West Seattle, Washington
02 Wednesday
SENATOR HERE THIS MORNING: U.S. Senator Patty Murray and a long list of business and education leaders will be in West Seattle this morning, in Olympic Hall at South Seattle Community College, for a field hearing of Murray’s Senate Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety.
FIRST STOP IN THE CITY PARKS HEARING TOUR TONIGHT: As we reported earlier this month, the city Parks Department is touring the city in a series of 30-plus public hearings on what should be in its forthcoming Strategic Business Plan. Tonight is the first of five hearings in West Seattle (7-9 pm, Southwest Community Center). Lots more info here; the full list of meetings is here; if you are absolutely certain you cannot make it to any of those meetings, the Parks Department has a “short online survey” you can take here. With so much parkland here on our beautiful peninsula — and remember, we’re the biggest neighborhood in the city! — it’s vital to have West Seattle opinions, hopes, and dreams represented in the forthcoming Parks plan.
Police are looking for a man who jumped a jogger late yesterday: reports here and here. She got away OK; he unfortunately got away too and was described in the tv report as “25 to 35, about 5-7, light brown hair, possibly balding … wearing a white, oversized sweatshirt with a pattern on it, and gray sweatpants.” The attack location is described only as “a trail in the south end.”
-As of this writing, the West Seattle Bridge ramp to northbound I-5 is STILL closed because of the situation which, piecing together various accounts (see comments on post below), appears to involve public-safety/emergency workers trying to talk someone off their perch on that ramp. This has been ongoing for almost 11 hours, according to the city 911 log, which shows the incident open since units were first sent to a “rope rescue” at Columbian/12th at 10:27 this morning.
-WSB reader Venkat found an advance link to an article in this Sunday’s New York Times about “what you get for $900,000” in several real-estate markets. One is right here in “West Seattle, Washington,” where the article features an Alki condo.
-We mentioned last week that the city Parks Department is holding meetings all around the city in the next few weeks to gather thoughts about what should be in its forthcoming Strategic Business Plan. We also promised to let you know when a link was up for an online survey to be offered to people who couldn’t attend those meetings. Now it’s up — go to this page and follow the “short online survey” link.
Townhouses and mixed-use megaprojects aren’t the only construction projects under way in West Seattle right now, and here’s the proof. This photo is just in, showing work now under way at the Ercolini Park site on Alaska west of The Junction, courtesy of Friends of Ercolini Park volunteer (and WSB sponsor) Bill Barna:
The city Parks Department is out with its full list of upcoming public meetings as part of the department’s creation of a Strategic Business Plan — and no fewer than half a dozen of those meetings will happen here in West Seattle, over the course of eight days starting November 28th. According to the Parks Department webpage about the plan and the meetings, they want to hear your answers to these questionst:
-In what areas does Parks and Recreation do well?
-In what areas does Parks need to improve?
-What are the key policy issues Parks will face in the next five years?
-What are the emerging trends that will drive how Parks does business over the next five years?
That same page has times and locations for all meetings citywide, including the ones in West Seattle: Southwest Community Center on 11/28, High Point Community Center on 11/29, Delridge Community Center on 12/1 (the only weekend meeting in WS), Hiawatha Community Center on 12/4, Camp Long and Alki Community Center on 12/5. (We’ve added them all to the WSB Events page, for handy later reference.) For those who can’t make it to any of those meetings, the Parks Department is promising an online survey will be available soon (doesn’t appear to be up yet but we’ll let you know when it is). After these meetings, the Parks Department will come up with a draft plan, take it around to another series of meetings, and finally submit the end result to the City Council in mid-March.
Just out of the WSB inbox, Betsy writes:
Someone sprayed graffiti on the end of the guard rail on the beach side of the road at the corner of Alki Ave. and Beach Drive recently, and today I discovered that they’d also tagged the slope of the retaining wall on the beach just down the sidewalk of the boat landing area. I really hate this stuff. It’s Seattle Parks property, but if I call them will they just come out with some gray paint and cover it? That’s just as ugly and attracts new taggers just as the original graffiti does. Do any of your readers know if paint remover will work on metal and concrete?
2 things noted on a pass through Jefferson Square‘s northwest corners: first, West Seattle’s sixth not-in-a-grocery-store Starbucks (first mentioned here in August) is progressing rapidly in the ex-Infinity Espresso spot:
Second, looks like some progress on the Junction Plaza Park site, with the green-gray of spray-on grass, just in time for the holidays:
Just two days ago, we told you about the fundraising deadline today for matching funds to make Ercolini Park (48th/Alaska; photo above from last summer) a true park when construction work begins shortly — and we have word from Bill Barna that, thanks to one last big donation — $2,800 from Wanda Pommer — they made it! Bill and everyone at Friends of Ercolini Park send out a huge thanks to everyone who helped them reach the goal and says the big thing now is to make good on commitments of volunteer time (also vital in the “matching funds” process); as Bill explains, “It is also important to remember that all the volunteer hours that were pledged have actually been assigned a dollar value. If the volunteers don’t make good on their contributions some of the park features may suffer. So, PLEASE, everyone who committed time … make good on your pledge.”
