West Seattle, Washington
18 Wednesday
The city has just opened voting for the next round of Your Voice, Your Choice projects, proposed by community members for a share of $2 million in citywide park/street-project funds. You can vote online here, supporting up to three projects in District 1 (West Seattle/South Park). Eleven projects are on the D-1 ballot; we’ve previewed it so you can see the list before you open a ballot – each description links to more details about the project proposal:
ADMIRAL
Crossing Improvements on intersection of SW Admiral Way and 44th Ave SW
Estimated Cost: $120,000ALKI
Traffic Calming Improvements on 61st Avenue SW between SW Admiral Way and Beach Drive SW
Estimated Cost: $30,000HIGHLAND PARK
Crossing Improvements on 16th Ave SW & SW Holden St
Estimated Cost: $30,000HIGHLAND PARK
Crossing Improvements on 9th Ave SW from SW Kenyon St, SW Elmgrove St, and SW Thistle St
Estimated Cost: $120,000PUGET RIDGE
Crossing Improvements on 16th Avenue SW
Estimated Cost: $120,000SOUTH DELRIDGE
Sidewalk/Trail Improvements on SW Barton St between 21st Ave SW and SW Barton Pl
Estimated Cost: $112,700SOUTH DELRIDGE
Crossing Improvements on Olson Pl SW & SW Roxbury St
Estimated Cost: $35,000SOUTH PARK
Crossing Improvements on 700 S Cloverdale St
Estimated Cost: $90,000WEST SEATTLE JUNCTION
Crossing Improvements on Glenn Way and Oregon St
Estimated Cost: $10,000WEST SEATTLE JUNCTION
Crossing Improvements on the corner of 39th Ave SW and SW Oregon
Estimated Cost: $45,000WEST SEATTLE JUNCTION
Crossing Improvements on SW Alaska St. & 36th Ave. SW
Estimated Cost: $20,000
Voting continues through September 30th; if you want to use a paper ballot, you can get one at any Seattle Public Library branch (or print one from the city YVYC webpage).
It’s going to be a busy offseason at Alki. Seattle Parks has a variety of projects planned, according to information forwarded by David Hutchinson. He explains:
Representatives of the Alki Community Council recently met with Seattle Parks staff at the Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza to discuss future maintenance plans for the site. The ACC was instrumental in the creation of a dedicated maintenance fund for the Plaza through the sale of bricks and plaques.
We asked if there were any plans in the works involving an ADA ramp in the area, as this had been mentioned in the past.
And indeed, it turns out there are.
As the flyer above indicates, work is planned near and at the Bathhouse and the 63rd SW restroom building – this is separate from the plan to replace the other freestanding restroom building at 57th SW next year. Parks told the ACC they expect work to start the week of September 16th.
(WSB file photo of Colman Pool)
The Labor Day holiday weekend marks the end of outdoor Colman Pool‘s seven-day-a-week summer season – but remember that extra postseason weekends will extend operations into late September. This year, after local swimmers pushed for a longer season, and City Councilmember Lisa Herbold got extra funding for it, the pool opened for two preseason weekends before Memorial Day, and it will be open for three postseason weekends after Labor Day: September 7-8, 14-15, and 21-22. Here’s the full schedule.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Remember the Seattle Parks survey asking what you’d like to see in city parks?
Wednesday night, when Parks Superintendent Jesús Aguirre met with HPAC, it was a sort of in-person roadshow version of that survey.
One attendee, in fact, offered the observation that the experience was a bit like a “marketing pitch.”
But Parks facilities play a big role in the area – including sprawling Westcrest Park and youth-sports hub Riverview Playfield – so the ~20 at the meeting participated wholeheartedly, including small-group breakouts.
The meeting opened with HPAC chair Gunner Scott reminding everyone that HPAC now represents the South Delridge and Riverview communities too; the meeting was held at “historic Highland Park Improvement Club,” celebrating its centennial. (It was pointed out later to Aguirre that HPIC is a privately owned community hub – the area does not have a city-operated community center.)
