noted at the party:

Find out more about Camp Long and its programs and features by going here.

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West Seattle scene: Baby birds by the bay
July 31, 2010 2:52 pm
|      10 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle parks | Wildlife

Remember Melanie‘s amazing photos of a great blue heron, published here two weeks ago? (Follow that link if you didn’t see them the first time!) This time, she shares a photo of baby seagulls, photographed at Jack Block Park. Sorry we can’t crop it any closer, but even this size yields something we didn’t know – that baby gulls are speckled.

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2 days before Camp Long Lodge reopening party, a peek inside
July 29, 2010 12:42 pm
|      5 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

It’s the little things that matter. You’ll find paperless hand dryers in two new restrooms on the lower level of Camp Long Lodge when you visit this Saturday, during the party to celebrate its grand reopening after 7 months of renovation work – a million-dollar project funded by the Parks and Green Spaces Levy that Seattle voters passed two years ago. We asked for a sneak preview, and toured on Tuesday. Both workers and volunteers were busy with finishing touches – we found Mary Quackenbush from the Camp Long Advisory Board bringing back some of Camp Long’s historic artwork, like this self-portrait of Clark Schurman:

That’s Schurman as in Schurman Rock, which itself got some sprucing-up a few years back. More than a dozen of his paintings were rediscovered at Camp Long several years ago and were being brought back to the park on Tuesday. But the renovation project is all about the beautiful old lodge. Click ahead for photos and video taking you inside to see what you’re getting for your money:Read More

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Reminder: West Seattle Golf Course driving-range meeting
July 28, 2010 4:50 pm
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle parks | WS & Sports

As previously reported here, a meeting is set for next Wednesday (August 4th) for everyone interested in the driving range that’s in the works for the West Seattle Golf Course. We’re mentioning it again because the city just sent an official reminder this afternoon – read on:Read More

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Happening now: Re-installing West Seattle’s stolen totem pole
July 28, 2010 9:23 am
|      26 COMMENTS
 |   Rotary Club of West Seattle | West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

ORIGINAL 9:23 AM REPORT: We’re at West Seattle Rotary Viewpoint Park for the re-installation of the totem pole stolen eight months ago, and since repainted and restored. The official re-dedication isn’t until August 10th, but they’re putting it back into place today, and the pole is already here, about to be taken off the back of a flatbed truck by a Ness Crane that itself has been jacked up off the grass. Among those here: Duane Ruud, one of the Rotarians who sleuthed the theft even before police made an arrest, and Terry Boden, the first Parks employee with whom we spoke for our first story in early December, while trying to determine if the pole had been taken with or without authorization. This all may only take about an hour. 9:49 AM UPDATE: The pole’s been craned over to its base, where it’s being fastened. To see the winged pole briefly in flight was quite the sight:

(video added 2:04 pm)

If you missed our earlier stories, the pole is being reinstalled by a crew from Artech, the Renton-based art-restoration firm that also has given it a facelift – from fumigation to repainting. 10:30 AM: The reinstallation is almost over. The pole’s in place; the crew’s starting to fold up, and some of the onlookers have drifted away. By all accounts, it’s gone well. We’ll have a full report later with video and better photos (Christopher Boffoli was there shooting for WSB as well – here’s a great image he got as Artech’s Roger Waterhouse worked atop the pole:)

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Followup: New Hiawatha Playfield track is done!
July 23, 2010 12:30 pm
|      4 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

Just checked with Garrett Farrell from Seattle Parks, and he confirms that installation is complete for the final touches on the Hiawatha Playfield renovations – the rubberized track surface – so the fences are down and the field/track are open again.

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Happy first ‘birthday,’ Delridge Community Center Playground!
July 17, 2010 12:19 pm
|      1 COMMENT
 |   Delridge | West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

Last night, a low-key celebration included arts and crafts for kids – one year after they got a brand-new playground at Delridge Community Center. The actual anniversary is today – July 17th, 2009, will be marked in Delridge history as the day hundreds of volunteers joined with KaBOOM! to make the playground dream come true.

