West Seattle, Washington
04 Tuesday
That photo from Twitter shows some of the silky pink that stretched across the sky after tonight’s final sunset of summer; tomorrow night, fall arrives, and you can greet its arrival with Alice Enevoldsen, who you may remember as the heroic volunteer WSB mapmaker during Snowpocalypse last winter. Alice is among many other things, author of alicesastroinfo.com, and is welcoming you to join her at Solstice Park (over the tennis courts northeast of Lincoln Park; map) tomorrow night to greet the arrival of fall at 7:06 pm our time. Could be some stargazing involved if the weather holds; read Alice’s full invite here.
Big news in West Seattle with so many Parks Department properties here: Mayor Nickels is proposing a gun ban in parks facilities “intended for children and youth.” (The prospect of new city rules on guns in parks also came up at an Alki Community Council meeting this summer, during discussion of recent incidents involving firearms, like this one in June, although it does not appear the ban would include beach parks like Alki.) Here’s the full text of the city announcement, plus information on how to formally comment on it:Read More
The final public meeting about Junction Plaza Park (mentioned in our coverage of Tuesday’s Junction Neighborhood Organization meeting) is now officially scheduled: 6:30 pm October 5 at the Senior Center of West Seattle. Topics will include what the Parks Department announcement describes as “plant selection and minor design elements.”
ORIGINAL 11:14 AM REPORT: West Seattle’s only city-run indoor pool, Southwest Pool, has been closed for three weeks while its drain system is upgraded to meet new federally mandated safety standards, and was scheduled to reopen Monday; we just checked with the Parks Department to see if that’s still the plan – and spokesperson Karen O’Connor tells us there’s in fact a new reopening date: September 21st, a week from Monday:
Currently, they are finishing up the work and will run tests on Monday, September 14th. We will have a better idea if the opening on the 21st is firm following the tests on Monday the 14th.
In the meantime, since outdoor Colman Pool is now closed till next year, your swimming options in West Seattle are limited to private pools; the West Seattle Family YMCA (WSB sponsor) is one of them, and does sell day passes.
2:42 PM UPDATE: Got additional information from SW Pool’s assistant coordinator Matt Richardson, as well as this photo (his explanation is below it):
I thought I would provided a bit of insight into why the closure is running longer than expected.
The Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act (VGBA) closures have been a challenge for our maintenance personnel. Every site has had its unique elements. Southwest is no different.
Prior to the closure, our engineer and lead pool operator submitted plans and construction drawings to the health department for approval. The permits were issued based on the original construction blueprints. The plan was to use the existing drain sump and attach the new VGBA compliant covers. When the pool shell was opened up, the drain sumps did not match the original blueprints. This required our engineer to design new poured in place concrete sumps and re-submit the drawings to the health department.
The new permit came through in the afternoon of Tuesday, September 8th. Our plumbers have been working feverishly this week. The cement crews should be starting on Monday with pouring new sumps and plastering. The cement requires a couple of days cure time. It takes about 5 days to fill and heat the pool up to our usual 85 degrees F. That puts us opening on Monday September 21st.
A quick note for all of our current lesson participants. The lesson session that was scheduled to begin on September 16th is delayed. We plan on starting lessons on Wednesday September 23rd. All of the currently enrolled participants will have the fees for the missed classes credited onto their accounts.
Our estimate of re-opening on September 21st is based on everything going on as planned. We will update the latest information regarding the opening date on our voicemail and our pool schedule page at
http://www.cityofseattle.net/parks/aquatics/Pools/southwest/schedule.htmThank you for understanding as we work to comply with the new federally mandated codes that resulted from the VGBA.
Sincerely,
Matthew Richardson, Assistant Coordinator
Seattle Parks – Southwest Pool
Chilly or not, this is the final day of 2009 operations for Colman Pool on the shore in Lincoln Park. It’s on a “holiday” schedule – page 5 of the brochure – which means: Lap swim noon-1:30 pm, public swim 1:45-4:45 pm, half lap swim/half family swim 5-7 pm. (This was also supposed to be the final day of the season for city wading pools, but unlike swimming pools, they don’t open if the forecast doesn’t call for temperatures of at least 70 degrees; you can check the wading-pool hotline at 206-684-7796.)