After introductions, Aguirre explained Parks’ pursuit of a new strategic plan meant to span 12 years. We recorded his overview:
(File photo)
When Seattle Parks and Recreation Superintendent Jesús Aguirre met with HPAC last night (full report to come), he was asked about a long upcoming closure of West Seattle’s only off-leash area, at Westcrest Park. Aguirre didn’t have details but said he’d look into it. We hadn’t heard about it either, but found some information on the Parks website, which elaborates:
There have been ongoing drainage and erosion concerns at the Westcrest OLA, since at least 2016. Seattle Parks and Recreation (SPR) is proposing to undertake maintenance activities in and around the Westcrest Park OLA to address these problems. SPR will also be taking this opportunity to bring the north parking lot into compliance with current accessibility standards.
SPR is in the process of refining the design and acquiring the necessary permit. The revised design will solve the drainage and erosion issues while providing a better user experience for all users.
Construction will begin in the spring of 2020 and we anticipate completion by fall. Due to safety for all and the scope of the project, the north parking lot and the entire OLA will be closed for the duration of construction. We understand the impact this will have on the OLA and are endeavoring to keep the shy/small dog use area open for everyone’s use during most of the construction.
The project page has more specifics on exactly what will be done; Parks spokesperson Rachel Schulkin says the exact start date hasn’t been finalized yet. She also followed up for us on an attendee’s mention of a September 18th hearing related to the project; a nearby resident has appealed the determination (PDF) that the project doesn’t need an environmental-impact report, and the city Hearing Examiner will consider the case on that day. The appellant says the closure of the off-leash area will be a hardship unless an temporary substitute is available.
While most community councils take meeting hiatuses in August, tomorrow night brings a notable exception: Highland Park Action Committee. At 7 pm Wednesday, HPAC welcomes you to “a conversation about the future of Seattle Parks and Recreation with Superintendent Jesús Aguirre.” This is in the context of Parks’ work on a new Strategic Plan. HPAC meets at the Highland Park Improvement Club, 1116 SW Holden.
(2013 aerial of Dragonfly Garden/Pavilion, by Long Bach Nguyen)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Sometimes one face-to-face conversation is worth a thousand email chains.
On Thursday, Parks Department staffers met with community volunteers at the Dragonfly Park garden in North Delridge (28th/Dakota), to listen to concerns about a Parks plan to cover its distinctive but weed-plagued beds with grass (reported here last week).
A sizable portion of the meeting was spent straightening out one reason for the volunteers having been blindsided by news of the plan: Though they had been in communication with Parks for years – including the recently retired lead gardener – their group’s existence was not officially on record. They had done their part, filling out documentation of work parties, even working toward the type of official agreement Parks has with “Friends of” groups that donate a lot of time and effort to some parks … but it had never been finalized and entered into the system.
Parks is in a time of transition, explained the four staffers who were there – not just with new leadership (Jesús Aguirre‘s recent return as superintendent), but also with 100 jobs open and a lot of other changes, such as, they said, the department being down to 6 crew chiefs from the previous 9.
(WSB photos)
After moving to South Park last year, Festival CentroAmericano is back in West Seattle, and the celebration’s happening at Westcrest Park until 7 pm.
You can enjoy treats …
… vendors …
… and entertainment:
The Coffee Band – a group with Honduras roots – was onstage while we were there. Other music and dance groups are scheduled to perform all afternoon. The festival’s free – lots of room to roam on the sprawling green at Westcrest!
(2013 aerial of Dragonfly Garden/Pavilion, by Long Bach Nguyen)
As that aerial view shows, North Delridge’s Dragonfly Park doesn’t just get its name from the pavilion structure, but also from the garden beds.
The volunteers of Friends of Dragonfly Park were preparing for a new season of work when they got startling news from the Parks Department, as Laura Bruco explains it, “that Parks plans to turf the gardens over and put an outline of the wings in crocuses.” Those, as you probably know, are short-lived early-spring blooms, so most of the year, the garden’s distinctive shape would be lost.
“This park is just too unique and special to replace with an outline of crocus bulbs,” Bruco says. “Our group worked really hard to prepare those beds to take new plantings last year, but Parks kept delaying. They said back then that they were working on figuring out who needed to approve the plans for native plantings that are lower maintenance with the artist Lorna Jordan.”
(October 2017 photo courtesy Friends of Dragonfly Park)
And then suddenly came the news of the Parks plan to just put in grass.
Bruco asked Parks for a chance to discuss this before it’s done, and that meeting is set for next week, open to anyone who’s interested. We asked Parks why the change, and spokesperson Karen O’Connor replied:
We have been working with the community that has provided many hours of volunteer time to keep the garden maintained along with the support from our SPR landscaping crew. We have concluded the planting and gardening design is not sustainable with the current level of volunteer and staff support.