(WSB photo from July 17, 2009)
Happy birthday!

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1st meeting set for West Seattle Golf Course driving-range project
July 17, 2010 1:22 am
|      5 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle parks | WS & Sports

Thanks to Fairmount Community Association‘s Sharonn Meeks for the heads-up: The date’s set for the first community meeting about the driving range scheduled to be built at the West Seattle Golf Course. Though a media announcement hasn’t gone out about it yet, postal-mail alerts have, and it’s confirmed on the project webpage: The meeting is set for 7 pm August 4th at the golf course. The $3.4 million driving range is an element of the city’s Golf Master Plan, with design under way now and construction set to start next year.

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Restoration work under way for stolen West Seattle totem pole
July 16, 2010 9:40 am
|      7 COMMENTS
 |   Rotary Club of West Seattle | West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

Inside a hangar-size building in Renton, the totem pole stolen last November from West Seattle Rotary Viewpoint Park lies under a ladder-suspended fan, looking for all the world like a hospital patient, which it is, in a way. The “hospital” is the secure – Department of Homeland Security seals and all – facility of Artech, which not only is a premier restoration business, but also, we learned, staffed by a team including more than a few West Seattleites. They are working on the pole, with repairs and paint, to prepare it for return to West Seattle and a rededication ceremony on August 10th. More photos ahead:Read More

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Hiawatha track work update: Field temporarily reopened
July 8, 2010 3:40 pm
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 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

Just got this from Garrett Farrell at Parks, regarding the Hiawatha track installation:

The rubber track subcontractor ATLAS TRACK has been delayed on another local job and the work will not start until the Monday the 12th at Hiawatha. The contractor is opening the fence and the public will have access until Monday morning.

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West Seattle park update: Delridge Playfield work under way too
July 8, 2010 1:47 pm
|    Comments Off on West Seattle park update: Delridge Playfield work under way too
 |   Delridge | West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

Along with Myrtle Reservoir Park and the Hiawatha Playfield track, there’s more Seattle Parks work under way in West Seattle right now: Drove by Delridge Playfield and noticed the fences going up around the field, which is getting new turf funded by the Parks and Green Spaces Levy. Parks’ communications team confirms that construction work is beginning – they’ve just updated the project’s webpage, which points out that the finished field will incorporate “two striped soccer fields, one softball field, one baseball field, one woman’s lacrosse field overlaying the north soccer field, one men’s lacrosse field overlaying the south soccer field, two striped Ultimate fields overlaying the south soccer field, and one smaller Ultimate field demarcated with ‘cone dots’ overlaying the north soccer field.” Parks says the field is expected to reopen by early October, as per the contract we reported here a month ago.

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Final stage of Hiawatha Playfield work is under way today
July 7, 2010 3:58 pm
|      2 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

The fences are going up around the track at Hiawatha Playfield today, as the Parks Department had warned field users would happen – this is so the last phase of the Hiawatha renovations, the rubberized track, can be installed. Project manager Garrett Farrell says the contractor has until July 23rd to finish the job, so the track and field are scheduled to be off-limits for the next few weeks. (Summer events at Hiawatha including the July 16 Family Fun Fest and West Seattle Hi-Yu Junior Court Coronation, the July 17-18 Mediterranean Fantasy Fest, and the July 20th Hi-Yu Concert in the Park – with West Seattle Volunteer Recognition Award winners honored! – are on the other side of the community center.)

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It’s official: High Point Playfield renamed for Walt Hundley
July 6, 2010 12:42 pm
|    Comments Off on It’s official: High Point Playfield renamed for Walt Hundley
 |   High Point | West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

Back in April, Seattle Parks announced it was taking name suggestions for High Point Playfield. On followup, they explained to WSB that it was a process triggered by a request to name it in honor of Walt Hundley, the department’s first African-American superintendent. Today, it’s official – Parks has announced three new facility names citywide, including Walt Hundley Playfield in High Point. Here’s the official news release.

