West Seattle, Washington
14 Sunday
2:25 PM: Retiring last year as PE teacher at Pathfinder K-8 didn’t keep Lou Cutler from coming back for his traditional birthday-month run to raise money for Make-A-Wish. One lap for every year, which meant 65 today – and this time, battling asthma, he walked more than he ran, but nonetheless made it through every one of those laps over the span of five hours, from just after 9 am to just after 2 pm. Above is our iPhone video as his final lap wrapped up, in the company of Pathfinder students who streamed out of the building to finish it with him, chanting “Go, Lou! Go, Lou!” Many were with him at the start:
We’ll be adding photos a bit later. You can still donate to Make-A-Wish, for whom Lou’s been a wish-granting volunteer for more than 20 years – just go here.
ADDED 9:53 PM: Two photos that, like our video above, bookend this year’s inspiring-as-ever event. First, from the morning:
And then, right after that 65th lap, the group photo:
Today was the 17th time Lou’s done this, by the way.
Three West Seattle restaurant notes:
IRASHAI NOW OPEN: While covering the “Group Hug for The Admiral” this morning, we noticed the banner across the street at Irashai, the Japanese restaurant that took over the former Mawadda Café space. When it opened at 11 am, we ducked in to ask a few questions. This is the second day of the restaurant’s “soft open,” we learned; its operators have another restaurant by the same name in Alaska. The hours might change depending on how things are going, but for now they are posted as 11 am-9 pm Mondays-Thursdays, 11 am-10 pm Fridays and Saturdays, noon-9 pm Sundays.
PECOS PIT OPENING DATE: Pecos Pit BBQ at 35th and Fauntleroy has announced it will open on June 21st. It’s totally remodeled and expanded the former Beni Hoshi/Yasuko’s Teriyaki space. According to an announcement sent to the Junction Neighborhood Organization, a ribboncutting is planned at 3 pm on June 21st, and the restaurant will welcome its first customers at 4 pm.
SHELBY’S OPENING DATE: It’s been two months since we reported on Shelby’s Bistro and Ice Creamery, taking over the former Westside Public House space on the northeast corner of California and Edmunds in The Junction. This establishment has also announced an opening date: July 19th.
(Photo by Jean Sherrard, courtesy Southwest Seattle Historical Society; click here to see full-size version on SWSHS website)
10:58 AM: After a burst of excitement this morning, with a crowd including about 800 elementary-school students and former mayors Greg Nickels and Norm Rice, The Admiral District is getting back to the usual dull roar. The “Group Hug for The Admiral” photo event, organized by the Southwest Seattle Historical Society, went off flawlessly, with photographers Jean Sherrard and Brad Chrisman atop a lift truck across the street from the historic theater, hailed as a classic “neighborhood moviehouse.” (Updated) Here’s what the crowd looked like on the ground:
(WSB photos/video from here down)
The speakers included theater operator Far Away Entertainment, Sol Baron told WSB that the renovations to convert it into a fourplex – the reason to capture this moment in time – are expected to start by mid-August, provided the final permits come through. (added) You’ll hear him in this clip, introduced by Southwest Seattle Historical Society executive director Clay Eals, who emceed and organized the event:
12:37 PM: More of how it unfolded: Plenty of orange-vested adults (the vests were loaned by Highland Park Elementary) were there to help ensure the safety of the students, who walked from each participating school – we rolled a bit of video as each arrived:
First, the most distant school, Schmitz Park:
The @schmitzpark 3rd graders arrive for @HistoricAdmiral 'Group Hug' – Alki, Lafayette students on the way pic.twitter.com/GWqDiCNwh5
— West Seattle Blog (@westseattleblog) June 3, 2016
Then, Alki:
And here come the Alki Elementary students. Former mayors Rice and Nickels are here to greet them. pic.twitter.com/xE7aq7f0m1
— West Seattle Blog (@westseattleblog) June 3, 2016
Finally, the nearest school – about half a block south – Lafayette:
Third and final school to arrive, nearby Lafayette Elementary, crossing at California/Admiral pic.twitter.com/K4XOTJD31w
— West Seattle Blog (@westseattleblog) June 3, 2016
Along with those we’ve mentioned earlier, speakers also included the principals of all three participating schools – Shannon Hobbs-Beckley from Alki, Gerrit Kischner from Schmitz Park, and Robert Gallagher from Lafayette – as well as Jim Kelly from 4Culture (which donated $95,000 to the Admiral renovation project) and Shannon Braddock from County Councilmember Joe McDermott‘s office:
The principals voiced appreciation for their students’ chance to be part of a moment in local history:
The theater, its operators stressed, will remain open throughout the renovation work later this year. We’ll find out more about the specifics as the plan goes to the city Landmark Preservation Board – whose approval is required because of the theater’s landmark status – later this month.
