West Seattle, Washington
25 Wednesday
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Starting as soon as next week, Seattle Parks crews will remove at least 91 trees from Lincoln Park.
Even if you’re a regular park visitor, you aren’t likely to have heard about this unless you saw one of a few fine-print signs scattered around the park, like this one by the Fauntleroy Way entrance near the north play area:
We found out by hearing about it from local arborist and advocate Michael Oxman, who is on the Seattle Green Spaces Coalition board. This morning, he and reps from the Seattle Nature Alliance and Friends of Lincoln Park took a walking tour with Christopher Rippey from Parks’ Urban Forestry division, and we went along to find out more.Read More
Something new at West Seattle’s only off-leash area, at Westcrest Park! Thanks to Kevin McMahan for the photos and report:
Aidan McMahan, along with other Scouts from his West Seattle Troop 282, installed three agility structures (Saturday) at Westcrest Dog Park as a part of his Eagle Project.
The structures are now open for business.
Special thanks to Westcrest Off-Leash Area, Coalition for Off-Leash Areas (C.O.L.A.), Alki Lumber, and Seattle Parks for their assistance in making this happen.
Our area has the city’s longest stretch of contiguous forest – the West Duwamish Greenbelt – and it was the place to be to celebrate National Trails Day this weekend. Paul West from the West Duwamish Greenbelt Trails group shared the photos from Saturday’s guided hikes; below, Patti Bakker from Seattle Parks told hikers about the city’s forest-management plans:
The trailhead closest to Saturday’s hiking area is at 12th SW/SW Holly (map), if you want to go explore on your own. You can also help out in the forest – next work party is June 17th.
Above (or in PDF here), you can see and learn about the nine West Seattle/South Park park/street projects that made the ballot for the first-ever Your Voice, Your Choice “participatory budgeting” vote. We first told you about the voting plan back in January, followed by the project-suggestion period in February, and then the final 10 for the West Seattle/South Park area in April (from 211 suggestions). Now the official ballots are out with nine projects in each city-council district; you can vote for three. $285,000 is allotted to each district (ours is #1), and that will cover three projects. Voting starts today and goes through the end of the month. You can start the online voting process by going here – or look for in-person voting at these upcoming West Seattle/South Park events and meetings listed here and below:
South Park Pride Picnic
Sunday, June 04, 2017
10:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Duwamish River Park, 7900 10th Ave SWestwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council
Tuesday, June 06, 2017
6:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Seattle Public Library – Southwest Branch, 9010 35th Ave SWNorth Delridge Neighborhood Council
Wednesday, June 07, 2017
6:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, 4408 Delridge Way SWWest Seattle Farmers Market
Sunday, June 11, 2017
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Farmers Market, 44th Ave SW & SW Alaska St or park at Alaska & 42nd Ave SWStewart Manor Resident Council Meeting
Monday, June 12, 2017
4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Stewart Manor, 6339 34th Ave SWMorgan Junction Festival
Saturday, June 17, 2017
10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Morgan Junction Park, 6413 California Ave SWDelridge Neighborhood District Council
Wednesday, June 21, 2017
7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, 4408 Delridge Way SW
The city says paper ballots also are available at all city-run community centers and libraries; the votes will be counted after June 30th, and winning projects announced by July 18th. Everyone 11 and up is eligible to vote.
Two more hours to go celebrate fly fishing at Emerald Water Anglers‘ (WSB sponsor) Fly Fest at Me-Kwa-Mooks Park. You can browse gear including demonstration rods, get casting instruction, and more – plus the schedule includes one more presentation this afternoon – “Fly Fishing Cascade Mountain Creeks” at 2:30 pm. When we stopped by, it was guide-cookoff lunchtime:
In the foreground, EWA proprietor Dave McCoy was making spring salmon pizza on a naan-bread base, and in the background, Hilary Hutcheson was cooking up a version of Philly cheesesteaks with elk. She’s the special guest tonight at EWA’s Junction shop (4502 42nd SW) for the 7 pm Seattle premiere of the Costa film “SLAM,” billed as “the engaging story of three female anglers from different walks of life in pursuit of the same epic challenge – landing a grand slam in the Keys – with just a few days to accomplish it.” Free, but tickets are required – check availability here. Meantime, Fly Fest continues at Me-Kwa-Mooks (4503 Beach Drive SW) until 4 pm.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
After what was publicized as an hourlong meeting was well into overtime, a relentless round of questioning finally dug into the heart of the matter:
Is there really any choice about what’s going to be done about Lowman Beach Park‘s failing north seawall?
