West Seattle, Washington
15 Sunday
David Bader, Seattle Parks
Story and photos by Jason Grotelueschen
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
Neighbors gathered on Monday night to hear about plans for renovations to the Cottage Grove Park playground (aka Puget Boulevard Commons Park), and to give feedback on the design ideas.
The public meeting, held at the Delridge Community Center, was facilitated by project manager Pam Kliment and landscape architect David Bader from Seattle Parks.
The overall goal for the renovation of the park, located at 5206 26th Ave. SW, is to make the play area more usable for younger children by replacing some of the play equipment and reusing other pieces. The project was chosen by the public as part of the Your Voice, Your Choice program in partnership with the Department of Neighborhoods, Department of Transportation, and Seattle Parks. The design phase is happening now through the end of the year, with the renovation likely complete in late spring 2020.
Preliminary designs are located here. Bader described them as “very much a draft,” with lots of room for input and changes.
Reminder as the long holiday weekend wraps up: Seattle Parks invites you to a meeting tomorrow night (Monday, December 2nd) to talk about changes at Cottage Grove Playground as part of the Your Voice/Your Choice program – some new equipment, in addition to moving existing equipment. The meeting is set for 6:30 pm at Delridge Community Center (4501 Delridge Way SW); here’s our preview from two weeks ago.
Seattle Parks and SDOT are organizing a community walk December 7th for a project that’s linked to the future conversion of Metro Route 120 to the RapidRide H Line, in hopes of helping people get to and from one of the stops:
This project improves pedestrian paths and wayfinding along SW Brandon Street and SW Findlay Street to improve neighborhood mobility. It includes work to improve and make more welcoming to the public the trail entries at Camp Long and Longfellow Creek from SW Brandon Street. One of the goals of this project is to improve access to the future new RapidRide H-line stop at SW Findlay and Delridge. The RapidRide H-line service starts in 2021.
(Our most-recent update on the overall project – which includes repaving and other changes for much of Delridge – is here.) The December 7th walk will start at 26th/Brandon at 11 am.
(Photo courtesy Roxhill Park Champions: The park’s longtime steward Scott Blackstock supervising Saturday’s work party)
Fall is an ideal time to plant, and that’s why it was so important for volunteers to step up and dig in at Roxhill Park this past Saturday. As noted here, at least 20 volunteers were needed; Roxhill Park Champions got 26! Supervised by longtime steward Scott Blackstock, they got 300 plants in the ground in Peat Cell 3 of the park’s bog, site of an underground fire two years ago. Read more about their success here – and see how to be part of ongoing efforts to care for this unique place.
Thanks to Doug for the tip! Another West Seattle playground has improvements on the way. New equipment is planned for Cottage Grove Park Playground at 5206 26th SW, as part of the 2018 Your Voice, Your Choice! process, “to make the play area more usable for young children.” Seattle Parks is having a community meeting at 6:30 pm Monday, December 2nd, for input on the new equipment. All are welcome at the meeting, which will be in Delridge Community Center (4501 Delridge Way SW) – see the full flyer here (PDF).
Thanks for the tips about a police search in and around Fauntleroy Park. We went over to find out what it was about and talked with the person whose report led to the search. He said he was doing volunteer work in the wooded area just east of the Fauntleroy Church lot when he happened onto a man camping there. When he told the man he wasn’t supposed to be there, he told us, the man indicated both verbally and with a gesture that he was armed and wanted to left alone. The man who’d been threatened subsequently called 911. so far, police have not found the suspect. (And in case you are in the area and wondering, the SFD medic response in the church lot is completely unrelated.)
(WSB photo, July 2017)
It’s been two and a half years since Lincoln Park‘s south play area was closed for safety concerns – and the rebuild has been delayed again. We noticed that a new update on the project website says the project won’t be going out to bid until early next year:
This project has experienced some unforeseen delays. We anticipate the bid will be advertised in early 2020, with construction beginning in spring 2020.
We asked Seattle Parks for details on those delays, given that it’s already been almost two years since community design input for the project. Spokesperson Karen O’Connor replies, “Currently, Planning and Development has over six play area renovations going on across the city, and we’ve had to make some adjustments in our scheduling to ensure that all these projects can keep making progress.”
(WSB photo, October 2017)
One week from today, you can help Roxhill Park continue healing from the underground peat fire two years ago. Here’s how:
20 Volunteers needed for Roxhill Park: Replanting Fire-Damaged Peat Cell 3
Saturday, November 16th starting at 10 am, rain or shineTwo years after the underground peat fire in Roxhill Park, the community has successfully organized, with the Green Seattle Partnership, the delivery of 300 native grasses, ferns and perennial plants to restore the damaged area.
RoxhillPark.org is seeking at least 20 volunteers to assist with planting on Saturday, November 16th. Bring gardening gloves and wear warm outdoor clothing. Shovels, warm drinks and snacks will be provided.
(Roxhill Park Champions photo: Prepping Peat Cell 3 for next Saturday’s planting)
We’ll meet near the restroom and parking lot along 29th Ave SW, across the street from 9227 29th Ave SW. If you arrive a little later, the planting site can easily be found looking directly east from the playground and parking lot.
