West Seattle, Washington
15 Saturday
The Parks Department confirms that this Saturday’s planned cyclocross race at Lincoln Park is now canceled. We got first hint of this last night when CC’d in an e-mail exchange from a West Seattle resident to Parks, in which the resident wrote, in part:
Several years ago, a cyclo-cross race at Lincoln Park caused major damage to native shrubs, grasses and trails. At that time, a large number of complaints led to (I thought) a ban on this kind of race in our Parks, and a revocation of a permit for a future race.
However, I just learned that the Parks Department has issued a permit (or so the organizer claims) for a similar race in Lincoln Park for this Saturday. …
The attached map (and photo!) shows clearly that this Cyclocross race will cut through the forest, on social trails, and given the previous damage, and the stated intent of this race, will cause irreparable harm to the native vegetation and shrubs.
I ask you, as a resident and frequent user of Lincoln Park, to please cancel this inappropriate permit, and prevent the damage from being done (as they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure).
In a reply shortly thereafter, Parks spokesperson Dewey Potter replied to the original writer:
… Parks has taken a look at the event coming up this weekend, and we have decided to move it to another, more appropriate venue. Our staff will evaluate its success there, and make a decision about whether and where to permit future such events.
We checked back with Parks today, to see what that venue might be, and spokesperson Joelle Ligon just replied, “The cyclocross folks have cancelled all together. There will not be an event this weekend.” We will be contacting the race organizers too – they had also posted in the WSB Forums recently to get the word out about park-access changes in connection with the then-scheduled event. ADDED 2 PM: A little more information from Parks’ Ligon, answering our question about why this all played out at the last minute:
About four years ago, there was a cyclocross event at Lincoln Park. At that point, the community let us know that they did not like having cyclocross there. We made a commitment to not hold cyclocross at Lincoln again. When our files went electronic about two years ago, the prohibition on cyclocross at Lincoln did get translated into the new system; hence, permitting staff were not aware that they should not have permitted the event at all.
We just heard from the cyclocross organization, and they have let us know that they intend to hold their event on Nov. 15 at Lower Woodland Park. We will waive their permit fee for the Nov. 15 event, and we have refunded the Lincoln permit fee.
3:35 PM UPDATE: As Zac announced in comments, the race promoters’ website now has a long explanation of what’s transpired from their standpoint, and what’s next — read it in its entirety here. WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE: The race will be held at Lakewood Park in White Center instead – as announced on Twitter by MFG Cyclocross, and confirmed by this post on the King County Parks news site.
(Referendum 71 supporters demonstrated in The Junction again Sunday – from left, WSUU members Rose Fitzpatrick with her dog Rivet, Cynthia Townsend, and president Paula vanHaagen)
You can’t have a say on Referendum 71, Initiative 1033, King County Executive and Seattle Mayor – among other hot issues – if you’re not registered to vote. Today is your absolute last chance – if you’re not registered in this state but want to be, today’s the deadline but you have to go to the King County Elections office in Tukwila – here are the directions; they’re open till 4:30 pm.
Another big West Seattle real-estate deal reported by McQuaid Real Estate: The Halcyon Apartments on Lincoln Park Way (Google Street View above) have sold for $2.8 million. The 23-unit building had never been up for sale before – the sellers were the couple who built it more than 40 years ago, according to McQuaid’s announcement of the deal.
That’s Seattle Parks HQ at Denny Park downtown – and it’s the place to be at 7 pm tonight for the next meeting of the Parks and Green Spaces Levy Oversight Committee, which has reviewed a LOT of West Seattle projects in recent months. Tonight’s big agenda item – draft criteria for use of the levy’s Opportunity Fund (once the draft criteria get approval, they’ll be published tomorrow, and a public hearing is set for November 9, as reported here).
(Twitpic from @springhill_ws, showing the winner in Spring Hill‘s staff pumpkin-carving contest, by Xuan)
A quick reminder that it is now The Week Before Halloween, and you can scare up all the fun that’s leading up to the big night, as well as what’s happening on Halloween itself, by checking out the WSB Halloween page. Two October 31st notes that have nothing to do with Halloween, but we should mention them now so they don’t sneak up on you – 1. Saturday’s the last day of the season for the King County Water Taxi‘s West Seattle run; 2. Daylight Saving Time ends that night (technically 2 am Sunday – you’ll “fall back” an hour).
