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The first thing that strikes you when strolling the beautiful central walkway of Seattle University is how utterly removed it feels from the surrounding urbanity. Not to say this is bad, its a great place to escape the chaos of our modern metropolis. But when you look at Seattle University from either 12th or Broadway you can't help but feel like your looking at its back; its as if the University has no interest in the community it calls home. But according to Director of Facilities Michael Kerns, over the next few years SU hopes to reshape itself and become an integral part of the rest of the neighborhood. The area around SU was entirely different when the college first began. Much of the land was industrial, or owned by the city. In this context SU worked hard to create a welcoming place in the midst of its campus. But now, as the surroundings have become much more dynamic Kerns says its time that SU became a more prominent part of the neighborhood.
Nothing embodies this more than SU's new Admissions and Alumni Building, or as Kerns likes to put it, the "relationship" buidling. He says the building was designed to promote a comfortable environment for anyone engaging with Seattle University. Unlike most of the University's buildings, the A&A building actually faces the commercial street of 12th Ave. With a minimal set-back and lots of transparent glass windows, the building stands in stark contrast to the University Services Building, set far off the street and nestled in thick landscaping. The corner of the A&A building was designed as a community gathering space. The layout, with tables on one end, couches on the other, and benches around the perimeter, allow it to easily accommodate any style of community event. The huge windows are intended to engage the outside world, allowing people to easily see whats going on inside, and even join if its public. Even before next week's official opening, at least 3 different community groups from Capitol Hill and the Central District have held events here. SU has also agreed to offer all future Capitol Hill Design Review meetings in the building, a much better venue than the hard-to-find classrooms somewhere in Seattle Central Community College.
Other features of the building also embody the community spirit. Much of the space that faces 12th Ave is a public gallery with paintings and art pieces visible from the street. People are invited to come in and view the art anytime during building hours. In the back of the building there is also a small public plaza with an entrance on Marion. While there are design features that delineate the building space from the public right-of-way there is no fence or gate that is closed after hours. While the A&A building is the most visible, Kerns points out that there have been other projects SU has done over the summer to improve its presence in the neighborhood. The old Coca-Cola building on 14th Ave was turned into the Interim Library, compelling students to explore a bit farther out than SU's central campus. They also painted Ballermine Residence Hall, hoping to break up its imposing facade. SU is already in the process of constructing another building on 12th. A new student housing structure is going up at 12th and Cherry and will have retail uses as well as open up to the new park on the lot just to the South. As reported earlier there are also plans to adapt the huge warehouse at12th and Madison into a more pedestrian-friendly structure.
Mitch Album is the guy who wrote "Tuesday's with Morrie" and "The Five People you meet in Heaven" He just published a book that explores his journey of faith through the lens of an old Rabbi who asked him to write his eulogy when he passed away, along with a new and unusual friend who pastors an African-American church in Detroit. He is speaking at 7:00 pm at St. Marks for free and will then be interviewed by a handful of local faith and cultural leaders, and then of course he will be signing books. Here is the event website: http://bit.ly/1Nes47 
I attended the HIV/AIDS Vigil on Sat, Oct 10 at Seattle Central Community College for Seattle’s LGBT Equality Weekend. At about 150-200 people, it was smaller than I expected but educational and inspiring. A local Cornish College singer/songwriter kicked off the vigil with a beautiful and eerie song. After, speaker Michael Dunlap informed us about the Rise N’ Shine program on Capitol Hill. Founded in 1988, Rise N’ Shine provides stability for children and teens affected by HIV and AIDS through emotional and educational support programs. You can volunteer to become a mentor to children and teens who have been orphaned by the disease, who live with someone with the disease, or who have been infected with the disease themselves. AIDS has been haunting us for nearly four decades and we have yet to find a cure. Research is being done to find a vaccine, but it desperately needs volunteers. A video promoting volunteering in the research study provided answers and ways to get involved. I was also shocked to learn...
Design for Livability: Sustainable Cities Conference "This forum brings our region’s planning, design, development, and civic leaders and advocates together to better understand what we can do to build a stronger future. Today, more than ever, we are faced with environmental and economic challenges that will define our generation, shape our future, and test our resilience. Join leaders from across the region as we tackle these challenges head-on and demonstrate solutions to building more livable, walkable, and healthier communities." Link: https://www.aiaseattle.org/sustainablecities Cost (after Oct. 8) $225 AIA, APA, ASLA, CLC Members  Murder in the Graveyard Originally uploaded by Photo Munki Now, I'm not trying to belittle Bruce Lee here. He was a great actor/martial artist/man and paying homage to his resting place is no doubt a worthy cause. But sometimes I feel like he eclipses the fact that Lake View Cemetery has a whole list of historic Seattle celebrities worth visiting. And who might they be you ask? Check out this handy google map for my list of famous Lake View gravesites. If you know of one that didn't make my list, you can also add it!
