Seattle U library reopens, completing another piece of rapidly changing campus

A year and a half ago the Seattle University library was temporarily relocated as the school launched a 37,000 square foot expansion and remodeling of the school’s Lemieux Library building.

That remodeling is now complete, the construction fences have come down, and a shining new facade has been revealed to the rest of the campus as the new school year begins. If the 60’s and 70’s were the dark era of academic architecture, it seems like the new millenium could be a golden era for campus construction.

The plaza in front of the building includes a water feature and small depression that provides a natural system for stormwater treatment.

And perhaps most importantly for foot-oriented commuters in the Central District, Columbia Street is now completely reopened on campus, restoring the direct connection to Swedish Hospital and the rest of First Hill.

UPDATE 9/30/2010: Seattle U is celebrating their new library:

Please join us this Thursday as we dedicate the Lemieux Library and McGoldrick Learning Commons, a historic moment in Seattle University history. Our celebration will include remarks by President Sundborg, S.J., and Archbishop Brunett as well as self-guided tours of the library and our new (and stunning) art collection.

Library Opening

11:30 a.m.: Opening remarks and blessing, library plaza

12:00 p.m.: Library tours, refreshments and festivities

Detailed schedule of events.

With its opening on September 30, the Lemieux Library and McGoldrick Learning Commons, creates a bold new nexus for today’s students. The much-anticipated and re-imagined library is expected to become the campus hub for students, faculty and academic activities.

At a cost of $55 million, the renovation and new construction increases the square footage by 50 percent to more than 125,000 square feet. Read more about this major initiative.

See for yourself.
The new library and learning commons is the largest investment in academics and the biggest capital project in SU’s 120 years. Click here to watch a time lapse video of construction from start to finish.

“The opening of the Lemieux Library and McGoldrick Learning Commons transforms learning, teaching and the campus experience for our students. Imagine all the personal formation, learning successes and empowering experiences that will take place here for years to come. This is a bright, new dimension of our progress as a university of the highest academic quality.”

– Stephen V. Sundborg, S.J., President, Seattle University

Woman stabbed near Boren & Pike

Tonight a woman was stabbed by a man near Boren & Pike who then ran off towards the east.

The victim’s injuries appear to be non-life-threatening, as she was being treated by AMR medics instead of Medic 1.

Police were seen interviewing witnesses mid-block there, next to an eastbound bus stop.

We’re working to get more information, an will be uploading more photos soon.

Update: The suspect was described as a black male, 30s, 5’10”, well-built, 175-180lbs, black beanie, baggy black jeans. A man matching that description was spotted by police at Harvard & E. Pine and stopped. However, it’s not yet clear if an arrest was made.

City Council expresses strong support for trolley buses as Metro considers replacement of fleet

Wednesday the City Council transportation committee and chair Tom Rasmussen hosted a lunchtime presentation on trolley buses and their potential replacement by Metro. The transit agency is currently scoping a year-long study that will guide the county’s decision on whether to scrap the current trolley bus network and replace them with hybrid diesel buses.

The study is driven by the need to replace the current fleet of trolley buses in 2015 due to the upcoming end of “useful life” for the current buses. The main issues are cracking bodies in the 24-year-old articulated buses (which were previously repurposed from service in the bus tunnel), and outdated electrical systems in the more recent Gillig trolley buses, whose motors actually came out of trolley buses purchased in 1979.

A Metro project manager said that the study will compare a range of different bus technologies and look at the lifecycle costs and environmental impact between each, including:

  • Purchase price
  • Energy costs
  • Scheduling efficiency
  • Vehicle maintenance costs
  • Maintenance of overhead electrical network
  • Noise
  • Air quality
  • Climate change
  • Environmental justice
  • Pavement wear due to vehicle weight
  • Funding & federal grant implications

There was a full contingent of city council members present for the meeting, indicating the high degree of attention the trolley bus issue gets among the city leaders.

The issue of environmental impacts and risks for the cost of oil was a consistent issue brought up by members of the Council. Council member Richard Conlin strongly encouraged Metro to include a range of possible fuel costs in their analysis, which is one of the factors CDN highlighted in a story last month.

The Council also expressed a strong desire to work with Metro to keep the trolley network in place, specifically mentioning the possibility of offering lower electricity costs to the county. However, according to our analysis, electric costs are unlikely to have a large impact, and the idea of reworking the responsibility for trolley wire maintenance was not brought up.

Your chance to weigh in is next week when Metro will be holding a public meeting  to discuss the trolley bus replacement study.