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Finally wading-pool weather, but remember the schedule change
July 6, 2010 6:34 am
|    Comments Off on Finally wading-pool weather, but remember the schedule change
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

With today’s weather looking to have no trouble meeting the criteria for opening the city-run wading pools – sunny and at least 70 degrees – here’s the reminder that the schedules have changed for all but one in West Seattle, because of the midyear budget cuts. According to the revised schedule, the two that should be open today are Lincoln Park (the only one in West Seattle that’s still open daily if warm enough), 11 am-8 pm, and Hiawatha (open Mon.-Tues.-Wed.), noon-6:45 pm. Here’s the full citywide schedule (PDF).

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2 Hiawatha Playfield notes: Sunday, lights; Monday, 2-week closure
July 2, 2010 2:23 pm
|    Comments Off on 2 Hiawatha Playfield notes: Sunday, lights; Monday, 2-week closure
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

2 notes about Hiawatha Playfield: First, the lights will be on for a few hours Sunday night to discourage people from setting off fireworks on the synthetic (and relatively new) turf – part of a citywide program, as Seattle Parks explains here; then on Monday, Parks’ Garrett Farrell confirms, the plan is still on to close the Hiawatha track/field to apply the finishing touches – rubberized track. Farrell explains, “Cold, wet weather last year did not allow us to put the new rubber track surface in place. Contractors will fence off the track July 5th and apply the new surface. There will be no access across the track to the field for two weeks.”

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West Seattle (Westcrest) Reservoir park project gets another big OK
July 1, 2010 12:48 pm
|    Comments Off on West Seattle (Westcrest) Reservoir park project gets another big OK
 |   Highland Park | West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

We’re at City Hall downtown, where the Seattle Design Commission has given its blessing to the West Seattle Reservoir/Westcrest Park project design shown at last Saturday’s community meeting. From the Parks Department, project manager Susanne Friedman was there, along with Parks’ Michael Shiosaki, and SiteWorkshop architect Mark Brands. Commission members expressed not only support but even excitement about some of its potential elements, particularly the possibility for much of the landscaping to be planted as “Garry Oak savannah” (above).

They also liked the proposal to pay tribute to the underground reservoir with a grid of squares echoing the columns beneath, as well as markers on its corners (explained in the screenshot above, taken from Saturday’s presentation). A few new bits of information: Friedman said they still have “some details to go back and vet with Seattle Public Utilities” regarding “load limits” atop the covered reservoir; Brands said Parks is talking with the Department of Neighborhoods regarding “alternative funding” for the orchard/community garden proposed as part of the project. He explained the offleash-dog-park expansion that drew the most questions and concerns Saturday; commission members thought the suggested multiple-gate scenario had promise for getting people between what will then be two separate areas for dog romping. West Seattle-residing member Brendan Connolly gave the project team kudos for recognizing the importance of the nearby West Duwamish Greenbelt forest, but suggested perhaps an even “stronger response,” like a loop trail that takes people into the forest and back out to the park, to tie the two together more closely. There was some concern about a lack of lighting; Brands explained they’d like to consider solar, but “its cost is prohibitive right now” – maybe there are future possibilities.

WHAT’S NEXT: The Design Commission will see the project once more; the Arts Commission is scheduled to take a look at that aspect of the project (we’re checking to see if it’s on the agenda for the group’s July meeting). And, as Friedman said on Saturday, a public open house will be scheduled in fall to show an updated design, before final construction plans are made.

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West Seattle (Westcrest) Reservoir updates: A departure; a meeting
June 29, 2010 10:23 pm
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 |   Highland Park | West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

Just three days after the final design meeting for the new West Seattle Reservoir/Westcrest Park expansion, two updates tonight. First one goes with the video above, which was shared by Highland Park’s Deanie Schwarz, who explains:

At about four-thirty this morning, I was awakened by what sounded like giant chupacabra nails grating across a blackboard. I flew to my window, and what did I see? No chuppie, but the mammoth digger used for the deep pilings on the reservoir project.