While Seattle Parks‘ David Graves (top photo) and his consulting engineers showed three possibilities – including one keeping the tennis court and restoring the seawall – Graves acknowledged it was unlikely he would be able to get grant money for a new wall.
And that concerned many of the ~40 people at the meeting, mostly waterfront residents north and south of the park, some of whom think the city’s removal of a south seawall section in the ’90s has adversely affected their property, and are worried the city doesn’t have enough information about effects of another removal.
Here’s how it all unfolded: Read More
Two aquatics notes since we’re going into a warm three-day weekend:
(WSB file photo)
COLMAN POOL OPENS TOMORROW: West Seattle’s only city-run outdoor public pool – on the shore at Lincoln Park – opens on schedule tomorrow for its first pre-season weekend, Saturday-Monday. The schedule each day: Noon-2:45 pm lap swim (8 lanes); 3-4:45 pm public swim (no lap lanes); 5-7 pm lap swim (4 lanes) and family swim (slide open). 7-day-a-week operations at Colman Pool start June 19th. You can see this year’s brochure with full season details by going here.
HIGHLAND PARK SPRAYPARK DELAYED: With work continuing at Highland Park Playground, the spraypark’s opening is delayed until next month; the city website now lists the expected opening date as Saturday, June 24th. That’s the same day wading pools in West Seattle start opening, as we reported earlier this month.
(WSB photo of fire’s aftermath, June 2016)
Some promising news about one of the stops set for Thursday night’s Find It, Fix It Walk in Highland Park. It’s the long-closed, arson-damaged restroom/storage building at Riverview Playfield. As we’ve reported previously, community members are concerned that the building has yet to be fixed and reopened, almost a year after last year’s arson -and at one point were told that it might be up to six years before repairs could be funded. But Christina Hirsch of Seattle Parks tells WSB that funding for repair and restoration has been secured. Hirsch told WSB’s Randall Hauk that the Seattle Park District has approved $202,000 for the work.
Parks will now work with city purchasing and contracting on details for the management of the project. Though there is no set deadline yet for completion of repairs, Hirsch says the hope is to finish by the end of the year. She adds that the schedule and scope of the project will be posted on the Riverview Playfield webpage as it becomes available. Meantime, portable restrooms will remain in place at the much-used fields until the permanent facility.
P.S. If you haven’t already seen it, the route, starting place, and other information about Thursday night’s walk – starting at 6:30 pm from Highland Park Improvement Club (where you can gather starting an hour before that) – is here.
In our coverage of the most-recent Morgan Community Association meeting, we mentioned MoCA announcing that the city was working on a May 31st meeting about the ongoing Lowman Beach seawall issue – it’s damaged and needs to be either replaced or removed. MoCA board member Cindi Barker sends word that the city has set the time and location – 6:30-7:30 pm May 31st at The Hall at Fauntleroy (9131 California SW). The details are on the Lowman Beach Park webpage, and indicate that the city is likely to remove the seawall – as was done with one to the south years ago – and keep the tennis court. See the official meeting flyer here.
(WSB file photo, Lincoln Park wading pool)
With temps passing 70 degrees this week, we started wondering when wading pool/spraypark season would start. The city’s list is up – here’s the local dates:
HIGHLAND PARK SPRAYPARK**
May 27-September 4, 11 am-8 pm every day, 1100 SW Cloverdale
(**The city’s website carries the caveat that maintenance work under way now – during the big playground construction project – could push the schedule back.)
LINCOLN PARK WADING POOL
June 24-September 4, 11 am-8 pm every day, near the north play area, 8011 Fauntleroy Way SW
DELRIDGE WADING POOL
June 26-August 20, noon-6:30 pm Mondays, Tuesdays, Saturdays, Sundays, 4458 Delridge Way SW
SOUTH PARK WADING POOL
June 26-August 17, noon-7 pm Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, 738 S. Sullivan
E.C. HUGHES WADING POOL
June 28-August 18, noon-7 pm on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, 2805 SW Holden
HIAWATHA WADING POOL
June 28-August 19, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, noon-6:30 pm, Walnut SW/SW Lander
And remember that the city only guarantees wading pools will be open on sunny days with temps 70 and up – you can check the hotline every morning during the season at 206-684-7796.