After much work and consulting with the Office of Arts and Culture, our Sr. Landscape Architect has put together a design that is respectful of the Dragonfly Pavilion original design intent. The plan calls for the large areas of bark mulch to be replaced with grass and consolidate the plants that are doing well into the garden beds along the wall. We plan on planting crocus bulbs throughout the lawn so that there would be a bloom time in the spring where different colors would pop under the dragonfly sculpture. Having grass within the butterfly wings will allow us to mow the returning horsetail along with the other invasive weeds.
The garden dates back to the early 2005, with Seattle Public Utilities originally involved. The garden sections now scheduled to be replaced with grass are an integral part of the original intent, as explained here:
… Dragonfly Pavilion is the entrance feature to SPU’s Longfellow Creek Drainage and Habitat Improvement Project and serves as a creek overlook and outdoor environmental education facility. The artist-designed Dragonfly Garden, which surrounds the pavilion, is a landscaped area demonstrating salmon friendly and water-wise gardening techniques and is crucial to SPU’s mission and educational message at the site. …
Bruco is taking the case to Parks higher-ups as well as Councilmember Lisa Herbold and the aforementioned city Office of Arts and Culture, “and whomever else I can find who may have the power and influence to do something.”
If you’re available at 12:30 pm next Thursday (August 22nd), that’s when Bruco and other Friends of Dragonfly Park volunteers will meet with Parks reps at the park to try to save the garden, and all are welcome to be there (28th SW & SW Dakota).
(WSB file photo, future park site at 48th/Charlestown)
After five years in landbanked mode, the 48th/Charlestown park site is finally on the path to reality. As part of that, Seattle Parks is soliciting name ideas. The announcement:
SPR purchased .33 acres at 4801 SW Charlestown St. in 2014 for the future development of a park. The corner property had been a small community garden and prior to that a neighborhood grocery store. It has a history as a community gathering space. Osborn Consulting and SPR worked with the community on the design for the new park, which will provide a “neighborhood green” for the people of all ages to meet, eat, play, and celebrate.
The design includes an oval lawn surrounded by a loop path with arching seat walls, imaginative and active play for young children, picnic areas, and a small stage. Native and drought-tolerant plants will express the natural history of this area, and trees will frame the park and provide shade. The new park will be completed in 2021. More information on the project can be found (here).
The Parks Naming Committee will consider all suggestions and make a recommendation to Seattle Parks and Recreation Superintendent Jesús Aguirre, who will make the final decision.
The Parks Naming Committee is comprised of one representative designated by the Board of Park Commissioners; one by the Chair of the City Council Civic Development, Public Assets and Native Communities Committee; and one by the Parks Superintendent. Criteria the committee considers in naming parks include: geographical location, historical or cultural significance, and natural or geological features. The Park Naming Policy, clarifying the criteria applied when naming a park, can be found (here).
Please submit suggestions for park names in writing by Friday, October 18, 2019 and include an explanation of how your suggestion matches the naming criteria. Send to Seattle Parks and Recreation, Parks Naming Committee, 100 Dexter Ave. N, Seattle, WA 98109, or by e-mail to paula.hoff@seattle.gov.
A texter noticed city crews working today in an area of Rotary Viewpoint Park (35th SW east of SW Alaska) where there’s been camping for some weeks. We went there and found a Seattle Parks crew cleaning up what they confirmed were the remnants of a campsite. We then asked Will Lemke, spokesperson for the city’s Homelessness Response, about it. His reply:
The Navigation Team did remove an encampment in the area you referenced. There was a woman living unsheltered there and the team has been engaging her for over a month to try and connect her to shelter and/or services. Parks crews were there to restore the site and work on the tree that was damaged. The team’s outreach workers, System Navigators, are following up to see what can be done to connect her to shelter now that she has moved elsewhere.
According to a recent city report, 135 “unmanaged campsites” were cleared around the city in the second quarter of this year.
(Lincoln Park aerial photo from 2012, by Long Bach Nguyen
Seattle Parks is looking to the future and asking you what you think that future should hold. More nature? More amenities? Those and 30+ other questions are in this new survey. If you don’t spend much time in Parks facilities (which also include community centers and pools), they want to ask you about that too. It’s part of this process.