Mayor Nickels, as introduced by Eals, represented this area on the King County Council when The Admiral closed – in danger of never reopening – in 1989. The Admiral enhances our area’s “sense of community,” he pointed out, also lauding Eals for organizing the campaign to save the theater, which reopened in 1992. Mayor Rice was in office at the time of the reopening and said The Admiral continues to “symbolize West Seattle … and the people who care so much about it.”
P.S. From-above SWSHS photo added 10:30 am Saturday!
Family and friends will gather next Monday to remember John W. Sisson. Here’s the notice they’re sharing with the community:
John W. Sisson, beloved husband and father, passed away at home in his sleep May 25th.
He was born in Minnesota in 1932. He was the son of Frank and Ruth Sisson. He spent a 35-year career in public service as an auditor for the General Accounting Office. He loved horses, boats, camping, reading, dogs, sports cars, WWII aircraft, and especially his family. He would always make time for his family.
His funeral Mass will be celebrated at 11 am on Monday, June 6th, at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, 7000 35th Avenue SW in West Seattle.
In lieu of flowers please consider a gift to either the Union Gospel Mission or the Seattle Humane Society.
Please visit his memorial web page here.
(WSB publishes West Seattle obituaries by request, free of charge. Please e-mail the text, and a photo if available, to editor@westseattleblog.com)
(View from Alki this morning, photographed by David Hutchinson)
Today’s themes – schools and history. Here are the highlights from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
LAPS WITH LOU: As previewed here last week, retired Pathfinder K-8 PE teacher Lou Cutler is returning to the school on Pigeon Point for his annual Make-A-Wish-benefiting run/walk around the field, a birthday celebration with one lap for every year – 65 this time! 8:45 am was the scheduled start time, so he should be on the field now – as we publish this, we’re headed for the school to check in. All welcome to come share a lap or two or more, and/or to donate here. (1901 SW Genesee)
GROUP HUG FOR THE ADMIRAL: The Southwest Seattle Historical Society is gathering students from three local elementaries, plus two former mayors, for a “group hug” photo op to celebrate its soon-to-start renovation, almost a quarter-century after local residents rallied to save the landmark movie theater. It’ll be unfolding between 9:30 and 10:30 am. (2343 California SW)
WSHS CLASS OF ’56: 60th reunion today, 11 am, Salty’s on Alki (WSB sponsor)! (1936 Harbor SW)
WORDS, WRITERS, WEST SEATTLE: 5-7 pm at Barnes & Noble/Westwood Village, Lisa Richesson talks about her book, “White Lady, Black Sons.” Here’s her video invitation:
This ongoing series is presented by the SW Seattle Historical Society. (2800 SW Barton)
CORNER BAR: Tonight’s the monthly pop-up bar, with tunes, at Highland Park Improvement Club, starting at 6 pm – full details here. (12th/Holden)
SCHMITZ PARK ELEMENTARY CELEBRATION: Before the school community at Schmitz Park Elementary concludes its final year before moving to the new Genesee Hill Elementary in the fall, its history and legacy will be celebrated tonight, 6:30 pm – details in our calendar listing. (5000 SW Spokane)
WSMA AT C & P: Performers/composers from West Side Music Academy perform tonight at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor), 7 pm. (5612 California SW)
THE SKYLARK TURNS TEN: 9 pm anniversary show – details in our listing. (3803 Delridge Way SW)
MORE … on our complete calendar!
(SDOT MAP with travel times/video links; is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE)
(Click any view for a close-up; more cameras on the WSB Traffic page)
7 AM: After many uneventful mornings, this one is getting busy. There’s a crash on northbound 99 at Lander, blocking the left lane.