Thanks to Shannon for sharing that photo from a walk today in Lincoln Park. It goes well with a couple of Lincoln Park-related notes we wanted to pass along tonight: First, if you haven’t seen the announcement in the WSB Forums – one week from today, a big bicycle race will affect park access/usage in a big way. It’s a cyclocross event, explained by promoter Zac this way: “Cyclocross is a bicycle race, mostly on grass, some dirt, a little pavement, and there are some places the riders must dismount, pick up the bike and run (all in one fluid motion). Anyone can race, and there’s a category for just about everyone. All you need is bike that you can ride on grass and dirt, and a helmet.” More info at mfgcyclocross.com; also, Zac shared a flyer and accompanying park map you can see here, for details on which trails will be affected next Saturday, and exactly when. Another Lincoln Park note – two weeks from today, on Saturday 11/7, it’s Green Seattle Day in parks and greenspaces all over the city, and many groups of volunteers will be working to make our city a little greener – like Friends of Lincoln Park, whose monthly work party will happen that day, per this announcement we received:
Celebrate Green Seattle Day at Lincoln Park! There are so many good reasons to “green up” Seattle. Restoring native plants improves water and air quality, provides habitat for native creatures, increases property values and soothes your soul. Join the Friends of Lincoln Park on Saturday, Nov 7th from 9 am to noon to plant natives in an area in which we recently removed invasive plants. Dress for weather with sturdy shoes. Bring your favorite tools, or we’ll provide tools. Meet in the north parking lot at the kiosk across from Rose St. Contact: Sharon Baker (206) 464-1068 or sbaker@u.washington.edu
More on Green Seattle Day here.
A big component of the Parks and Green Spaces Levy that voters approved last year is the $15 million Opportunity Fund – money that’s not earmarked right out of the gate – open for proposals and applications, most likely to be initiated by neighborhoods. Right now, the PGSL Oversight Committee is reviewing proposed criteria for that fund – the guidelines that will spell out how proposed projects can be reviewed. The draft criteria won’t be public until next Tuesday – day after the committee’s next meeting – but the date/time/place for a public hearing on those draft criteria is set now, and if you have an interest in this park-project money, you’ll want to be there: 7 pm November 9, at Parks HQ downtown. (Thanks to two West Seattleites on the Oversight Committee, Pete Spalding and Cindi Barker, for making sure we got this announcement so we could share it with you!) The full timeline for Opportunity Fund decisions can be seen here.
Kids helped cut the ribbon this afternoon with Jennifer Cargal of Friends of Dakota Place Park, during a community celebration dedicating the park (map), which contains a historic substation building. As we’ve noted here, the park’s been open about two months, but the people who worked so hard to help make it happen wanted to take a moment to celebrate what’s taken more than five years to accomplish:
Though the landscaping and art are in place, there’s one more phase for Dakota Place – completion of the city-landmark substation building’s interior renovations, so it can serve as a satellite facility for Hiawatha Community Center. The Parks and Green Spaces Levy Oversight Committee decided recently (WSB coverage here) to allocate $400,000 for that.
We’ve been chronicling what started as a federally mandated project to upgrade the drain system to new safety standards, and turned into maintenance/repairs for an unforeseen problem. Now Seattle Parks says Southwest Pool will reopen Nov. 2, after passing a key inspection today, and there’s a special offer to thank patient patrons – read on:Read More
The central Lincoln Park playground photo above – sent by Hillary – is the first one we’ve heard of (let us know if you’ve already seen one somewhere else). This comes one week after the city announced it would start putting up signs announcing the new rule banning guns at park facilities where children/youth are likely to be present, but the announcement (see it here) hadn’t specified a timetable, aside from the plan to have all affected facilities posted by December 1st. Hillary was surprised by the sign and added these comments in her e-mail to WSB:
I saw the sign for the first time today, and was very disturbed by both the content and the placement of the sign. We moved from the East Coast over a year ago, and settled near Lincoln Park because of the peaceful community ambience of the Fauntleroy/Arbor Heights area. Had I seen these signs in Seattle parks as a prospective home buyer, I would have chosen the ‘burbs, assuming there must be firearm problems if there have to be signs on playgrounds. (Which, now that I live here, know is not the case). Signs and laws don’t dissuade gang members from wielding their guns in any public location, unfortunately. As far as I’m concerned, the only things these signs accomplish are decreased property values and creating unnecessary fear in law-abiding citizens.
I had to respond to my 2 year-olds questions about “The sign with the gun on it” today…. Maybe they should also post “No Drugs” and “No Sex” signs at the park. I’d love to have to explain those things to him while he’s still in preschool. (I am, of course, angrily sarcastic).