Just in from Erin @ Southwest Pool:
Southwest Pool will be closed for repairs all day Friday, August 9th and Saturday morning August 10th. All group lessons, personal lessons, and drop in programs are cancelled. Lesson participants will receive full refunds. The pool will reopen for regular business at noon on Saturday, August 10th.
The pool was closed for two months of maintenance work earlier this year.
(July 2018 video courtesy Kim Barnes)
Last summer, that community duo played music from Burkina Faso at a Roxhill Park community barbecue. Now – as you might have seen in the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar – a World Music Festival is planned for the park next month, and Seattle Parks just announced how you can help shape it:
Seattle Parks and Recreation is sponsoring a free community music festival on Sunday, Sept. 8 at Roxhill Park (2850 SW Roxbury St.) and we invite participation by the community in planning the event.
What activities would you like to see at the festival? What music or musicians can you recommend? What organizations would you like to have represented? Please come to one of the planning meetings listed below, or contact Randy Wiger with your ideas: Randy.Wiger@seattle.gov or 206-684-0775.
Planning meetings’ dates – everyone is welcome to attend! The meetings will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Roxhill Park at the picnic tables by 29th Ave. SW.
Thursday, August 8
Monday, August 12
Thursday, August 22
Pianos in the Parks is back, with 11 art-covered pianos placed temporarily around the metro area, including this one in Junction Plaza Park (42nd SW/SW Alaska). The artist for this piano is Mindi Katzman; the community partner is West Seattle Community Orchestras; Pianos in the Parks is presented by One Reel. You can see this piano – and play it! – through August 18th.
As mentioned at this month’s Morgan Community Association meeting, the Seattle Design Commission will be next to get a status update on the Morgan Junction Park addition. That review is set for 9 am Thursday (August 1) at City Hall. The commission is an advisory group that makes recommendations about “the design of capital improvement projects that are located on City land, in the City right-of-way, or constructed with City funds.” The meeting is open to the public, and you’ll find it in the Boards and Commissions Room of City Hall downtown. As a Seattle Parks rep told MoCA, the next step will be another community discussion of the park design, which is currently at the 30 percent stage. The three “design concepts” for the park can be seen here (on a survey page that was supposed to be closed by now but appears to still be open)
That’s a rendering of the new play structure planned for West Seattle’s EC Hughes Playground (2805 SW Holden). To get it built, Seattle Parks will have to close the EC Hughes wading pool early this summer; one week from today will be the final day of the season. Here’s the announcement from Parks:
Construction for the new play area at E.C. Hughes Playground begins in August and is anticipated to be complete and open for play in early 2020. Because of the proximity of the construction site to the wading pool, Friday, August 2, 2019 will be the last day the wading pool will be open for the 2019 season. The closest wading pool/spraypark is the Highland Park spraypark at 1100 SW Cloverdale St. The restrooms will remain open for the majority of the construction, however, they will need to close for a short period when the pavement leading up to them is demolished and replaced.
The play area renovation project will update aging equipment with play structures accessible to children of all abilities, ages 2-5 and 5-12. The intent is to enhance the safety and play area accessibility in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The new play area is anticipated to open early 2020.
Funding for this park project is provided by the Seattle Park District. Approved by Seattle voters in 2014, the Seattle Park District provides more than $47 million a year in long-term funding to Seattle Parks and Recreation for maintenance of parklands and facilities, operation of community centers and recreation programs, and development of new neighborhood parks on previously acquired sites.
For more information on the project please (go here). For questions about the project or if you need an interpreter or accommodations, please contact Katie Bang at katie.bang@seattle.gov or 206-684-9286.
The old play equipment had to be taken out of service earlier this summer due to safety concerns.
1:25 PM: The trucks in our photo are part of the crew that’s at Lincoln Park setting up for tomorrow’s “Sesame Street” 50th-anniversary event, expected to draw 4,000 people (who had to register in advance) over the course of the day. Inside the park, the baseball field south of the wading pool/play area is the hub of activity:
Here’s the newest update on likely afternoon traffic effects: Washington State Ferries had been told last night that the trucks on Fauntleroy Way would clear out for the afternoon no-parking period (2-7 pm) after all. But then, WSF spokesperson Hadley Rodero told WSB this afternoon, the production company instead said they were trying to hire off-duty police to direct traffic around the trucks this afternoon instead. We’ll be checking back at the scene after 2 pm. (added) Here’s the live traffic cam:
Also note if you’re driving to the park, the staging has also taken over some of the spaces toward the north end of the north lot.