A few more things of note, along West Seattle streets: The “rechannelization” – striping that’s part of the last phase of the road reconstruction – has begun along Fauntleroy Way; we spotted the striped-in bike lane tonight, as we headed northeast. SDOT announced recently that the work will be done by the middle of this month. And “sharrow”-painting continues to stretch further south:
We just noticed sharrows have been roughed in along Thistle between California and Delridge (map).Last but not least, Rhonda from The Mortgage Porter (WSB sponsor) called our attention this morning to this scene along Jacobsen Road just east of Beach Drive, south edge of Me-Kwa-Mooks Natural Area (map):
She wondered what was being cut and why, and so did we when we saw it, so we contacted the Parks Department – the crew had clearly labeled Parks vehicles – and Dewey Potter tells us:
This was a single dead alder tree that our Tree Crew Chief identified. It was hanging close to the road and the driveways of two houses. The bark was starting to fall off the stem and branches. The crew will leave a snag for habitat if possible. That is the only tree being removed.
After a rainy morning and early afternoon, the sun showed up full force for Tuesday night’s community picnic on the playfield next to Alki Community Center. Rain or shine, they promised – in the end, it was even nice enough for the planned burger barbecue to be all sizzle, no fizzle:
Activities and entertainment included free live music: Presidents of the United States of America rocker Chris Ballew, now a West Seattleite, performed in his kids-music guise, Caspar Babypants. In our clip, you’ll see how he somewhat startled the youngest audience members toward the start of a tune about dust bunnies:
After CB, The Not-Its finished out the bill – they posted video of their own to YouTube (we got the link via Twitter):
Lots more going on at Alki Community Center as the fall proceeds – you can find the full program listing in the areawide “combined brochure” for fall programs and classes; see it here.
Half an hour from now, as previewed yesterday, Alki Community Center hosts a picnic and concert – food starts at 4:30, music (with Caspar Babypants followed by The Not-Its) starts at 6. In response to a WSB’er question, we checked to make sure there was no chance of rainout – Mary Pat at Alki CC says it’s on, rain or shine (the stage has a tent), and please bring that requested food donation for Northwest Harvest.
Tomorrow night’s Alki Community Picnic has been in the WSB Events calendar for a while but without the extra details we just got from Mary Pat Byington at Alki Community Center, (5817 SW Stevens), where all the fun is happening tomorrow afternoon/evening: It starts at 4:30 pm — free food and a “jump toy” for the kids – plus music from Caspar Babypants (aka West Seattle-residing rock star Chris Ballew of The Presidents of the United States of America) at 6 pm, followed by The Not-Its (shown above in a clip from last year’s Halloween party at Full Tilt Ice Cream in White Center). Mary Pat adds, “Please bring a can food donation for Northwest Harvest.” (That regional organization distributes supplies to local food banks.)
NOT HAPPENING, #1: Today marks the first day of Seattle Public Library branches’ one-week budget-cut-forced closure – even the SPL website (which now carries the header shown above). They’re scheduled to reopen a week from tomorrow (9/8).
NOT HAPPENING, #2: The 7-day-a-week summer schedule for Colman Pool is now over, so it’s closed today, and will shut down for the season after the upcoming three-day weekend (Saturday-Sunday-Monday). Remember that Southwest Pool is still closed as well, for another two weeks, because of drain-safety work.
SPEAKING OF POOLS: If you have an interest in White Center’s Evergreen Pool, scheduled to close as of tomorrow and to stay closed until and unless a deal can be worked out with a private operator to take it over, you might be interested in a rally planned at the pool tonight, 5-7 pm (more details at partner site White Center Now).