You can expect to see dozens more signs like that around West Seattle, since the city announcement last week said the signs would be posted at:
* 26 community centers
* four environmental learning centers
* 10 pools
* 30 wading pools and water play areas
* two small craft centers
* two specialized facilities (tennis center, performing arts center)
* 139 playgrounds and play areas
* 213 ballfields
* six late night recreation sites
* three teen life centers
* 82 outdoor tennis and basketball courts
* two skateparks
* five golf courses
P.S. The mayoral candidates were asked about the park gun ban during tonight’s debate on KING5 – watch their answers, starting here.
ADDED 4:45 PM THURSDAY: Some commenters asked about the cost of the signs. We asked the Parks Department for the information, and Joelle Ligon replies:
So far, we have ordered 150 signs for a cost of $2,500. We anticipate ordering another (approximately) 350 signs for another $5,200. We will also order some replacement signs for ones that are vandalized or damaged in some other way, which we anticipate will cost in the $250 range. The grand total for the cost of fabricating all the signs is around $10,000.
The cost of installing them is included in the jobs of our installation maintenance crews, who do this type of work normally.
After tonight’s meeting (first of two) about the upcoming Delridge Playfield improvements – to be paid for by $3 million in Parks and Green Spaces Levy money – we know a little more about where the project goes from here. Most of the 30-plus people gathered at playfield-neighboring Delridge Community Center tonight had concerns about how the field will be used once its artificial turf and new lighting are in. Per the presentation, it is designed with two baseball fields and two soccer fields, with a 360-foot disc run. Some on hand tonight asked if specially colored circles could be added to the turf for lacrosse play as well. Project manager Ted Holden, a landscape architect with Seattle Parks, said he could bring plans with that option to the next meeting (7:30 pm November 23, also at Delridge CC). The field’s new lighting also was discussed; most questions centered on when they would be turned off at night – 11 pm, according to Holden, who also said that any concerns residents have once they’re installed can be addressed by Parks staffers making adjustments as needed. As for the timetable, if all goes according to plan, construction would start next May, with completion in September. (The official project page is here.) ADDED TUESDAY NIGHT: Nancy Folsom has published her comprehensive notes from the meeting at the Delridge Leadership website; you can read them here.
$3 million worth of improvements are on the way for Delridge Playfield, thanks to the Parks and Green Spaces Levy passed last year. Tonight you can get details, ask questions and offer comments at a Parks-led meeting at Delridge Community Center, 7:30 pm, first of two about the project (2nd one is 11/23).
Just in from the city – the rule banning guns at “facilities where children and youth are likely to be present” is starting to take effect. The city says the rule won’t be in effect at any specific facility until it is posted there; one of the first two places where the notices will go up is South Park Community Center, and all other affected facilities will be posted by Dec. 1, according to the announcement, which you can read in its entirety ahead:Read More
This Thursday night’s West Seattle Candidates’ Forum (7 pm, Youngstown Arts Center) has gained a pre-show attraction: Nancy Folsom announced that the artists chosen for the Delridge Community Center Playfield project 
will be there that night at 6 pm to meet anyone interested in talking about what’s meant as a companion creation to the future skatepark (site at left). She says Zachary Bohnenkamp, John Osgood and Kevin Sullivan were chosen from nine artists/groups that sent letters of interest, adding that the team was chosen “because of the artistic merit of their work, their experience in public art projects, and their ability to work collaboratively with a community. I want to note that all the submissions were strong and the decision wasn’t easy, and I am grateful to all the artists for considering our project. The ten reviewers included two neighbors, a person from the skateboard park design team, a city Parks Department person who can advise on feasibility, two Youngstown Cultural Arts staff, and the director of the Service Board, a tenant organization of YCA that mentor youth. People have been generous with their time and help, which has been invaluable. We are currently working on identifying funding sources, developing a project plan, and the artists are starting to investigate ideas for the piece. I hope the neighborhood will take this opportunity to get to know the artists and to give the artists an opportunity to get to know us.” Come for the artists (6 pm), stay for the forum (7 pm), Thursday at 4408 Delridge Way.
(WSB photo from last Tuesday)
Just last week, we showed you crews putting down the new artificial turf for Hiawatha Playfield. Got word this afternoon from project manager Garrett Farrell that it turned out to be defective, so it has to be pulled up and replaced, which is sliding the completion schedule a bit. He says:
Contractor Field Turf began installing the new artificial turf on October 6th. Defects were found in the fabric and they have moved immediately to replace the product at Hiawatha.
The first load of new material will be on site Friday 10/16/09 with the balance arriving next week.
This delay has impacted our project schedule. All remaining work at Hiawatha is weather dependent.