… it’s also the fundraising deadline for Friends of Ercolini Park, to help them qualify for city matching funds in their work to create a park for the growing residential neighborhoods west of The Junction. (The land has been set aside — but now it’s time to start putting in the features that will transform it into a park.) The group says work should be starting within a few weeks, and they expect to have “a park to play in by spring!” Read more about the project on the city’s page about it, and to help Friends of Ercolini Park get across the $ finish line, use the “donate” link on the group’s website. (Also coming up, this blog post from an Ercolini relative reminds us, is the deadline for the city to accept name suggestions, though as that writer notes, it’s hard to imagine it could end up being named anything else.)
Westcrest Park, home to West Seattle’s only off-leash area, got a microburst of attention recently after a tv report about public sex in the park. However, frequent visitors are focusing right now on a different concern — theft. A member of the Westcrest Off-Leash Area Yahoo! group asked us to get the word out about two thefts this week alone. The victim of the first one reported that a man stole her purse out of her car while she was just feet away unloading dogs. The purse contained her cell phone; here’s what she tried a while later:
“I also called my cell phone and the guy answered it. I told him I would be filing a police report with a description of him and his car and the theft and he told me to F off.”
The other theft happened today, according to a note posted by park steward Steve:
“We got hit again this morning, Wednesday, about 10 am. This is getting really ridiculous. I’ve been to the south precinct on Delridge to ask if they could patrol the lot once in a while, but no one was even there. Perhaps others could stop by there to ask as well ..squeaky wheel theory. Once again, I don’t think anyone is looking out for us except for us.”
As mentioned in our previous post about the pre-unveiling vandalism of the sign’s cover (which has since been cleaned up, according to an update from Herongrrrl on the previous post) – there was a lot more to this morning’s event, which featured participants including West Seattle history expert Judy Bentley from the Southwest Seattle Historical Society and Alan Schmitz (from the family that has given so much parkland to West Seattle). Rhonda’s got a couple of nice pix up at Beach Drive Blog; here’s 4 clips. First one, the actual unveiling:
Alan Schmitz talked about growing up in the area we all know now as parkland (the current Me-Kwa-Mooks site was once a Schmitz family homestead):
Judy Bentley explained the five layers of site history that are detailed in the new sign:
Longtime Alki-area activist Alexandra Pye also had something to say at the event, praising the many individuals and organizations who helped it happen:
Many fine things to do in West Seattle today, and the WS Weekend Lineup lists a ton of them. But as the day begins, we want to single out a few:
ONE RACE/ONE VILLAGE: First-ever 5K run for the Agathos Foundation. Registration starts at 8 am at the Bathhouse (we believe the website means “Alki Ave” where it says “Beach Drive”).
KITTEN ADOPT-A-THON: Just found out about this last night, walking past All the Best Pet Care on Alki and spotting flyers on the windows. 11 am-3 pm, at the store (next to Cactus).
ME-KWA-MOOKS SIGN CELEBRATION: 10:30 this morning at the park that’s a lot bigger than it looks from Beach Drive. A volunteer organizer says the event is “to celebrate the installation of an interpretive sign that will tell you where a mansion once stood, what the park’s name really means, and why the trail through the woods gets better every year. Coffee, pastries, and unforgettable historical insight are all on the house!”
And if you have to leave West Seattle this morning, remember The Viaduct is closed 7 am-11 am for the Heart Walk.
The park-in-progress west of The Junction is already known, albeit unofficially, as Ercolini Park, so you might wonder if you read the second item here today (or saw the original city press release), what’s up with the “name search”? The neighbors whose time, toil, and $ have gone toward making the park a reality, Friends of Ercolini Park, plan to submit their own proposal before the November 1st deadline and are hopeful the final official result will honor the land’s previous owner, as does the park’s current unofficial name.
Wildlife danger isn’t the only reason not to let your dog run loose on local beaches. Potential penalties are another good one. And the best news is, you do have somewhere to take your dog and let it run free: Westcrest Park. The park steward for the off-leash area, Steve McElhenney, e-mailed us this weekend (with photos taken during sunnier times) and wanted us to get the word out. Steve says, “Off-leash area are created in conjunction with Seattle Parks & Rec and COLA, Citizens for Off-Leash Areas, to offer locations for dogs to run and play off leash … It’s a great little community we have, a great place for the dogs, and a way to meet new people and make new friends.” As with the gathering in the photo below:
There’s even a Yahoo! list for Westcrest users to share dog photos and updates on park events, such as a work party that Steve says is coming up October 18th from 6-8 pm (much like the one in the second photo he shared):
Steve also says Westcrest has a separate “small/shy dog area,” and 98 total acres of trails. Ready to check it out? Here’s the city link again; the parking lot is at 5th and Cloverdale.