P.S. Seattle Parks‘ communications team tells us its big mega-announcement of not only wading pools but also swimming pools and beaches will be out soon.
(Song sparrow, photographed at Lincoln Park in February by Trileigh Tucker)
We told you recently about Lincoln Park joining Seattle Audubon’s Neighborhood Bird Project. This Friday, the park will again be on centerstage of the local birding world – as the site of a ceremony that will declare all of Seattle to be an Urban Bird Treaty City. And you’re invited. Here’s the announcement from Seattle Parks:
On May 5, 2017, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) joins Seattle Audubon, Audubon Washington, Heron Habitat Helpers, Seattle Parks and Recreation Department, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and other partners to sign a treaty designating the City of Seattle as an Urban Bird Treaty City.
The treaty-signing celebration will begin at Lincoln Park in Seattle on May 5 at 11 a.m. Seattle Audubon volunteers will lead a bird walk prior to the treaty signing at the park at 10 a.m. The public is encouraged to attend both the bird walk and signing ceremony.
The event will recognize Seattle’s migratory bird conservation and education accomplishments, and celebrate the renewed commitment of partners to develop programs in Seattle to protect birds and their habitat, as well as connect people to the natural world.
The Urban Bird Treaty program is a collaborative effort between federal, state, and municipal agencies, non-governmental organizations, and academic institutions to create bird-friendly environments and provide citizens, especially youth, with opportunities to connect with nature through birding and conservation.
“We recognize the important role urban areas play in conserving migratory birds,” said Seth Shteir, Conservation Manager at Seattle Audubon Society. “By becoming an Urban Bird Treaty City, we hope to inspire Seattleites to keep the city healthy and safe for birds and people.”
Today there are more than 25 Urban Bird Treaty cities across the nation working to conserve and restore bird habitat. Seattle will fill an important missing link as it joins San Francisco, Portland, and Anchorage as an Urban Bird Treaty City, thus protecting the Pacific Flyway – a migratory super highway for birds.
“Migratory bird conservation is only possible through collaboration with partners,” said Robyn Thorson, Regional Director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Pacific Region. “We are proud to recognize the efforts of many diverse partners in the Seattle area whose work has led to this milestone signing, and eager to see what the continued power of collaboration will produce for birds in the Puget Sound area.”
“At Seattle Parks and Recreation, our mission is to support healthy people, a healthy environment, and strong communities. The Urban Bird Treaty program will help us achieve all three of these goals by encouraging Seattle residents to be active and connect to nature through birding opportunities at local parks and open spaces, and by providing educational programs and volunteer opportunities that bring together diverse groups of residents, especially youth,” said Jesús Aguirre, Superintendent of Seattle Parks and Recreation.
“I am pleased to collaborate with our municipal, academic, and non-profit partners to designate Seattle as an Urban Bird Treaty City. Seattle has been an environmental leader of historic proportions, and the Urban Bird Treaty program helps build upon our rich tradition of conserving urban wildlife habitats. This program not only helps protect the vital Pacific Flyway—a migratory super highway for birds along the West Coast—it also supports new education opportunities for residents, especially young people, so they can learn about the unique birds and ecosystems of our beautiful city,” said Debra Juarez, Seattle City Councilmember and Committee Chair to Parks, Waterfront, Libraries, and Seattle Center.
Launched in 1999, the Urban Bird Treaty program emphasizes habitat conservation through invasive species control, native plant restoration, bird-safe building programs, bird and habitat monitoring, and education programs.
The celebration will be held near Lincoln Park’s north play area.
(NBP volunteers; photo provided by Kersti Muul, who’s in the front row, third from left)
Even if you’re not a full-fledged birder, you know West Seattle is a great place for bird-watching. And now it’s drawn a special designation related to that: Kersti Muul tells us that Lincoln Park is now part of Seattle Audubon‘s Neighborhood Bird Project:
The NBP started in 1995 and Lincoln Park is the first new addition in over a decade!
Basically, the NBP utilizes citizen science to monitor species diversity throughout the city of Seattle.
Audubon volunteers, under the guidance of a group leader for each park (I am the leader for Lincoln Park), conduct bird surveys once a month on a set date and time. The data we gather is then entered into a master database. The data are used to monitor urban bird abundance, assess the effectiveness of restoration projects, and to educate volunteers regarding their neighborhood habitat, phenology, etc.
Audubon encourages volunteers to pick a park that is in their neighborhood for this reason, as it makes them a stronger and better educated advocate for their locale. Anyone interested can contact Toby Ross, science manager at Seattle Audubon (tobyr@seattleaudubon.org).