Parks is actively coordinating the re start of the field turf installation with rubber surfacing of the new track scheduled to start 10/19/09.
Farrell adds, “Field Turf has done several great installs for Parks and knew right away that this was not consistent with the product they supplied to date. The old stuff will stay in place until we get all the new stuff here next week; then it will get replaced.” Watch the Hiawatha project website for schedule updates – according to Farrell, if the weather isn’t too bad, intensive efforts by FieldTurf could keep them on track for completion before Thanksgiving.
(Westcrest Reservoir construction photo from last spring)
As work continues on the West Seattle (Westcrest) Reservoir lid, the city is taking another step toward construction of the park atop it. A published notice indicates the Parks Department is now seeking letters of interest and statements of qualifications from landscape architects (deadline 10/26). The notice says construction is set to start in early 2011, and includes:
PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The vision for this site is to create an innovative park addition adjacent to Westcrest Park that can accommodate a variety of park features and recreational uses, while seamlessly integrating the reservoir lid with the surrounding park. The project area is approximately 20 acres.
Park funding is coming from the Parks and Green Spaces Levy approved by voters last year. Highland Park Action Committee has been working to stay closely involved with the park-development process, including discussion during its Westcrest “mini-summit” in June (WSB coverage here).
Just got word from Mary Ellen Cunningham of Friends of Dakota Place Park (map) that the dedication is set for 3:30 pm October 22nd “rain or shine.” The exterior work is done, including the art installation (photo), and as reported here last week, the city is putting together funding to finish the interior of the historic substation building on the site so that it can be used as a satellite facility for Hiawatha Community Center programs.
Wood chips await helping hands to move them into place for a new feature at Westcrest Park Off-Leash Area in Highland Park, West Seattle’s only official off-leash area: Westcrest steward Steve McElhenney tells WSB that this will be “a new “special needs” area of the park. I pitched my idea to Seattle Parks a few weeks ago to clear out an area right inside the offleash area north parking lot to create access for the elderly and disabled folks with dogs that had a hard time getting to the upper area.” Steve says that, thanks to Dennis Dylan and crew at the tree-service company JTS, they have lots of chips waiting to be spread – volunteers are welcome to join in and help 6-8 pm tomorrow night and 10 am-noon Saturday.
Thanks to Tim McMonigle of West Seattle Soccer Club for the tip that Hiawatha’s starting to get its new turf, part of field improvements that should be complete next month. Tim added: “I talked to one of the workers there and they said they’ll probably have the turf laid in the next week, then another couple weeks after that for all the prep work (lines glued, spreading rubber pellets). The backstops and track are all installed, although they still need to put rubber on the track. This will be fun watching the dramatic transformation over the next month.” As the official page for the project puts it, the finished fields will include “full-size facilities” for soccer, baseball and football.
Another update just in from the city regarding what started as 3 (projected) weeks of federally mandated drain-upgrade work at Southwest Pool and now has turned into 2+ months including repairs for a previously undetected problem – read on:Read More
JUNCTION PLAZA PARK: Within months, groundbreaking is expected for the long-in-the-works construction of this park at 42nd/Alaska. But first – one last public meeting – discuss the current design plan tonight at 6:30, Senior Center of West Seattle (southeast corner of California/Oregon).
VOTER-REGISTRATION DEADLINE: With Election Day four weeks from tomorrow, today’s the deadline to either postmark a by-mail registration form or register online – or to update your information. Here’s a link for form printout and online registration. (If you haven’t been registered in WA before, you can do it in person at the Elections Office up till 10/26.)
From left, that’s High Point Community Center‘s assistant coordinator Rebecca Hall and coordinator Brian Judd, with Superintendent Tim Gallagher at his open house happening right now at HPCC (6920 34th SW; map). It’s a casual drop-in event, so you can go over any time between now and 8 to join the chat (beverages and snacks supplied). Other Parks-affiliated folks we saw there in the early going included Parks Board chair Jackie Ramels (from Alki) and Parks and Green Spaces Levy Oversight Committee member Cindi Barker (from Morgan Junction). Question, concern, idea for a West Seattle park – or someplace you think should be one? These are the folks to see – they’re there till 8. P.S. There’s a Facebook page now for highlights of West Seattle community centers’ activities – “fan” it here (and be sure you’re connected with us on FB too, facebook.com/westseattleblog).
The two meetings mentioned here last week for discussion of upcoming improvements at Delridge Playfield – artificial turf and lighting – have been rescheduled; the first one had been in conflict with the West Seattle Candidates’ Forum, so now you can attend that too. New playfield-meeting dates: October 19 and November 23, both at 7 pm, both at Delridge Community Center. You can find more info on the project – which is funded by the Parks and Green Spaces Levy approved by voters last year – by going here.