November's election is coming up fast and if you haven't made it to a candidate forum yet, the CHCC is giving you one more opportunity to talk with and hear from the two candidates running for Seattle mayor. The focus of this forum will be quality of life, and the vitality of neighborhoods. Topics will include the relationship between city government and neighborhoods, transportation priorities, and issues of land use and open space. The format will be slightly different than most candidate forums. Instead of a debate-like format, the candidates will answer a set of questions separately so that they are unable to hear each other's answers. The idea is to allow the community a more in-depth conversation with each candidate and then draw distinctions themselves.
 Madison Street cable car derailed in snow, 1929 Originally uploaded by Seattle Municipal Archives Lots of talk of trains and tracks and where to put things like streetcar maintenance facilities on Capitol Hill and nearby First Hill these days. Here is a look back at the turn of the 20th Century on Capitol Hill and the intertwined growth of the city's cable car system and what would eventually become Seattle University. Historian Dotty DeCoster originally wrote this article for the Capitol Hill Times where it appeared in 2008 but it is not available on the Web. She is able to share her work with CHS and we're happy to feature her take on the Hill's history. We last featured DeCoster's work in this piece: What Broadway mixed-use was like 100 years ago 1891 was an extraordinary year for Seattle. J.M. Thompson’s Madison Street Cable Car was completed, providing steam-powered transportation for people and freight up the steep hill from downtown and on through the woods and stump farms to Lake Washington. Also in 1891, Jesuit education began in Seattle at the original site of Immaculate Conception Church near the south east corner of Madison Street and Broadway. Now part of Seattle University, the 1910 car barn at 10th and Madison has been transformed. This low, brick clad building at the 10th Avenue entrance to campus is easy to miss . During its 98 years, however, dynamic changes have transformed the building and the neighborhood. The original car barn and steam power house for the Madison Street Cable Car was located on the south side of Madison Street between 20th and 21st Avenues. The Seattle Electric Company, a local branch of the Boston firm Stone & Webster, purchased the Company along with most of the other cable and street car lines in 1900, and converted to electricity. A new power house and car barn was designed for Madison Street electric transportation during 1910, and the building in the photograph was constructed on the south side of E. Madison Street in the triangle at 10th Avenue: 1025 E. Madison. The building housed electrical generators, as did it’s twin” at 10th and James Street, and provided facilities for maintenance of both cable and street cars until 1940. From about 1911 on, the cable car ran up from downtown to 14th Avenue and streetcars took folks the rest of the way out to the Lake. Meanwhile, the Society of Jesus worked for decades to develop a Jesuit college just east of Broadway near Madison. Beginning with a Catholic school for children at Immaculate Conception in 1891, the struggle continued until 1931. In 1904 Immaculate Conception Church moved up to 18th Avenue. The Catholic population of Seattle increased significantly in the first decade of the twentieth century, and by 1910 Seattle College had an enrollment of 200, 16 men in the college department. Like the early University of Washington, Seattle College had to teach secondary school to prepare students for college level coursework. World War I, however, was hard on the College, and in 1918 college level studies were suspended. During 1919, Jesuit education moved up Broadway to Roanoke and continued there until 1931, creating Seattle Preparatory School while still teaching college-level courses to a few young men. In 1931, Seattle College came back to Broadway and Madison. The campus, and around it the old First Hill mansions, was disintegrating into the blackberry vines. Yet a small group of extraordinary Jesuit teachers re-established Seattle College that Fall, and Father James McGoldrick organized a new evening extension school” available to women as well as men. By 1936 the 4-year program at Seattle College was officially certified by the University of Washington – the vision to create a Jesuit College was finally realized. In 1948 Seattle College became Seattle University. The Seattle Municipal Railway, however, was in trouble. The City had purchased the Seattle Electric Company street and cable car systems in 1918. In 1936 this included ”410 streetcars on 26 electric routes, and three cable railways” (HistoryLink.org essay 2707) and the City had a $4 million deficit and still owned half of the principal on its 1918 bonds”. In May 1939, the [federal] Reconstruction Finance Corporation loaned Seattle $10 million to pay off the streetcar debt” and the last streetcar completed its final run on April 13, 1941.” On April 21, 1941, [Father Francis] Corkery [Seattle College President] paid $9,000 for the old Madison Street cable car terminal as a home for the new School of Engineering, then being organized by Father Edmund McNulty, SJ.” (Seattle University; A Century of Jesuit Education” by Walt Crowley, Seattle University, 1991) In 1951, Seattle University conducted a complete remodel of the building, creating classrooms in the basement and on the first floor, new plumbing, tile floors, a central heating plant, and covering the outside walls with brick. In 1952, the City vacated a portion of 10th Avenue, creating an entrance to the campus just west of the building. Subsequently, a portion of E. Spring Street was also vacated and remains a walkway on campus. Now the building serves students of the Fine Arts. The entrance is on the former Spring Street side of the building and a plaque in the entry commemorates the car barn. Documents and records of the old car barns are hard to find. I recommend particularly the Seattle Municipal Archives and the Puget Sound Regional branch of the Washington State Archives as sources, the Museum of History and Industry for rare photographs, and the Seattle Public Library Seattle Room for books, maps, and background information. From today's LGBT Equality March & Rally:
This is the first in what will be a weekly series of ambient shots around Capitol Hill. Every week I'll pick a different spot and stay for about 10 minutes to create a 'snapshot' of that location at that moment. One of the best things about living on Capitol Hill is that no matter when/ where you are, there is always so much happening around you, most of which we probably never notice. Hopefully I can capture some of that through these snapshots. Got a good spot to recommend? Let me know in the comments or in the forum thread that I'll be starting soon. Thanks for watching. 