SDOT also provided some interesting historical information on the trolley network:

  • The peak of the streetcar system was in 1936 when there was 410 streetcars running on 230 miles of track
  • Most streetcars in the city were turned into “trackless trolleys” when the street car tracks were torn up in 1941, with trolley buses reaching all corners of the city, including Green Lake, Maple Leaf, Ballard, and West Seattle
  • In 1963 the city limits were expanded to the north and south and the city decided it couldn’t afford to extend trolley bus wires into the new areas. They converted most lines to diesel buses, leaving only a 35 mile network on Queen Anne, Capitol Hill, and the Central District
  • In 1979 Metro had fully taken over the old Seattle bus system, and they bought a new bus fleet and expanded the trolley network to include Eastlake, the University District, Ballard, Rainier Avenue, and Beacon Hill.
  • The current trolley system covers a network of 70 miles, and was expanded as recently as last year

 

Community crime notes: Cops tout street robbery, car prowl busts but home burglaries climb

The East Precinct held its first monthly community crime meeting session at Seattle University’s Admission and Alumni building Thursday night. The meeting is a monthly opportunity for the community to receive updates on current police issues and the talk about the latest crime and safety incidents with SPD officials. Previously, most East Precinct Crime Prevention Coalition meetings had been held at the Seattle Vocational Institute near 23rd and Jackson. Here are the notes from the April meeting:

  • SPD touted its arrest of two alleged street robbers that CHS reported earlier this month. They’re still in jail on big bonds — including the teenage suspect — and the number of robberies has gone dramatically down since they were taken off the street. CHS will be reporting more on this as the legal process plays out.
  • A prolific car prowl suspect was arrested in March, and car prowls have gone down 46% since then. SPD reminds to never leave anything valuable in your car. It only takes the prowlers a few seconds to break a window and grab laptops, GPS, briefcases, or MP3 players. We’ll have more on this bust soon.
  • An arrest was made in a burglary case at Seattle U. The door to the dean’s office was pushed in, number of things taken including a laptop and a set of master keys. Alert cops saw a known suspect nearby at Broadway & Pike, searched him and found drugs on him and the set of master keys, which saved Seattle U a ton of money.
  • Residential burglaries are up significantly from last month, but still within the average range of 2009. 50% of residential break-ins don’t involve force, but come through unlocked doors or windows, SPD says. Crime prevention coordinator warns that “It’s not a lock if you don’t lock it up.”
  • Business burglaries are up significantly also, but within the approximate average. They spiked last month, back to average now
  • Auto thefts increased near the end of last year, but SPD has seen reduction every month until last month, where there as a slight increase
  • A Seattle U rep reported a surge in car prowls near campus.
  • Last year’s Drug Market Initiative made a serious improvement in the area around 23rd & Union last year. For six months neighbors around it marveled at how little drug dealing and associated loitering they saw in the area. But by March there were reports of things picking up again, though at a much lower level. A block watch captain said that residents around 24th & Union are seeing a “constant sales presence” now, including a lot of vehicle traffic of buyers from out of the neighborhood. The activity is still lower than before DMI, but the uptrend is worrying. Police officers in the area have noticed too. Lt. Sean O’Donnell said “We at SPD are certainly not blind to [that increase in drug activity]. We are taking appropriate actions, and rest assured that we are aware of that and we are working on it.”

SDOT recommends Broadway for streetcar — UPDATE: See SDOT recommendation report

In 2013 there will be a new streetcar on First Hill, connecting the Capitol Hill light rail station to the International District light rail station. And it’s looking more and more like that streetcar will be traveling on Broadway, and not on 12th Avenue to the east or further west on the First Hill.

We’ve learned that on Wednesday the mayor held a meeting that included all of the interested parties around the project, such as the hospitals, Seattle U, and community council representatives. In that meeting the mayor revealed that the city Department of Transportation has made a recommendation in support of the Broadway route, and attendees at the meeting report that the mayor indicated that he was leaning towards the Broadway route as well.

We’ve made an inquiry to the mayor’s office to confirm this and get a better read of his position, but so far have not heard back.

UPDATE 1:38 PM:
Thanks to neighbor George for onpassing this presentation from the SDOT meeting with details of their recommendation. Make sure to check out the last slide — looks like SDOT is also lining up behind the Aloha extension.

As we reported last month, the Broadway route came out with the lowest overall cost and reasonably high ridership. Comparatively, the 12th Avenue route cost a bit more (but still within the project budget) and had a slightly lower range of estimated ridership. The twisting, turning western routes through First Hill exceeded the project budget, but provided slightly higher ridership potential.

The final decision on the route will be decided by the Seattle City Council, and it’s anticipated that their decision could come as soon as April. 

Supporters of the 12th Avenue/Broadway couplet tell us that they’re still pulling for that option and will continue to try and gain the support of city leaders. 


View 1st Hill Streetcar – “Two-way Broadway” in a larger map

UPDATE 2:27 PM:
Here’s a statement from the Mayor’s office: 

SDOT has recommended a two-way Broadway Ave alignment for the First Hill street car. Earlier this week, Mayor McGinn hosted a meeting of First Hill and Capitol Hill stakeholders to hear their perspectives on the alignment options. It was a productive and open conversation. The Mayor is considering the SDOT recommendations and the input he heard from the community earlier this week and expects to send a proposed alignment to Council for their consideration within two weeks.