The West Seattle Little League renovation project at Alki Point’s Bar-S Playfield just got a big boost — a $100,000 Boeing/Mariners Care Athletic Field Grant. The official press release says an official presentation is planned at Safeco Field this Friday night during a ceremony before the Mariners-Rangers’ game.
The WSB photo/video crew is just back from the tree planting at Pelly Place held today in connection with Earth Summit II at Chief Sealth HS. First photo shows Nobel Peace Prize recipient Wangari Maathai assisting students with the tree planting:
The photo below shows Gatewood Elementary students who read a poem at the event. Others in attendance included King County Councilmember Dow Constantine; no mayor sightings — he is in Eastern Washington today. We will post video from the Pelly Place event later.
Any time now, that bright blue cover comes off for the final weekend of the 2007 season at West Seattle’s only public outdoor pool, Colman Pool on the shore at Lincoln Park. (Our favorite way to get there is to park near Lowman Beach and walk the south stretch of Beach Drive, plus the unpaved section of Lincoln Park shore trail.) Both days this weekend, Colman Pool is open for lap swim noon-1:30 pm and 5-7 pm, public swim 1:45-4:45 pm. After Sunday, unless you belong to one of the private organizations with pools (Allstar, YMCA), your swimming option will be Southwest Pool (on Thistle next to the SW Community Center, a few blocks east of 35th).
Warning for Fairmount Playfield users: The city plans to use herbicide there next week to stamp out an infestation of Japanese knotweed. This is somewhat noteworthy because it’s a pesticide-free park; the city says there’s no way around having to poison the knotweed. Having seen the city’s photo (right), we believe these are the plants we only half-jokingly refer to each summer, upon sight of them in public places, as “the triffids.”
Tomorrow, you get two “last chances”: First, last chance to ride the Elliott Bay Water Taxi‘s special early run, 6:10 am. As you may recall, this extra run was added for Freeway Fright ’07; the road work ended early, but Metro stretched the bonus WT run one full week to gather data. The Water Taxi’s regular season, by the way, has another month to go — it continues through September 30th.
Second, it’s the last non-holiday weekday of the year at Colman Pool. The beautiful beachfront pool at Lincoln Park will be open daily through Labor Day, then closed till one final “post-season weekend” Saturday-Sunday, September 8th-9th. For us, it’s just not summer unless we swim there at least once.
Despite three crosswalks with pedestrian-activated lights, crossing Fauntleroy Way SW along the length of Lincoln Park remains hit-and-miss, at best. Sometimes literally. And right across from LP’s biggest parking lot, the city plans to take away a remaining non-signalized crosswalk, this one at Fauntleroy/Rose, while another problem percolates …
What makes this stretch of road more problematic than others, besides the presence of a big busy park on one side, is the traffic bound for the Fauntleroy ferry dock. Gary Dawson of the Fauntleroy Community Association says the crosswalks and ferry traffic aren’t mixing well, to say the least:
If you use any one of (the Lincoln Park crosswalks) during the afternoon commute period you put your life at great risk, stop lights or not. The reason is, the line to the ferry dock going southbound moves when queued, whether there are pedestrians in the crosswalks or not. Another near-miss (yesterday) afternoon. A neighbor going southbound stopped so a young boy could cross over to the park. The ferry queue did not. The lad had to run for his life. This, sadly, is more typical than not.
This time the Fauntleroy Community Association is contacting the Mayor’s office (the neighbor already has) to find out how serious he is with his pedestrian safety program.
We’ll stay in touch to find out what FCA hears back.
Catching up from the weekend, we have another work-party report from one of West Seattle’s treasured greenspaces: Lina Rose from EarthCorps says 10 volunteers joined her and forest steward Kirsten Rohrbach to clear almost 1000 square feet of invasive weeds from the Thistle Street Greenspace along Longfellow Creek, including clearing space around young cedar trees planted along the creek trail. Lina sent photos; first one shows what it looked like before they dug in:
Next, volunteers in the middle of their work:
No “after” photo – you’ll just have to go see for yourself (Thistle Street Greenspace is one of those places we’ll admit is on our “haven’t been there but must go soon” list; it’s easy to find, just off Thistle east of Chief Sealth HS). Next work party there is September 22nd; other Longfellow Creek sites have monthly work parties, listed here (and also always included in our weekly West Seattle Weekend Lineup posted every Friday morning).
Tonight, the Highland Park Action Committee invites you to a brainstorming session about improvements at Westcrest Park as the city gets ready to put a lid on its reservoir. (If you’re scratching your head wondering where Westcrest is — it’s in southeast WS — and it’s got the only official off-leash area in WS, among other things.)
Just one week till construction starts “in earnest” on Ercolini Park west of The Junction, according to Bill Barna, one of the neighbors who’ve been leading the drive to make it reality. He sent us a photo (below) showing the park site tarped over after city crews busted sod to clear the lot in preparation. Just one little thing preventing everything from being perfect … the last leg of their fundraising effort is a few thousand $ short, which could affect how EP ultimately looks and functions. If you can help, they’re taking donations quick ‘n’ easy online.
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