Register here for more details about the location. If you need additional information, contact: RoxhillParkCommons@gmail.com
Roxhill Park Champions meets every (corrected) second Saturday to clean litter and remove invasive plants along the park’s trails.
Green Seattle Day 2019 – this past Saturday – was a shining success! So reports Lisa McGinty from Friends of Lincoln Park; she also shared the photos:
Friends of Lincoln Park participated in a city-wide effort (Green Seattle Day) to plant native trees and plants in 17 Seattle Parklands. Lincoln Park had 40 volunteers and gave 400 trees and plants their forever home, in the north end of the park. City-wide, Green Seattle Partnership reported 1200 volunteers and nearly 9,000 trees and plants!
We had an absolutely perfect fall day for planting and a wonderful community to share the event with, including West Seattle’s Girl Scout Troop #45305, who were GREAT and planted a bunch of trees!
All that effort will help create healthy urban forests and healthy urban forests create healthy environments for the city and all that live in it.
Friends of Lincoln Park has frequent urban-restoration events – watch their website for word of the next one.
The temporary off-leash area planned at Westcrest Park next year will be the city’s first, according to Seattle Parks.
That’s part of what the project briefing at HPAC‘s October meeting revealed.
As first reported here in August, West Seattle’s only off-leash area will be closed for months next year while a persistent drainage problem is fixed. Earlier this month, Parks announced a plan to set up a temporary off-leash area north of the Westcrest P-Patch.
Parks’ Emily Griffith was at the HPAC meeting to talk about the plan and listen to community comments.
She said that the drainage project is important because “Westcrest floods pretty regularly” and that’s led to problems including erosion. Regrading will be part of the half-million-dollar project, as will fencing repairs and, while they’re there, accessibility improvements in the north parking lot.
As originally promised, the current “small/shy dog area” will remain open in addition to the planned temporary area, which is “open lawn” right now but will get temporary fencing. It will be restored to “lawn” after the six-months-or-so construction is complete and the regular off-leash area is reopened.
Questions and comments started with one attendee wondering whether the project will include lighting improvements. Answer: No.
What about using another area of Westcrest? Explanation: Much of the big grassy space atop the park is the lid of the underground reservoir (buried 10 years ago – here’s what it looked like, underground too, before that), a Seattle Public Utilities facility, and that can’t be used for an off-leash area. They can’t use trails, because those would have to be fenced.
Did you consider the city-owned Myers Way Parcels? asked HPAC chair Gunner Scott, especially if Camp Second Chance leaves that space in March? No, they hadn’t.
Dates aren’t finalized yet but the Westcrest construction is expected to last about half a year, “spring through fall” of 2020. The project webpage is here.
ADDED: Here’s what the city showed at the meeting, to pinpoint what’ll happen where:
(File photo)
Back in August, we reported on a months-long closure ahead for West Seattle’s only dog park, the Westcrest Park off-leash area, because of a drainage project. At the time, Seattle Parks was only planning to keep the “small/shy dog area” open as an alternative. Now they have a new plan, just announced:
Seattle Parks and Recreation (SPR) is investing in the maintenance of Westcrest Park and the Off-Leash Area (OLA). Over the past few years, the maintenance project has grown from a simple drainage improvement project to a $505,000 project that will address drainage, access and erosion.
To address the impacts to the community during construction, SPR is proposing establishing a temporary OLA north of the P-Patch at the park. SPR will present the construction project and temporary off-leash plan on Wednesday, October 23 at 7 p.m. at the Highland Park Action Coalition (HPAC) meeting. The meeting will be held at the Highland Park Improvement Club, 1116 SW Holden St.
Due to the scope of the project and the nature of the work, the north parking lot and the entire OLA will be closed for the duration of construction. After initial outreach and discussions with the project team, SPR is working to accommodate a temporary off-leash area during the 6-month construction window and will also keep the shy/small dog use area open for everyone’s use.
Please join us at the upcoming HPAC meeting to learn more about the proposal. SPR anticipates construction will begin in the spring of 2020 and will run through the fall of 2020.
For more information please visit https://www.seattle.gov/parks/about-us/current-projects/westcrest-park-drainage-improvements
HPAC’s meeting also is scheduled to include SDOT director Sam Zimbabwe talking about the latest Highland Park Way/Holden safety-improvements plan.
Seattle Parks plans to move the Hiawatha play area – and renovate it with new equipment – and is looking for your thoughts. First, the flyer explaining what’s planned
Before the October 25th event, you can comment via this survey, which will ask your thoughts on some potential “elements” for the relocated play area.
(WSB file photo, future park site at 48th/Charlestown)
Back in August, Seattle Parks announced the call for suggestions about what to name the future park at 48th SW/SW Charlestown. The deadline’s now less than two weeks away, so in case you missed it, or didn’t have time to send in a suggestion, we’re publishing this reminder. The city bought and “landbanked” the third-of-an-acre site five years ago and now is getting ready to turn it into a park, as explained and shown here. Our previous coverage has details on criteria for name consideration and where to send your suggestion(s) – find all that here.