PARKS BOSS IN HIGH POINT: It’ll be the 2nd time this week that High Point Community Center has played host to a citywide superintendent: Tuesday night it was Seattle Public Schools‘ Dr. Maria Goodloe-Johnson; tonight, it’s Seattle Parks and Recreation‘s Tim Gallagher. He’s been running the city’s park system for almost two years now – how do you think it’s going? Issues in the parks you’re concerned about (or happy about)? Be at HPCC (map) at 6:30 pm.
FALL FASHION AFFAIR: The Junction is not only a great place to eat/drink — its boutiques have citywide fame. Four of them team up again tonight for the annual Fall Fashion Affair. Go to Carmilia’s, Clementine, Edie’s and Sweetie 7-10 pm – see what’s new and enjoy treats – a punchcard will then entitle you to bubbly @ West 5.
From the Parks and Green Spaces Levy Oversight Committee meeting downtown: The group voted unanimously Tuesday night 
in favor of spending money to finish the historic substation building at Dakota Place Park.
Parks manager Kevin Stoops explained that the department had $1.2 million in “excess interest earnings from Pro Parks” (the previous levy), and after putting $500,000 of that toward Delridge Skatepark, that left $720,000 – which his team proposed using for two Pro Parks projects that hadn’t been done yet – one of which is the Dakota Place Park building, which still needs a lot of interior work before it can be used as intended, as a “satellite facility” for Hiawatha Community Center programs. The committee unanimously approved Stoops’ recommendation to spend $400,000 from the “excess interest earnings,” which will be added to $120,000 from the Hiawatha Advisory Council to finish the work, including, he said, seismic improvements, flooring, wall work, paint, cabinetry, and more. “Until we can make that happen, the building is just a sculptural element,” Stoops said. As he recounted for the committee, the park adjacent to the building was recently completed, and some exterior work was done on the historic building – a city landmark because of its past as a City Light substation – but money wasn’t available to finish its interior. “This project was underfunded from the get-go,” another department manager, Michael Shiosaki, told the committee. Now, pending the next layers of final city approvals, that will be remedied; we’ll be checking on timetables for work to start.
Also at the Parks Levy Oversight Committee:
*Junction Plaza Park was discussed briefly, at the request of a committee member; Stoops said its funding is now “enough to make that project work” and also noted the SDOT plan to fix the nearby sidewalks and curb ramps. The “revised schematic design” will be shown at the final public meeting next week (6:30 pm Monday at the Senior Center) but the highlights Stoops listed included a “small stage area, at grade,” an ‘arc of plantings” at the rear of the site, and one or two light fixtures.
*Fairmount Playground upgrade: Stoops says the plans are 99 percent complete and they’ll be advertising for bids within two weeks.
*Opportunity Fund: Draft criteria for figuring out which projects will share this $15 million fund created by the levy were presented to the committee members at the meeting; questions and concerns were raised about some of the wording, so it will be brought back to them at October – with a public hearing to follow in early November. Initial applications will be due in February, so committee members are anxious to make sure that community groups and others are working now to be ready to apply for a share of the money, and asked that Parks staff post the application timeline on the Opportunity Fund webpage as soon as possible.
12:42 PM UPDATE: Pete Spalding sends word that the date/time/location has been set for the aforementioned public hearing on Opportunity Fund criteria:
At last night’s meeting we discussed the need to schedule a public hearing on the Opportunity Fund criteria. The hearing will provide a chance for the community to speak to the Committee on the proposed criteria before they are formally approved. The public hearing will be Monday, November 9, at 7:00 pm in the Park Board Room.
That’s at Parks HQ downtown (in Denny Park).
FAUNTLEROY/CALIFORNIA SIGNAL: You may recall our story from last week, in which the city’s project manager for the now-virtually-complete Fauntleroy Way road rebuild/repave/rechannelization, Jessica Murphy, said crews would be out this week to fix the Fauntleroy/California signal timing. According to longtime WSBer and nearby resident Mike, looks like they have been (we’re checking to see if SDOT will confirm 12:26 pm – just got confirmation from Murphy, “Fauntleroy and California has been restored to normal operation”).
SOUTHWEST POOL: Last week, the city Parks Department warned that a problem detected during federally mandated drain-upgrade work could further delay the reopening of West Seattle’s only city-run year-round pool. According to a note on the Southwest Pool home page, that seems to be the case – reopening is now tentatively scheduled for October 19; by then, the shutdown will have lasted almost two months.
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