The Mid-Mountain company, the behemoth’s owner, had till six AM to have the big digger out of the city limits. The trailer awaiting the big noisy tractor to sluggishly amble its way down a hill on Cloverdale was itself too lumbering and unwieldy to negotiate a loading location closer to the park. When the same trailer delivered the Big Digger to Westcrest two years ago to begin West Seattle’s own Big Dig, a bit of trouble ensued on that tiny hill wherein the trailer, to put it briefly, got kind of stuck. It was a problem the trailer driver and crew did not want to revisit, so today’s exit was on the flats of 9th Ave.

So, as the Highland Park neighborhood near Westcrest bid loud and amazing earthmovers adieu, the summer sun rose at dawn on a horizon, quiet, serene and awaiting a new era of a very lovely and much-improved park.

Speaking of said park …

NOTE #2: The newly unveiled design for the 20 added acres of parkland at the newly covered (and decreased-in-size) reservoir – shown in our story on Saturday’s community meeting – goes before the Seattle Design Commission this Thursday. The city-appointed, volunteer board reviews major projects like this, and is scheduled to hear at 10 am Thursday from project manager Susanne Friedman and landscape architect Mark Brands. The SDC meets in the Boards and Commissions Room at City Hall downtown (map), and the meeting is open to the public. P.S. We didn’t include this in Saturday’s report, but here’s the concept for the new parkland’s art project, unveiled by kinetic sculpture artist David Boyer at the meeting:

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Update: Junction Plaza Park ceremony – “It’s dedicated!”
June 29, 2010 5:35 pm
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 |   Junction Plaza Park | West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

(The grassy west half of Junction Plaza Park, just before the dedication ceremony)
ORIGINAL 5:35 PM REPORT: Quite the crowd at the corner of 42nd and Alaska, and the event is about to start, ceremonial ribbon-cutting at all. Lots of Junction luminaries are here – and other parks supporters – plus City Councilmembers Sally Bagshaw and Tom Rasmussen, present and past chairs of the council’s Parks Committee, deputy Parks Superintendent Eric Friedli, and Parks Board members including chair Jackie Ramels of Alki.

Todd Carden of Elliott Bay Brewery Pub is opening the ceremony, recalling how the vision dates back a decade, and how creating the park has been a true public-private partnership. 5:47 PM: Carden has just declared the park open – after the ribbon-cutting, and a series of short speeches – here’s our video of the ribboncutting:

With the big scissors, that’s Erica Karlovits, president of the Junction Neighborhood Organization, and Susan Melrose, executive director of the West Seattle Junction Association, who co-chaired the final push for park completion. (Karlovits and Melrose walked away from the stage cheering, “It’s dedicated!” Right about this time last year, they were still collecting donations – in jars and barrels at West Seattle Summer Fest.) The young helper in the video is Mia Presser, daughter of Junction-based TouchTech Systems proprietor Brian Presser.

6:01 PM: Just talked with Steve and Sharon Huling – there’s a plaque in the “performance area” on the north side of the park bearing the inscription “The Huling Family/2010” – it’s in this photo with the Hulings and son Grant:

And of course, we talked about the forthcoming Trader Joe’s on one of his sites in The Triangle – we’d spoken to him shortly after the company made the official announcement earlier this month. (Steve Huling also tells us that brother Tom Huling and Tom’s wife Lori wanted to be there too to celebrate the park’s opening, but they’re on vacation.)

Meantime, violinist Pasquale Santos is playing “Don’t Stop Believing,” and that is a fitting anthem for the West Seattleites who worked so long and hard to make this park a reality.

(6:48 pm note – Event’s over, but we’ll be adding more photos and video!)

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