We’ve received a few questions about what’s up at Camp Long. As noted this same weekend last year, it’s the annual religious gathering Finding of the True Cross, according to the city Special Events Office‘s calendar. (Here are 2016 photos of the gathering by Seattle Times photojournalist Erika Schultz; here are EYM-TV video highlights from 2015.)
(WSB photos by Patrick Sand)
Hundreds of young cross-country runners from around the region took to the trails in the heart of Lincoln Park today for the first-ever West Seattle Rust Buster meet, presented by the West Seattle Road Runners.
9 groups of runners, from 6-and-under to 15-18, ran short courses, 800 meters to 1K, to start their season. The meet was scheduled to wrap up a little more than an hour ago with a one-mile run for parents/coaches. Among the organizers, Rebecca Ross, Raegan Powell, and Hadley Rodero:
This was the first Junior Olympics USTAF-sanctioned meet that the Road Runners hosted.
The Road Runners have sent athletes to the national championships every year since 2015. (P.S. Today’s races had girls’ groups too – we just happened to stop by when a boys’ group was running, and that’s who our photos show.)
We’ve received several questions about the temporary fencing in place at Alki, including this section between Statue of Liberty Plaza and Alki Bathhouse, so in case you were wondering too, it’s the start of a project we previewed on Labor Day – improving accessibility to various areas of the park, including installation of a ramp. As mentioned in the notice in our earlier story and on the park website, the city is under federal orders to up its compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Work is expected to continue until January.
In case you missed the weekend mention – one more reminder that most Seattle Parks facilities, including community centers and pools, will be closed tomorrow (Thursday, September 19th) for staff training.
From the Seattle Parks website:
All Seattle Parks and Recreation community centers, pools, teen life centers, and the Discovery Park and Camp Long visitor centers will be closed on Thursday, Sept. 19 for a staff training. The only programs that will be operating will be Preschool and School-Aged Care; all other programs, lessons, and activities will be canceled for the day.
Thanks to Kelly for the photo and caption! The big blue cover at Colman Pool gave a Great Blue Heron a spot to hang out tonight. While the pool wasn’t open today, it has two more post-season weekends to go – September 14-15 and 21-22.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Seattle Parks has a long list of West Seattle projects in various stages.
That was the takeaway from a Parks deputy director’s appearance at the Southwest District Council‘s first post-summer-hiatus meeting Wednesday night.
Kim Baldwin from Parks’ planning staff spoke to SWDC with a variety of updates, many from the list of current projects that’s on the department’s website.
We’ve linked each project mention to our most recent coverage of that project or the facility’s webssite:
The sun shone on the opening hour of Roxhill Park‘s first World Music Festival, as performers from Kouyate Arts took the stage.
It’s a collaboration between the community volunteers of Roxhill Park Champions and Seattle Parks, which brought some activity tables:
You can learn more about the park’s famous Roxhill Bog and enjoy free food/beverages. Looks like a chance to make some music, too:
The rest of the schedule, as the festival continues until 5 pm:
2:10 PM Tabla Seattle with Chaz Hastings: spoken word to traditional tabla drums
2:50 PM Joyas Mestizas traditional dance troupe
3:20 PM Vocal performance artists Moia Bri & Sarey Savy –
4:00 PM Global Heat
You’ll find the festival right next to the playground at 29th/Barton.
(Joyas Mestizas in West Seattle Grand Parade 2016 – photo by Don Brubeck)
Weekend’s almost here and we’ll be previewing a few spotlight events – starting with the first-ever World Music Festival on Sunday afternoon at Roxhill Park! Just in from organizers:
Roxhill Park World Music Festival – Free End-of-Summer Concert
Sunday September 8, 2019
1 pm to 5 pmRoxhill Park playground – 29th Ave SW at SW Barton Street
Join friends and neighbors to enjoy the dynamic sounds of:
Kouyate Arts and Global Heat along with Joyas Mestizas dance group
Community performances
Kids’ activities: drum tent and hula hooping too!
Tony B of Rainier Avenue Radio to EmCee.FESTIVAL LINEUP:
1:00 PM Kouyate Arts
2:10 PM Tabla Seattle with Chaz Hastings: spoken word to traditional tabla drums
2:50 PM The wonderful Joyas Mestizas traditional dance troupe
3:20 PM Vocal performance artists Moia Bri & Sarey Savy –
4:00 PM Global Heat
Bring a lawn chair or blanket to sit on.
Sponsored by Roxhill Park Champions and Seattle Parks and Recreation
(2013 Sundodger photo courtesy Karen)
What’s usually one of the biggest events of the year at Lincoln Park will not be happening this year. The Sundodger Invitational cross-country meet usually brings hundreds of student-athletes to Lincoln Park each fall. But while doing some research for the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar, we noticed it seemed to have vanished from the calendar at the University of Washington, which presents the meet. So we checked with the UW; spokesperson Michael Bruscas confirms, “This year the coaches were looking to adjust the timing of the Sundodger but there turned out to be a schedule conflict with the dates they were looking at so it just didn’t work out. But it certainly may return in future years.”
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