You can find out more about the NBP here.
Seattle Audubon, by the way, is the source for the BirdWeb infopages we link to species names in the captions of the bird photos featured atop many morning previews on WSB (thanks to the wonderful local photographers who share them, some of whom are involved in the NBP) – BirdWeb provides a wealth of information about each species found in Washington, including what the birds look like, what they sound like, and where their habitats and ranges are.
(WSB photo)
ORIGINAL REPORT, 12:04 PM: Yes, the no-pets-on-the-beach law is enforced at Alki and other waterfront parks sometimes – and at least one citation recipient is unhappy about it. We took that photo this morning after someone called to tell us about the sign. A first-time violation will cost you $54, according to this list of city fines, which has the reminder that it’s “unlawful to permit any dog to run at large in any park, except in designated off-leash areas, OR unlawful to permit any dog to enter any public beach, swimming area or wading area, pond, fountain, stream, or organized athletic area.” We’re checking to see if Seattle Animal Shelter (aka “animal control”) has any stats on how many tickets it’s issued so far this year.
3:16 PM: Perhaps a coincidence, but while our information request to SAS has not yet been acknowledged, we received this news release from the city minutes ago:
Spring is blossoming and hatching in Seattle, and now is a particularly important time to ensure that immature wildlife have their best opportunity to flourish in the Northwest. Because of this, the Seattle Animal Shelter will be conducting emphasis patrols on all saltwater beaches in the city.
Dogs are not allowed on any of Seattle’s public saltwater beaches, whether leashed or unleashed. This law helps to protect the fragile ecosystem along our shorelines. Marine mammals, such as seal pups who are typically born in April, use the city’s beaches to rest and warm themselves. Shore birds also frequent our beaches. Wildlife that interact with dogs are less likely to reach adulthood.
Uniformed animal services officers will be patrolling city parks with a focus on saltwater beaches and may issue citations to violators.
If you would like to report Seattle beaches where dogs are frequently seen, please submit a service request here. You can also contact the shelter directly by calling 206-386-PETS (7387) or by visiting seattleanimalshelter.org.
3:44 PM: Our request for stats has been answered by Kara Main-Hester at Seattle Animal Shelter:
The Park District team started in 2016. Since the start of the program, they have written 905 violations and conducted 1002 patrols. (Data: 1/1/2016 – 3/31/2017). During that time, they wrote 29 citations at Alki parks (Alki Beach Park + Alki Playground) and 34 at Lincoln Park.
This morning also brought the annual egg hunt at Lincoln Park‘s south meadow, presented by Eastridge Church, which has branches in The Junction and on the Eastside, each one presenting a hunt with 40,000 treat-filled eggs promised between the two. Sometimes, just a few are enough to make a little one stop and consider:
The Eastridge event also offered other activities for kids, including face-painting.
10:23 AM: Seattle Parks sends word today that the West Seattle Stadium track (city photo at left) will be closed for a while this summer during its resurfacing project:
Seattle Parks and Recreation (SPR) is happy to announce that the design for the resurfacing of the West Seattle Stadium track is nearly complete and construction will begin this summer. During construction, the stadium track will be closed. SPR and the contractor hired for the project will work to minimize impacts to the neighborhood.
SPR hired DA Hogan as the lead design and engineering consultant for the project, which is located at 4432 35th Ave. SW, adjacent to the West Seattle Golf Course. This project will replace and resurface the existing rubberized track at the stadium.
The Seattle Park District provides $950,000 for this major maintenance project. Approved by Seattle voters in 2014, the Seattle Park District provides more than $47 million a year in long-term funding for SPR including maintenance of parklands and facilities, operation of community centers and recreation programs, and development of new neighborhood parks on previously acquired sites.
We have a followup question out to ask about how long – whenever it starts – the work is expected to last.
3:15 PM: Christina Hirsch from Parks replies:
We are finalizing documents to put this out to bid. We have a project window of May – end of August. The construction portion and closure will be approximately 7 weeks. We worked with our field scheduling group to identify this time. This track resurfacing project is a major maintenance project identified in our Asset Management Plan.
We are reaching out to the community now to let them know about the work. Once bids are open, we will be able to narrow down the exact construction schedule and we will be sure to share that with the community.