Also, Metro has just sent word that two trips are canceled this morning – Route 57 leaving The Junction at 7:06 am, and Route 56 leaving Alki at 7:23 am.
7:13 AM: Just for the record, Matt points out that Metro also tweeted the 6:40 am Route 116 run was canceled too. And we have other reminders:
*No bridge closure tonight – the Fauntleroy Expressway work was on its regular Sunday-Thursday night schedule this week, so the next one is Sunday night (9 pm-5 am)
*Reminder that the “Group Hug for The Admiral Theater” will bring about 800 students to The Admiral District later this morning for a photo outside the soon-to-be-renovated landmark – here’s our preview from last night. No road closures but they’re walking, so be ready for some big pedestrian groups.
7:25 AM: SDOT says the vehicles involved in the NB 99 crash have moved to the shoulder, so “all lanes are clear.”
7:37 AM: Back to previews – here’s the SDOT lookahead for this weekend, including a big soccer game at CLink on Saturday night, and Race for the Cure through part of downtown on Sunday.
Story, video, and photos by Tracy Record and Patrick Sand
West Seattle Blog co-publishers
“Y-tastic!”
The last speaker at Thursday’s West Seattle YMCA expansion groundbreaking celebration, member Michelle Silver, used that term for her enthusiastic view of the Y, whose director Josh Sutton picked it up and ran with it.
It was perfect for the energy and enthusiasm that marked the event outside the Triangle headquarters of the Y (a longtime WSB sponsor).
Though members of the Y board posed for the top photo, this wasn’t really a groundbreaking about, well, breaking ground – the shovels were mostly for fun:
Major work on the Y’s long-in-the-works expansion had started last week with demolition of the old Youth Programs building. The event was more a chance to honor those who made the project possible, and to celebrate a side benefit, the new “festival street” designation for SW Snoqualmie in front of the Y, recently finalized and used for the first time for this party, which included a bouncy house, free barbecue, and even the West Seattle High School Band:
And it was a chance to recap what the expansion will bring – Sutton hit the highlights: “When this project is done, we’ll have a whole new Y from the outside and new tools to help the community.” They include a meeting room, kitchen, expanded fitness space, new family room with “active play for all ages,” a new cycling room. (More details here.)
With its perch in the West Seattle Triangle, part of the “urban village” at the heart of the peninsula, and within walking distance of thousands of new apartments, the Y also has to have its eye on the future. That was noted by Mark Tabbutt, who spoke after Sutton’s introduction, a West Seattleite representing the Greater Seattle Y’s board.
“There’s a ton of new people coming in – this organization, this Y, is going to be a big part of drawing those people in.”
Without money to pay for the expansion, it wouldn’t be happening, and about $800,000 came from the state, so the program included an area legislator, 34th District State Senator Sharon Nelson.
“Why should the state support this?” she asked rhetorically. “Because it’s about youth and families.”
From the WS Y board, Scott Hitchcock hailed the “hard work” by so many, over the decade it took for this to become reality:
Those gathered in the new “festival street” also heard from Dino Vasquez and Steve Sundquist, co-chairs of the capital campaign. Sundquist, a former Seattle School Board member, voiced appreciation for the Y’s work at local schools.
A donor whose family made the first gift to the campaign, Sue Chamberlain, recalled her membership dating back 30 years, when she said she walked into the Y with her then-1-year-old son. The Y goes back almost a century here, she said, so those enabling its expansion are “continuing a great legacy.”
Gratitude was threaded through all the speeches, not just for those who gave money, but for those who gave time.
But the show was stolen by final speaker Michelle Silver, from the moment Sutton introduced her while making note that Silver was wearing a Cleveland Cavaliers T-shirt and obviously had to get home in time for the game. First, here’s some of what she described, memorably, as Y-Tastic:
The speeches wrapped up, and the party continued for guests of all ages.
Here’s what happens next, according to a timeline Sutton shared: The main building stays open throughout the project, Later this month, the entrance will move to the festival-street side. More changes will be ahead in August, when the first Y-hosted West Seattle Outdoor Movies screening will happen (last one of this year’s season, before the entire series moves next year). Then a new entrance is expected in October, and more of the new building will be open around Thanksgiving, with the project largely wrapped up by year’s end, meaning that 2017, in Sutton’s words, will bring a “new Y for a new year.”