HAPPENING #1: Keeping up the water theme – the second-to-last summer community kayak tour of the Duwamish River leaves South Park at 6 pm tonight. Full details here.
HAPPENING #2: Delridge Produce Cooperative‘s wrapping up the third of four 4-day weeks for its Mobile Market demonstration program – free produce at a roadside stand, to gauge neighborhood interest in access to fresh fruits and vegetables. Today, it’s on the south lawn of Youngstown Arts Center (4408 Delridge), 3:30-7:30 pm.
Saturday afternoon, we showed you the young artists preparing the south wall of Super 24 (Delridge/Findlay) for a mural – now, here’s the finished artwork. Here’s what Philippia Goldsmith from DNDA added tonight in a comment on our Saturday afternoon update:
This project is part of a larger initiative to transform the local corner stores into destinations where local residents have an ‘option’ to purchase affordable, delicious, and healthy food for their families. We will be having more projects like this in the coming months. If you’d like to volunteer or contribute to this effort. Send me an e-mail: phillippiag@dnda.org
Now to Alki:
Abby Suplizio tipped us to the “Save the Tata’s” Breast Cancer 3Day fundraising car wash at Alki Auto Repair this morning/afternoon. The 3Day route skips West Seattle again this year (it went through here in 2007 – WSB pix here) but more than a few West Seattleites are participating; breast-cancer survivor Diana McCasey organized this fundraiser. (If you missed it, you can donate through her page at the 3Day site.) East from Alki, to Schmitz Park:
That’s about the closest Shauna Causey got to the crew filming the online series “Star Trek: Phoenix” again this weekend in Schmitz Park, which had limited public access as a result (Friday night preview here). Shauna reports:
Entering the park from Admiral (Way), there is a sign that says “no admittance” and explains the filming. We came from the Alki Elementary entrance so we did not see this, or any signs that the film crew was still there until we got to the stream and could clearly hear a generator running not too far away in the park. Walking down the trails, we came upon the filming and saw some alien costumes laying on the trail (black helmets covering the head) and looked over to see a man with moss, sticks and brush covering his entire body. The only thing showing was his face, otherwise he looked like a giant pile of moss. I snapped a photo from fairly far away and they wouldn’t let me take any photos closer up.
More about “Star Trek: Phoenix” – which bills itself as “a not-for-profit Internet series and the largest, all volunteer, consistent film production in the Pacific Northwest” – at stphoenix.com. Posted notices said the crew’s work was to be done by 10 pm tonight, so tomorrow Schmitz should be back to normal.
(Art by Susan K. Miller)
If you’ve been thinking about going to Schmitz Preserve Park this weekend, note that access will be limited, as the film crew associated with the online series “Star Trek: Phoenix” is back. We’ve received two notes about this today – one from Susan K. Miller, author of Picturing and Poeting, a Schmitz Park-centric site, who writes on her site that the notices posted at the park say the film activity will be happening tomorrow and Sunday. She created the art above – explaining:
The porta potty at the Admiral Ave. entrance to Schmitz Preserve Park was the first indication something was up. There are two 8×11″ paper signs saying that Temporal Studios, a local film production company, is filming “a short film” Saturday and Sunday, Aug 29 and 30 from 6am-10pm at the entrance and inside the park. Visitors may not be able to access that entrance or parts of the park, the signs said.
The “Temporal Studios” mentioned on the notices reported by that author is the “ST: Phoenix” production company; they shot in Schmitz Park a month ago (here’s what we wrote afterward).
(future skatepark site at northeastern corner of Delridge Playfield/Community Center park)
A followup this afternoon to a story we brought you yesterday, with Pete Spalding reporting from the Parks and Green Spaces Levy Oversight Committee meeting that the funding situation for the planned Delridge Skatepark was changing. We checked in with City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, who chairs the Parks Committee, and today he’s sent this update:
As the Chair of the City Council’s Parks and Seattle Center Committee, I am working to ensure that the City keeps its commitment to build the skateparks that are planned. When I saw yesterday’s article in the West Seattle Blog about the money for the Delridge Skatepark vanishing I immediately contacted the Superintendent’s Office to find out what is going on.