Many have asked about the disappearance of the longtime zipline/cable ride by Lincoln Park‘s south-end play area. Apparently it vanished, unexplained; we asked Seattle Parks if it was coming back, and spokesperson Christina Hirsch says no:
We’ve installed a new cable ride at the new Lincoln Park north end play area, near the wading pool. The south-end cable ride has been permanently removed. It did not meet current safety standards and was no longer maintainable.
The south-end play area will be renovated within the next five years.
The renovated North Play Area opened last October.
P.S. Somehow we can’t find a photo of the now-gone zipline/cable ride in our archives. YouTube, however, has immortalized many rides … here’s one clip from 2007 that clearly shows the entire installation.
The first-ever Your Voice, Your Choice: Parks and Streets process for what used to be the Neighborhood Park and Street Fund is now on to the next phase. We first told you in January about the chance to suggest ideas for these grants of up to $90,000, with $2 million to be spent citywide; then the city invited community members to review the suggestions – in City Council District 1, West Seattle/South Park, 211 came in – and now the Department of Neighborhoods has announced which 10 are moving on to the next phase of review. You’ll find them on the map above (which also includes the 60 from the six other council districts around the city – grab the map with your cursor and pull it up to see the rest of D-1, and click on any marker to bring up more information about that specific proposal); here’s the list:
Project #17-006: Trail improvements at Roxhill Park
Neighborhood: South DelridgeProject #17-014: Improve 5-way intersection at Dallas Ave S, 12th Ave S, and Thistle St
Neighborhood: South ParkProject #17-019: Bus stop improvements on Barton St
Neighborhood: South DelridgeProject #17-031: Crossing Improvement along SW Henderson St
Neighborhood: Highland ParkProject #17-044: Improved crossings on S. Cloverdale
Neighborhood: South ParkProject #17-068: Crossing improvements at 35th Ave & SW Dawson St
Neighborhood: West SeattleProject #17-085: Add sidewalks to S. Sylvan Way
Neighborhood: High PointProject #17-145: Install marked crosswalk along SW Alaska St.
Neighborhood: JunctionProject #17-153: Install crosswalk near Youngstown
Neighborhood: DelridgeProject #17-163: Traffic-calming on Avalon Way
Neighborhood: Fairmount
The proposals that make the final cut after SDOT and Parks reviews will go for district-by-district community votes in June; the city promises more information on that when it gets closer.
(Delridge Community Center file photo from seattle.gov)
4:40 PM: Heads up if you use Delridge Community Center – it’s closed through Friday, according to Seattle Parks, which says the closure is for “routine maintenance.” But the center is scheduled to reopen by Saturday, when its annual egg hunt is set for 10 am. (Here’s our list of all this week’s egg hunts, services, and other seasonal activities!)
ADDED MONDAY NIGHT: Delridge CC’s Angie Ramirez tells WSB that the maintenance includes refinishing of the center’s hardwood floors in the gym and multipurpose room, and “other deep cleaning of the center.”
West Seattle/South Park residents proposed more than 200 ways to spend almost $300,000 in city grant money for park/street projects … and tonight is your last chance to help decide which ones will move on to a vote. From Jenny Frankl at the Department of Neighborhoods:
This will be the final meeting to decide what projects will move forward. Meeting kicks off @ 5:30 p.m. @ the Southwest Branch of the Seattle Public Library (9010 35th Ave SW).
*If you are just now plugging into this process, first and foremost, welcome! Secondly, just wanted to quickly catch you up – In the previous three meetings for District 1, each D1 project that has been submitted has been reviewed and scored twice (with the exception of those listed below). This meeting tomorrow will be to select from the projects that received the highest scores from those two reviews.
*For those of you who have attended one of these prior meetings, this meeting will be slightly different than the others so far, so I also wanted to give you a better idea of what to expect.
We will be reviewing three sets of projects, that you can find on the updated District 1 Project Map:
*The projects that were scored the highest in the previous District 1 project development meetings and indicated by green pinpoints
*The projects that were scored twice, but the two scores varied greatly are indicated by yellow pinpoints
*The projects that still need to receive their second review are indicated by red pinpoints
In tonight’s meeting, you all will review the orange & red projects first. Once we receive their additional scores, we will tally up their collective scores, and add the highest scored projects to the other list of projects that have scored highly in this process. You will all then review and prioritize the overall list of highly-scored projects.
The goal for the meeting is to select 10 of these projects that will first advance to SDOT/Parks for a thorough feasibility and cost assessment, and then on to the ballot in June!