In the chapel at Providence Mount St. Vincent tonight, worldwide celebrities drew a crowd. They are the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura, best known for a documentary titled “Landfill Harmonic.” As the website about the documentary explains, they are a “Paraguayan musical group of kids that live next to one of South America’s largest landfills. This unlikely orchestra plays music from instruments made entirely out of garbage.” Like this violin, made from paint cans, kitchen baking pans, wood from pallets, and a fork:
And this cello, also made from pallet wood and an old oil can:
Here’s video with an introduction, translated, from their leader, followed by tango music starting at about 2:45 in:
If you missed the Recycled Orchestra in West Seattle tonight, they have two Seattle performances tomorrow – 3 pm at the Royal Room in Columbia City, and 7 pm at Hearthstone in Green Lake.
Two ways to do a good deed this weekend and leave your community a little cleaner – both happening this Saturday morning (June 4th):
SEAL SITTERS ‘SENTINELS OF THE SOUND’ CLEANUP AT ALKI: As first mentioned here almost two weeks ago, a very-low tide will enable Seal Sitters Marine Mammal Stranding Network and friends to get out on Alki Beach for a 10 am-noon cleanup. Everybody’s welcome – find out more on the Seal Sitters website, and RSVP if you can, though Seal Sitters stress that you also are welcome to just show up.
ADMIRAL NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION ADOPT-A-STREET: Meet at 9 am at Metropolitan Market (WSB sponsor) in Admiral to be part of this quarterly cleanup. Incentive: Treats beforehand, sack lunch afterward – just spend a few hours helping clean up your community. The Admiral Neighborhood Association also invites you to its upcoming monthly meeting, says president Larry Wymer – Tuesday, June 14th, at 7 pm at The Sanctuary at Admiral (42nd SW/SW Lander), with the agenda featuring HALA (Housing Affordability and Livability).
In case you missed our original mention and are going to be in The Admiral District at midmorning tomorrow (Friday), a reminder that almost a thousand students will be there too, for the “Group Hug for The Admiral” event. As reported here last week, it’s a big photo op to commemorate the soon-to-start major renovations at the historic Admiral Theater, organized by the Southwest Seattle Historical Society, which did the same thing for the Alki Homestead/Fir Lodge on the first Friday of June last year. SWSHS executive director Clay Eals says neighbors in the area all have received a notice; students will start arriving, on foot, around 9:30 am, from Alki, Lafayette, and Schmitz Park Elementary Schools. The ceremony/photo is set for 10 am; former mayors Norm Rice and Greg Nickels (an Admiral-area resident) are scheduled to speak to them briefly. No streets will be closed but a few parking spaces in front of the theater will be off-limits for the duration of the event.
(Click for full-size PDF version)
That map shows confirmed shots-fired incidents around the city so far this year. We obtained it from Mayor Ed Murray‘s office in connection with this afternoon’s announcement that the city is again seeking “acoustic gunshot detection.” This comes four years after his predecessor announced a plan to budget for a gunfire-detection system – a plan that never came to fruition. Back then, part of West Seattle was suggested as ripe for such a system; today’s announcement focused more on other areas of the city including South Park – you can see the map above includes clusters there and in North Delridge.
The mayor was joined by Police Chief Kathleen O’Toole in making the announcement on Gun Violence Awareness Day. The announcement also says he will “work with the Seattle City Council to require that all surplus firearms from the Seattle Police Department are only sold to other law enforcement agencies.”
Regarding the potential detection technology, the announcement says:
Gunshot locators actively listen for gunshots and detect the exact location where guns are fired. Unlike reports from nearby residents who may be uncertain, these systems’ advanced technology reliably report when and where the shots were fired. A video camera attached to the system is activated to capture the incident. Law enforcement authorities are notified immediately and a police officer can be dispatched to the vicinity without delay. …
… Community feedback will be critical to designing the system, deciding where it is deployed, and defining how it functions. Working with the community, the City will to use its race and social justice toolkit during the assessment of the pilot program. The City will engage with civil liberties advocates and ensure that it complies with the City’s existing privacy policy.