There has been confusion about the funding source for the project, but based upon assurances from the Parks Superintendent, I am confident that the solution the Parks Department and Levy Oversight Committee have settled on is a workable one. I will keep a close eye on this during the City Council’s yearly budget review and will make sure we have the skatepark built as planned.
I want to thank Pete Spalding for his work on the Parks Levy Oversight Committee and your readers and the Delridge neighborhood residents for their tireless support of this project. In other areas of the city we have had trouble finding sites for skateparks. Delridge has been very supportive and welcoming. Together we can make this happen!
I am committed to the project 110%. I agree with the suggestion of some of the writers that it would be good to contact the other eight City Councilmembers to ask them to support the Delridge Skatepark. It is important that the Council hear from the community now and during our budget review which will begin at the end of September.
Thank you,
Tom Rasmussen
Seattle City Councilmember
Here again is the contact information for City Councilmembers
Funding for the future Delridge Skatepark has taken as many twists and turns as a virtuoso performance by one of the talented skaters who will use it someday. First it was going to be in this year’s city budget – then that changed at the last minute. Then, half a million dollars was found after bids on other work – including Hiawatha Playfield renovations – came in much lower than planned, and another $250,000 was moved from what once was to be a “skate spot” at the future Myrtle Reservoir park (which is currently behind schedule for non-Parks reasons). Now, we have news from last night’s Parks and Green Spaces Levy Oversight Committee meeting that the funding situation has taken another turn: Committee member (and Pigeon Point resident) Pete Spalding tells WSB:
The monies that the Parks Department had originally earmarked for this project vanished last month. This was once again attributed to the ongoing financial issues the City of Seattle is facing. The folks at Parks are committed to trying to make sure that the Delridge skatepark gets built. At last night’s Parks & Green Spaces Levy Oversight Committee meeting a proposal was brought forward to use 500k in surplus Opportunity Fund dollars from the Pro Parks levy to fund this portion of the Delridge skatepark. There was lots of discussion of the pros and cons of making this transfer but eventually a motion was made and after more discussion the motion did pass. Now this has to be turned in to legislation that will go to the City Council for approval later this year. The folks in our community that support this project need to send e-mails, write letters and/or make telephone calls to all 9 of our City Council members encouraging them to support this legislation when it comes before them for a vote.
(Pro Parks is the levy that preceded Parks and Green Spaces.) We have messages out to other city sources to get more details on this situation, and will add that information as we get it. Meantime, here’s the contact information for City Councilmembers – West Seattle-residing Tom Rasmussen chairs the Parks Committee but since all members are elected “at large,” no one represents this area in particular, and it’s vital to express your opinion to all of them. 1:52 PM UPDATE: A bit more information: According to Parks spokesperson Dewey Potter, the $500,000 “vanished” because the city Finance Department said no to moving it to the Delridge Skatepark budget. (We’re still looking for the reason WHY the Finance Department said no; meantime, note that this was NOT money that the Levy Committee had a say over, in the first place – it didn’t come from the levy; it came from other projects, including Hiawatha, that came in with under-budget bids. Potter says last night’s committee vote to use remaining Pro Parks Opportunity Fund money “makes the budget whole” and faces the following Council action: “This money will be included in the 4th quarter supplemental budget legislation and adopted with the budget in November.” Meantime, the council Parks Committee will vote next month on the $250,000 move – so if you’re contacting councilmembers with an opinion, you’ll want to let them know what you think about that too, since it’s not a done deal yet.
First, a reminder that West Seattle’s only city-run indoor pool, Southwest Pool, is now closed for three weeks of drain-safety work, scheduled to reopen September 14th. Second, this is the final week of 7-day operations at Colman Pool (photo at right) this summer; after this Sunday, it’s closed except for one last late-season weekend, Saturday-Monday 9/5-9-7. Here’s the schedule.
