CHS screwed up. Turns out, as this CHS commenter points out, there’s an additional $800,000 coming to Volunteer Park from the city’s parks levy.
The money is earmarked for a Volunteer Park playground upgrade. That’s the project we were originally looking into when we reported details of the $9 million in levy money going to infrastructure upgrades at the park’s Seattle Asian Art Museum. The $9 million will be used for “seismic and ventilation renovation” at the museum.
When we asked Parks about the levy, the only project the spokesperson provided details on was the SAAM work, telling CHS the park would “not gain any open space improvements.” But we are now told that the playground is indeed part of the levy plan — it’s just very early in the 6-year levy cycle so the project may not be started for years. UPDATE: Parks says current plan is for the playground work to be done in 2012. Yup, just in time for today’s newborn to enjoy the park as a 3-year-old.
The SAAM project is also on a long schedule. According to the Parks spokesperson, the $9 million is only 40% of the funds needed for renovation and the Seattle Art Museum must raise the remaining 60% itself before the work can be completed.