A federal grant would pay for a pilot system, says the announcement, which you can read in its entirety here. It also says that while the number of confirmed shots-fired incidents to date this year is smaller than last year – 144 this year, 154 a year earlier – they’re deadlier, with five shooting deaths this year, two last year.
The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has issued a Request for Proposals to gather interest from potential contractors who could construct the system. The city says the system would be paid for with a federal grant.
(WSB photo)
Thanks to the texter who tipped us about police with “armored vehicles” in the 8800 block of 14th SW. We got there just as they were wrapping up; turned out to be Bellevue Police again, saying they could only tell us they were “serving a warrant.” You might recall our report about BPD at another Highland Park location (9400 block of 9th SW) back in April; two days later, they announced that was linked to an “ID theft ring.” We just talked to BPD’s PIO and he said he does NOT believe this investigation is related to that one, but he can’t comment further than to say it was a “search warrant … safely completed” by Bellevue SWAT officers and “investigators.”
Five development/construction updates:
COMMENT TIME FOR 3856 21ST SW: Another West Seattle project going through “streamlined design review” has just opened for comment. According to the notice in today’s city Land Use Information Bulletin, you can comment through June 15th on a three-story, 2-unit townhouse building proposed for 3856 21st SW on Pigeon Point. The notice explains how to comment.
COMMENT TIME FOR 4505 23RD SW: This is another three-story, 2-unit townhouse building. This one, however, is not going through design review; it’s being built behind 4506 Delridge Way SW, where the existing structure will NOT be torn down, the city website says, but it’s open for comments on potential environmental effects, as the notice explains.
FORMAL APPLICATION FOR 5908 FAUNTLEROY WAY SW: We first reported last September that a six-townhouse “rowhouse” building is planned for this once-commercial site northeast of Morgan Junction:
The formal application has just been filed, so watch for an official notice soon.
BLOCKS AWAY, AT 6311 FAUNTLEROY WAY SW: Another “rowhouse” project, four units this time, is in the early stages for this site that currently holds a 72-year-old single-family house (but is zoned Lowrise 1).
4505 42ND SW UPDATE: NLB, who sent the original tip yesterday about site-clearing work for this Junction project, tweeted this video of the house coming down this morning:
@westseattleblog pic.twitter.com/bdZ19KkpEe
— NLB (@g7on) June 2, 2016
As noted again in our update last night, this is a mixed-use project with residential units, commercial space, and lodging.
You’ve probably already heard it’s going to be very warm this weekend – but you should also know that the National Weather Service says it could get very *hot*. It’s issued a “special weather statement” warning that the hottest temperatures of the year are possible this weekend, maybe into the mid-90s.
The end of the school year is in sight, and that means Explorer West Middle School (WSB sponsor) eighth-graders are looking ahead to their new beginnings as high-school students next year. On Wednesday, they presented their “Change the World” projects, an annual assignment by teacher Tim Owens. We stopped by and recorded one team talking about their project, advocating for healthy, sustainable, affordable food for people experiencing poverty. In the photo above are Zach Carver, June Oto, Ainsley Yukawa, and Bijan Zavareei, who is speaking in our clip below:
Owens says the students have been working on their projects for five months. Their presentations were made over the course of about an hour and a half. Read more about this year’s projects here.
P.S. Explorer West is celebrating its 20th anniversary with an alumni reunion tomorrow (Friday, June 3rd), 4-7 pm, starting at the campus, 10015 28th SW, with appetizers and faculty visits; at 5:30 pm the reunion moves to nearby Roxbury Lanes for bowling, hosted by EWMS.