Anyone is welcome to participate tonight, whether you’ve been to one of the previous review meetings or not.
As first reported here back in January, this is the city’s new process replacing what had long been vetting of proposals and projects through neighborhood-district councils, until the mayor’s decision last year to cut the city’s ties with, and nominal funding for, those groups. (The two in West Seattle, Southwest and Delridge, are continuing on as independent organizations meeting monthly.)
(WSB photo from Adventure Day 2016)
Camp Long Environmental Learning Center is where you want to be tomorrow – no matter what the weather, it’s Youth Outdoor Adventure Day! 10 am-3 pm:
Youth Outdoor Adventure Day will be a free day of fun activities open to the public, for boys and girls aged 10-20. Planned activities include: archery, high-wire challenge course, rock climbing, rifle shooting, dutch oven cooking, orienteering, fire building, tomahawk throwing, geocaching, robotics, and s’more!
Boy Scout and Girl Scout Troops will host fun activities designed to excite youth who are not already involved in Scouting, and give them a taste of what Scouting is all about. Existing Scouts can bring their friends and participate in all of the activities, or people can come on their own to meet local Troops and Scouts and enjoy the day on their own.
This is a friendly reminder in case you missed it in the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar. Camp Long is at 5200 35th SW – if you’re not walking, biking, or taking the bus, consider a shuttle up the hill from West Seattle Stadium to the north.
Someone asked us that question recently, recalling that a miniature-golf course was supposed to have been built at the city-owned West Seattle Golf Course by now.
Indeed, it was on page 101 of the 757-page 2015-2016 budget plan announced by Mayor Murray in September 2014.
We published a followup about it two days later, with more details from the Parks Department, including that it “would be a replacement for the driving range that had been planned for the golf course.” (The driving-range plan was canceled amid a wave of concerns in 2011, after a quarter-million dollars had been spent on its design.)
In late 2015, we checked on the project’s status. Parks told us that the miniature-golf course was in the “planning, permitting, and budgeting stages” and that a community meeting was expected soon.
And that was the last we heard of it. 2016 went by. And then, here in early 2017, a reader question. We took it to Parks, and spokesperson Rachel Schulkin replied:
I have talked with our team here at Parks and Recreation about the mini golf project at West Seattle Golf Course.
What I have learned is that project is indefinitely on hold as the funding set aside for this development were required to address the emerging safety issues at the Jefferson Park golf course on Beacon Hill.
Recently there has been an increase in safety concerns from golf-ball trespass due to the age and decline of the trees that surround the golf course. The money originally slated for the mini golf is now held in reserve to go toward addressing these imminent safety issues.
We found a mention of the Jefferson problem in a course newsletter from last June, citing ball-trespass problems after “numerous trees” along the course were “removed or topped.” The newsletter also said that the city and course operator were “working toward a permanent solution” but didn’t get into funding details. We so far haven’t found any previous public mention of the plan to shelve the West Seattle miniature-golf course plan and move the money elsewhere.
–Tracy Record, WSB editor
ORIGINAL REPORT, 9:13 AM: At 9:30 this morning, the City Council’s Parks, Seattle Center, Libraries, and Waterfront Committee agenda includes a Parks Department request for approval to seek state grants for three boating-related projects, including one at West Seattle’s Don Armeni Boat Ramp. From the slide deck for the meeting, here are the details:
The grant would cover two-thirds of the $1.5 million cost; the city funding comes from the voter-approved Park District levy. You can watch the discussion live during this morning’s committee meeting via Seattle Channel, online or on cable channel 21, and you can find more details of the meeting via its agenda, here.
10:56 AM: The council-committee meeting is over. Parks got approval to pursue the grants. The briefing included an explanation that of the three projects for which those grants are being sought, Don Armeni – the only one in West Seattle – is the highest priority, because waves have caused so much damage to the old floating docks. So even if the grants aren’t received, the committee was told, the Don Armeni project will happen anyway.
The next Seattle Parks play area set for renovation in West Seattle is in High Point. Two public meetings have just been announced so you can see and talk about the design options, and whether or not you can make one or both of those meetings, the Parks Department has an online survey up about the project right now. You can answer the survey here. The meetings are both at High Point Community Center (6920 34th SW), both on Saturday afternoons, 1-3 pm February 25th and 1-3 pm April 8th. The project – which is south of HPCC, near the tennis courts – has $700,000 in funding from the Seattle Park District levy.
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