Story and photos by Keri DeTore
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
West Seattleites had the chance to learn the story behind a popular park on Saturday morning, as the Southwest Seattle Historical Society presented a Live History Talk and Walk at Me-Kwa-Mooks Park, featuring Alan Schmitz — grandson of Ferdinand and Emma Schmitz — describing the area as he came to know it as a child.
He was joined by SWSHS president Judy Bentley (photo below) and by Joan Hockaday of the Olmsted Society, author of Greenscapes—Olmsted’s Pacific Northwest (photo above with Schmitz), about the famed designer of parks in Seattle and elsewhere.
Sharing stories and memories, Mr. Schmitz painted a picture of Me-Kwa-Mooks very different from what we see today.
WSB photojournalist Christopher Boffoli reports from the Nature Consortium‘s Arts-in-Nature Festival – which continues through 9 tonight (with evening performers including fire dancing by The Cabiri, shown above in an aerial performance earlier) and again 11-6 tomorrow:
Beautiful weather for the 11th Annual Arts in Nature Festival going on at Camp Long this weekend. I stopped in for an hour around noon on Saturday and each event going on had a healthy audience though it definitely wasn’t crowded. I’d advise people to park on 35th though as open spaces in the Camp Long parking were scarce.
More photos from Christopher, before his report continues:
Lots of crafts for the kids. Coloring, painting, printmaking and face-painting, etc. Music and performance shows inside the geodesic dome on the meadow and down by the pond. The cabins are featuring art installations, including multimedia presentations in some of them.
Christopher also recorded video of one performance, by Lelavision:
For the full Arts-in-Nature Festival schedule, tonight AND tomorrow, go here. Admission is by donation, $5; the Nature Consortium is a West Seattle-based nonprofit whose major work involves restoration of the West Duwamish Greenbelt, the largest remaining stretch of contiguous forest within the city limits.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR ELECTION RESULTS: Our previous five reports focused on last night’s first round of election results, and candidate reaction. But many more votes remain to be counted. Next step: 4:30 pm today, King County goes public with its next count. This will be a daily affair for a while (here’s the official schedule), with final certification expected two weeks from today.
HEAT: Could hit 90 today, and that would be a record for this date.
THE KENNEY: One air-conditioned place to be at mid-afternoon: The Landmarks Preservation Board‘s meeting, 3:30 pm, Municipal Tower downtown. They’ll decide whether to designate The Kenney‘s Seaview Building as an official city landmark. (Here’s our preview.)
CAMP LONG PUBLIC MEETING: From last year’s Parks Levy, a million bucks is earmarked for renovations at Camp Long Lodge. You can find out about the plan at a public meeting tonight, 5:30.
Here’s followup information from the city on two things we’d inquired about: First, yesterday’s power outage in the Admiral area (thanks to Jamie for the photo above and for one of the first reports when it happened): Seattle City Light‘s Scott Thomsen says it was caused when a utility pole’s crossarm broke (that may explain the “loud noise” reported yesterday), and affected almost 200 homes and businesses (including Admiral Safeway and West Seattle PCC). Repairs were complete about three hours after the outage started just before 2. Now, to Beach Drive:
We took that photo a few days ago after receiving a note from a concerned neighbor who saw extensive vegetation removal at Weather Watch Park (map), which he described as “clearcutting,” wondering if it had been authorized and, if so, by whom. First we checked with Seattle Parks, which reminded us that Weather Watch Park is SDOT property since it’s a “street end.” Here’s the information we received from Marybeth Turner at SDOT today:
A contractor hired by SDOT cleared away invasive weeds and dead plants and removed litter. The only tree-related work was the removal of suckers from a sweetgum tree. This maintenance work at the street-end area was done at the request of neighbors. Although this turned out to be legitimate activity,we appreciate the vigilance of residents who report what might be illegal activity. For more information about the street end, residents may call Patti Quirk, SDOT Street Use office, (206) 684-8501.