(Anna’s Hummingbird, photographed by Trileigh Tucker)
What’s happening today/tonight, from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar and inbox:
SOUND TRANSIT 3: The Sound Transit board follows up last week’s announcement of revisions to its light-rail-expansion plan (including moving up West Seattle light rail to 2030) with a special meeting this morning, under way now until noon at the ST board room downtown. Here’s the agenda. You can watch live here. (401 S. Jackson)
PRESCHOOL STORY TIME: 10:30 am-11 am at Southwest Library, for ages 3-5. (35th SW/SW Henderson)
DELRIDGE GROCERY FARMSTAND: Starting today and every Thursday all summer long, 4-7 pm, the Delridge Grocery Farmstand is back at the Delridge P-Patch with fresh produce for sale. (Delridge Way and Puget Boulevard)
WEST SEATTLE YMCA EXPANSION GROUNDBREAKING: 4:30-6 pm, you are invited to the West Seattle YMCA (WSB sponsor) for a groundbreaking celebration as its expansion revs up. Bounce house, face-painting, games, photo booth, more, free for all! Brief program at 5 pm. (4515 36th SW)
SPIRITS FOR SPORTS: Join the West Seattle Booster Club in raising money at tonight’s “pub stroll” fundraiser, 6-9 pm in The Junction, various locations – details here.
LANDFILL HARMONIC ORCHESTRA: Free concert at 7 pm at Providence Mount St. Vincent. The Landfill Harmonic Orchestra from Paraguay includes musicians who live next to a giant landfill; their instruments “are made entirely out of garbage.” (4831 35th SW)
NORTH HIGHLINE UNINCORPORATED AREA COUNCIL: Live/work in White Center, Top Hat, Boulevard Park, or somewhere else in unincorporated North Highline? 7 pm at the NH Fire Station, your community council meets tonight. The agenda is previewed on our partner site White Center Now. (1243 SW 112th)
(SDOT MAP with travel times/video links; is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE)
(Click any view for a close-up; more cameras on the WSB Traffic page)
6:28 AM: Good morning! So far, no incidents in/from West Seattle.
BRIDGE CLOSURE TONIGHT: Final closure of the week for the Fauntleroy Expressway seismic-cushion work, 9 pm-5 am; the next one after this will be Sunday night into Monday morning.
7:31 AM: Still nothing out of the ordinary.
SDOT has finally officially announced the September 25th Seattle Summer Parkways (aka “car-free day”) West Seattle event, more than two months after we brought you first word it was on the way.
A few hours after Wednesday’s announcement, Seattle Summer Parkways coordinator Jordan Adams briefed the Southwest District Council, during its June meeting. The plans sound bigger than any of the previous “car-free days” in the area held 2008-2014.
One key point he mentioned: While Alki Avenue will be closed in its entirety between 63rd and 56th during the event (see the map above), the closure will be only one lane from 56th eastward (the water side of the street). Otherwise, the lineup for the 11 am-4 pm street party is taking shape; he told SWDC, “We have a few food trucks participating, and we’re opening the event with a 10K run … a bunch of groups already have signed up to organize events, we have a bike parade, a full music stage on Alki Beach, also up at the boat ramp.” (The run is the Orca Half, first reported here last week.) Also part of it: A fun way to work on emergency preparedness – cargo-bike trials in conjunction with the West Seattle Emergency Communication Hubs.
Adams is also inviting other organizations to be part of the Summer Parkways event (technically on the first Sunday of fall, as someone pointed out during the SWDC discussion), promotionally and/or offering an activity, no fee required- here’s the application.
9:15 PM: Lafayette Elementary in Admiral is getting its wish – an earlier schedule next year. Thanks to the parents who pointed us to today’s announcement, which is posted on the school website as well as having been sent home on paper. When the district announced new “bell times” last fall (WSB coverage here), mostly to try to get older students onto later schedules, Lafayette was the only elementary school in West Seattle that was left in late-start “Tier 3” – and its 9:30 start time was even scheduled to move five minutes later. But today, Lafayette leadership announced that the request to move to Tier 1 had been granted, one of only two of the 11 districtwide requests that the district was able to honor, according to this letter from assistant superintendent Pegi McEvoy. Next school year’s start time and end time at Lafayette will be 7:55 am and 2:05 pm. (Lafayette file photo from SPS website)
ADDED 4:16 PM THURSDAY: Thanks to the commenters who provided additional information. Here’s the official district reply to our request for the list of the 11 schools that asked to be moved up and which school besides Lafayette had the requested granted:
The district was able to move Bailey Gatzert and Lafayette to Tier 1 while keeping transportation “budget neutral”:
1. Bailey Gatzert
2. Orca K-8
3. Thurgood Marshall
4. K-8 STEM at Boren
5. Lafayette
6. Laurelhurst
7. Adams
8. John Hay
9. View Ridge
10. Catherine Blaine K-8
11. Cascadia@ Lincoln
6:10 PM: Weeks after equipment showed up for clearing the site, work started today on the mixed-use project at 4505 42nd SW in The Junction, across the alley from the Senior Center of West Seattle. This project got final Southwest Design Review Board approval early last year after four meetings over the course of a year. It is set for 7 stories including 40+ residential units, ~6,000 square feet of lodging, and ~4,500 square feet of retail, with 14 offstreet parking spaces; owner Leon Capelouto has said that tenants interested in parking beyond that will be able to access it in the garage for his Capco Plaza building less than a block south at 42nd/Alaska. The “lodging” was described during Design Review as nine furnished units to be offered for “minimum one-week, maximum one-month” use, expected to appeal to “corporate types.” (Thanks to NLB and Eddie for the tips that site work had begun.)