2:59 PM: The camera shows the trucks have since moved out of the staging lane. Heading down the hill to see if anything else remains aside from standard Friday afternoon traffic.
3:40 PM: Verified that nothing remains in the queueing lane. (Saw a private car getting towed, though, with an SPD Parking Enforcement officer right behind.) Just the “usual” Friday afternoon ferry backup, almost to the north edge of Lincoln Park as of about 15 minutes ago.
From The Friends of the Delridge Triangle:
How About A New Pocket Park for South Delridge? Feedback Closes Sunday Night!
Over the past several months, The Friends of the Delridge Triangle and community members have worked with the contracted landscape architects Makers, to gather and create a community generated plan to redevelop the Delridge Triangle at 9201 Delridge Ave SW.
Check out the key ideas in support of a safe and accessible urban green space and let us know what you think!
The final of feedback for this phase of the project will close midnight on Sunday night, July 28th: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DelridgeTriangle
Construction of a new seawall at Emma Schmitz Memorial Overlook is still about a year away.
But reps from Seattle Parks and the Army Corps of Engineers presented a briefing this past week so interested people would know how the project will proceed. About 30 people showed up for the briefing/Q&A at Alki Community Center.
It’s been more than five years in the planning – we first mentioned it in this 2014 report. The potential failure of the 500-foot-long stretch of seawall threatens other infrastructure including a 4 1/2-foot-wide sewer pipeline.
The rendering and announcement are from the neighborhood volunteers in Friends of the Delridge Triangle:
Over the past several months, The Friends of the Delridge Triangle and community members have worked with the contracted landscape architects Makers, to gather and create a community-generated plan to redevelop the Delridge Triangle at 9201 Delridge Ave SW.
We now need your feedback on key design ideas so South Delridge can move forward in the creation of a pocket park that will dramatically increase safety sight-lines as well as encourage children and adults at all levels to accessibility to gather, celebrate and play.
Will you please take the feedback survey? This round of feedback will close on Sunday, July 28th: surveymonkey.com/r/DelridgeTriangle
Community work to create a brighter future with a more-usable Delridge Triangle has been under way for almost three years.
(Photo courtesy Young Shakespeare Workshop)
It’s not your first chance this summer to see a Shakespeare play in a West Seattle park – but it’s the only one featuring the national-award-winning Young Shakespeare Workshop: 6 pm Sunday (July 21st) at Roxhill Park (29th/Barton), you’re invited to see YSW’s production of “The Merchant of Venice.” From YSW director Darren Lay (a Vashon resident):
The Revolving Company of the nationally awarded Young Shakespeare Workshop presents a free performance in the birch grove at Roxhill Park. Bring a picnic dinner if you like and dine with the Doge, no Gondola required.
The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
“Tell me where is fancy bred, or in the heart, or in the head?”
– a question posed in song in this curious and complex play in which Shakespeare also explores the antithetical question of where is loathing bred, and of course some silliness by way of the clown Launcelot Gobbo.
This event is made possible with funding from Arts in Parks by Seattle Office of Arts & Culture and Seattle Parks and Recreation.
Free, all ages welcome. YSW is in its third decade!
(Video courtesy Ralph Lane Productions)
That video is from yesterday, when the West Seattle Big Band played to a big crowd at the Ballard Locks – and tomorrow night, you can see them right here at home, during their 24th annual Concert in the Park. Free! Just BYO chair/blanket to the east lawn at Hiawatha Community Center, along Walnut south of Lander – the music starts at 7 pm Tuesday (July 16th).
(WSB photo from WSBB Concert in the Park 2018)
The WSBB is directed by Jim Edwards, also a coordinator of the West Seattle Grand Parade, and the concert has another connection to Saturday’s parade – presentation of the Orville Rummel Trophy for Outstanding Service to the Community. As reported here last week, this year’s honoree is philanthropist Adah Rhodes Cruzen, and you can applaud her at tomorrow night’s concert. Side note – its past winners include WSBB director Jim and wife Barbara Edwards, who as the video clip above shows, just celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary!
P.S. Don’t let today’s rain worry you … tomorrow’s forecast looks dry. All ages are welcome to come enjoy the WSBB’s outstanding music. You can even get up and dance if you feel like it.
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