That’s how Trileigh captioned this photo of the young Lincoln Park-born barred owl who was nicknamed “Wollet” during a rash of sightings that followed our first owlet report, which came from Kim and Jordan Petram and included this next photo, back in late May:
(Among other photo reports that followed, Minette contributed too.) Back to today’s top photo – Trileigh elaborates:
I found an owl in Lincoln Park on Sunday, but I wasn’t sure whether it was Wollet or one of his parents. He looked so freshly washed that I thought it was probably “our” baby. Then when I showed his picture to one of my owl-expert friends, she confirmed that it is indeed Wollet: apparently you can tell by his white tail feathers. Hooray! So glad to see that little guy one more time. My friend also tells me he’s likely to start searching for his own territory — so each sighting could be the last.
She has more photos at flickr.com/photos/trileigh. Meantime, we’ve received a few other beautiful West Seattle bird-sighting photos recently (thank you!!!!) and will share them soon too.
Thanks to Mary Pat Byington at Alki Community Center for the reminder: 
Registration opens at noon today for fall programs at not just Alki, but all of West Seattle’s city-run community centers — which also means Delridge, Hiawatha, High Point and Southwest. You can see the brochure (left) with the combined listings for all of them by going here (Alki Bathhouse, South Park CC and Southwest Pool are included too). You don’t have to go to a center to sign up – you can do it online – through the SPARC system. But note that you need an account for online registration – this page explains how that works, and creating one isn’t instant. Even if you’re not signing up for something (yet), also note the fall brochure has the dates for major events from Halloween carnivals to Christmas Ship stops.
As that shiny new sign says, work on West Seattle’s newest park is complete. Dakota Place Park is on the grounds of the city-landmark former substation at California/Dakota, north of The Junction. While you may have noticed building-renovation work if you simply drove by, walk up now, and the full park will be in view:
Jennifer Cargal from Friends of Dakota Place Park has sent us the official announcement of its completion, and what’s next:
If you live near the Alaska Junction, you should take a stroll up to the corner of California and Dakota. Though the opening celebration won¹t happen until the fall after the art installation, neighbors are finding some new open space in the recently completed Dakota Place Park. Nestled behind the old City Light Substation, this pearl of a park offers a little shade, a little room to stretch, and some much needed open space for those traveling just north of the Alaska Junction.
Tremendous thanks goes to the Friends of Dakota Place Park, Kelly Gould of Seattle Parks and Recreation, Seattle Department of Neighborhoods and the Neighborhood Matching Fund, King County Wild Place Grant, Mark Sindell and the staff of GGLO, the West Seattle Garden Tour, First Mutual Bank, King County Council Chair Dow Constantine, and the many community donors, and the sixty plus volunteers who planted the park in June.
Note: The substation is a separate project. For information about the status of building renovation or about the park, please contact Kelly Goold at 206-684-0586 or Kelly.Goold@Seattle.Gov.
We visited Dakota Place Park today to take photos, and noted the nicely gardened patches around the park’s periphery, as well as the bench:
Jennifer shared photos from the planting parties — here’s one with a young volunteer:
According to the city project page, Dakota Place Park’s budget was $587,000+. If you’re not familiar with the site, here’s a map.
(photo by Brenda Peterson)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Digging for shellfish at most – if not all – West Seattle beaches is unsafe and unlawful.
Not everyone knows that. It seemed to be news to three men confronted this morning while digging along Beach Drive, before they agreed to put the clams – a cooler full of them, as you see in the photo above — back.
This all began when Brenda Peterson, a West Seattle author and wildlife advocate, was out walking on the beach this morning, as she does most mornings as the founder of Seal Sitters, the local group that watches for baby seals this time of year, and, when one is found, assigns volunteers to guard it from human/animal disturbance till its mom comes back for it.
Peterson spotted three men going back and forth along a sizable stretch of Beach Drive shore, where the tide was somewhat out this morning, digging big holes, and filling a blue and white cooler.
She tried calling wildlife agents and got only voice mail. She also called WSB.
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