ADDED 7:55 AM THURSDAY: Thanks to NLB for this clip of demolition work continuing this morning:
@westseattleblog today the house comes down pic.twitter.com/oLdg2xSrSC
— NLB (@g7on) June 2, 2016
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Tonight, the Southwest District Council‘s June meeting includes a discussion of an in-progress city review that could eventually determine whether the SWDC and the city’s other 12 district councils continue to exist.
One of the arguments for district councils is their advocacy for their respective jurisdictions getting their fair share of city attention and money, in programs like the Neighborhood Street Fund.
Since their last monthly meetings, members of both SWDC and its eastern West Seattle counterpart, the Delridge Neighborhoods District Council, have decided which five community-proposed NSF projects they’re forwarding to the city for consideration.
1st-through-5th-ranked by the Southwest District Council (western West Seattle):
1. Improvements at Harbor Ave SW & SW Spokane Street
2. Improvements at 39th Avenue SW and SW Oregon Street
3. Rapid Ride Bus Stops, Morgan Junction
4. Improvements on Fauntleroy Way
5. Traffic Circles, Sidewalks, and Safety Improvements in Arbor Heights
1st-through-5th-ranked by the Delridge Neighborhoods District Council (eastern West Seattle):
1. Modernize the Intersection of 16th Ave SW & SW Holden Street (Highland Park)
2. (tie) Complete SW Barton Street
2. (tie) Roundabout for Highland Park Way/SW Holden St
4. Brandon St Sidewalks (Delridge to High Point)
5. Safety Improvements to 26th Ave SW and/or 25th Avenue SW (Connecting Chief Sealth HS and the Westwood Village Bus Hub)
Both sets of decisions followed project-proposers’ presentations at the respective district councils’ meetings, and review of written applications – this document explains the criteria for evaluation.
No project is guaranteed funding just because the district council supports advancing it; the city’s pot of money is finite, and the Neighborhood Street Fund is citywide, opening for applications every three years, available for up to $90,000 $100,000-$1,000,000* for a project making it all the way through the process. But sometimes even projects that don’t get NSF funding land on SDOT’s radar. If you’d like to know more about any or all of the 10 aforementioned proposals, scroll ahead (or jump from the home page) for more details on each, excerpted from the community proposers’ applications – sometimes brief, sometimes detailed: Read More
Thanks to Marco for sharing the scene from Admiral Way, when a mallard mom and ducklings got some help making it across the street just west of 42nd SW. Marco adds, “Props to the guy who was keeping them safe in traffic!” A closer look:
(We can’t quite guess where mom was headed – Hiawatha? – or coming from, for that matter – can you?)
That’s the clearest image of the truck shown on security video, entering and leaving South Seattle College (WSB sponsor) in a span of less than 10 minutes, before and after Tuesday morning’s smash-and-grab ATM theft at Brockey Center (here’s our original report; here’s our followup on the damage done). While tracking technology led police to the ATM safe in an Arbor Heights backyard within a few hours, they have not yet found the truck or made arrests. SSC provided the video to WSB – here are the two sections showing the truck arriving and departing (at a time when the main-campus entrances on 16th SW are gated):
SPD describes the truck as a “white Chevrolet pickup truck with a crew cab” and asks that anyone with information about it, and/or anything else related to the theft, call the Southwest Precinct burglary unit at 206-233-2623.
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