Ultra-efficient building planned for 15th & Madison

As was reported on this site last summer, the Bullitt Foundation had been planning to replace the small C.C. Attle’s building with “a building that performed a series of technically rigorous functions in geology, hydrology and solar applications.”

With the first design review scheduled for this week, we’ve got our first look at what they were talking about:

It’s a hyper-efficient five-story office building.  Overall the project would go beyond the standard 65′ height limit for that property, including an extra 10′ to allow more daylight into the five stories.

The preferred design outlines three separate commercial spaces at ground level with entrances off of 15th, and entrance to the offices up the hill on the Madison side:

The roof and south wall along Pike Street hold a ton of solar cells, good for up to 261,000 kilowatt-hours per year. The average single-family house consumes about 60,000 kilowatt-hours per year, so that would be enough to power more than four homes.

The developer is also exploring whether they could turn that block of 15th Avenue into a park boulevard, and remodel the small triangular McGilvra park across the street there to include different plants, more seating, and “an innovative wastewater and stormwater treatment system for the overall project.”

You can learn more and put in your comments at the design review this Wednesday.

Off the hill: Leschi under lockdown in Lakewood murder manhunt

Your intrepid CHS blogger is currently on the scene of a big SWAT operation in Leschi, just up from the business district along the water there. There’s been a multi-hour stand-off between police and a man who may be a suspect in today’s murder of four police officers in Lakewood south of Tacoma.

Our partner SeattleCrime.com has been on it from the beginning:

SPD patrol and SWAT officers surrounded a home in the Leschi neighborhood around 9:00 p.m. Sunday night after locating a person of interest sought in connection with a shooting in Parkland, WA in which four police officers were killed.

The home is on E Superior Street and Erie Avenue. Officers diverted Metro buses in the area, called in K9, police negotiators, armored vehicles, a mobile precinct, and the King County Sheriff’s Guardian One helicopter. Officers were called in from other precincts, and police completely locked down the neighborhood. “We’re using an abundance of caution,” SPD spokesman told reporters at the scene. “We have to go on the assumption that anyone may be involved in the events today may be armed and extremely dangerous.”

Police were looking for a 37-year-old felon, Maurice Clemmons, who police believe may be connected to the murder of four Lakewood police officers at a coffee shop near McChord air force base in the morning hours of November 30th. The owner of the home surrounded by SWAT officers appears to be related to Clemmons. A woman apparently dropped Clemmons off at the home earlier in the day, and later contacted police to tell them he was there.

More neighborhood-specific coverage at CentralDistrictNews.com

Central District News: ‘Person of interest’ in critical condition, name revealed

Our newspartners at The Seattle Times are reporting that the “person of interest” in last weekend’s police murder is in critical condition at Harborview with a wound to the head.

They’ve also proven that having sources and their phone numbers is much more productive than waiting for media briefings at crime scenes. As we reported earlier today, SPD detectives were in Tukwila to investigate a tip from a citizen in Officer Brenton’s murder:

The person who tipped police to the car said the man had only recently covered it and had been acting bizarrely, according to a law enforcement source.

The wounded man apparently has no felony history. He had recently laid off from his job as a security guard, according to the source.

The shooting happened just as the memorial service for Brenton was ending at Seattle’s KeyArena. Many of the officers who attended the memorial immediately left when they got word of the shooting, some rushing to Tukwila.

The Times is also reporting that two other men have been detained, and that they may have ties to the person of interest.

Read the whole story at SeattleTimes.com

Update: And now the 41 year old suspect is named in an update to the Seattle Times story:

Records show he was a student at Highline Community College. An adviser there said he was interested in criminal justice.

[The suspect] apparently has no felony history though he was caught speeding twice in Snohomish County, once inSeptember 2007 and again in March this year. Most recently he worked as a security guard, although he was recently laid off, according to source.

So far it seems like SPD’s psychological profile pretty much nailed this guy.

Update: SeattleCrime.com has a picture of Monfort.

Latest Stats Show Crime Up on Capitol Hill

The latest batch of crime stats from July have been released by the Seattle Police Department, showing a 17% increase over July of 2008. The uptick was led by increases in property crimes such as burglaries and thefts, while violent crimes were flat or down.

Here’s the details:

  • Assaults were down 6% vs July 2008
  • Robberies were unchanged
  • Burglaries were up 13%
  • Thefts were up 45%
  • Stolen Vehicles were down 35%

The biggest increase in crime was found in the C2 police beat, which runs east of Broadway between Roy & Pike St:

 

  • Crime was down 13% in beat C1
  • Up 68% in beat C2
  • Up 6% in beat E1
  • Up 29% in beat E2