Starting at 2pm today, thousands of LGBT folks, allies and friends will head to Volunteer Park for a Rally for LGBT Equality. The rally will conclude will a march from Volunteer Park to the Federal Courthouse. Organizers are expecting over 4000 marchers today. The march is planned to coincided with the National Equality March happening in Washington, DC and in cities all across America. Confirmed speakers include Shaun Knittel, Sarah Warren, Jamie Pedersen, Jessie Hagopian, and more! For more details, go to www.seattleoutprotest.org Seattle Dept. of Transportation has posted the following traffic advisory for the march today. The march will go from Volunteer Park, down Broadway, down Pine, turn right on 7th and end at the Federal Courthouse. Expect Broadway to be closed from 3:30 to 4:30ish. http://onthemove.seattle.gov/2009/10/09/seattle-lgbt-equality-march-oct-11/
T.J. Langley, an actor and apartment manager, who resided in Capitol Hill was found dead yesterday afternoon in the Glacier Peak Wilderness. CHS partner, the Seattle Times spoke to the Chelan County Sheriff's Office regarding their search:
According to Lt. Agnew, it was unclear whether Langley was on a marked trail when he fell. Langley worked as an apartment manager for Northwest Apartments on Capitol Hill and was also a member of Capitol Hill's Repertory Actors Theatre. A decade ago, Langley survived a brutal mauling by a mother bear while hiking in Yellowstone Park. "A thoughtful, well-crafted new schools blog, Seattle Education 2010, raises questions about just what, exactly, city school leaders have in mind in the reassignment of students, schools and tax revenues." By Rick Anderson of the Seattle Weekly. http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2009/10/the_costl To view this website, see:
Northwest Film Forum Vermillion Bluebottle Art Gallery and Store The Anne Bonny Image: creations from Pilli Pilli, available at Blue Bottle Gallery. 
This was last Friday afternoon, and Goyer was giving me an on-the-spot demonstration of Redfin's iPhone app (click here to launch iTunes), along with some insights into a couple other apps that deal with real estate and neighborhoods. His day job is actually at Redfin, where he works in marketing, but in certain circles he's better known as the author of Urbnlivn, one of Seattle's best condo blogs. Like Tim Ellis's Seattle Bubble, Urbnlivn was a product of Seattle's housing boom, but whereas most real estate and condo blogs were little more than marketing efforts by real estate agents, Goyer won his readers by offering thoughtful (and frequently critical) analysis of both... The units in the First Church of Christ, Scientist townhouse project have hit the open market. Here's a new listing we found for one of the cheapest units -- at a cold hard $995k
CHS took a tour of the place while in the neighborhood -- the 16th at Howell park project is conveniently next door -- and it's definitely worth going through if for no other reason than to gawk. Here's a picture of the central common area -- gotta think there will be some impressive neighborhood parties thrown there.
With a march paralleling the National March for Equality in D.C. and workshops and activities bringing the community together, organizers of this weekend's LGBT Equality Weekend on are preparing for thousands to come to Capitol Hill to support equality. "It's beautiful that so many people from such diverse backgrounds [can] make this weekend happen," said Carmen Rivera, spokesperson for Seattle outProtest and one of the organizers behind the weekend's events. Pre-march activities on Saturday include community workshops on LGBT issues, as well as an education and awareness event for HIV & AIDS. Rivera said that the events have room for about 100 people, with all welcome to the free gatherings. The "Thinking Queerly" workshop to be held Piggot Auditorium, with an AIDS vigil in the evening at SCCC. The Sunday march begins at 2:00 p.m., starting from Volunteer park, and concluding in a rally at the Federal Courthouse. The weekend will close with a meet-up and mixer at Sole Repair back on the Hill. The march's significance is two-fold, falling on National Coming Out day, as well being intertwined with the fight for Ref. 71. While Rivera and the rest of the crew clearly support 71, she said the event was planned well before the issue made the ballot. "Our current message is still equality within all people." Seattle outProtest has been planning this event since its creation in June, when it organized 200 people to stand against the Westboro Baptist Church's visit to Seattle. Coordinator Eduardo Brambila along with Rivera and 40 volunteers aged "from 17 to 71" have been scrambling all summer to create what looks to be an important weekend of acceptance and justice. "We all feel very passionate about these issues, and that is where the drive is coming from," said Rivera. Planned Events include: • Thinking Queerly- Educational Workshops, Saturday October 10th, 9:30am, Seattle University
• HIV/AIDS Vigil, Saturday October 10th, 6:30pm, Pine and Broadway
• Rally/March, Sunday October 11th, 2pm, Beginning at Volunteer Park and marching to the Federal Courthouse
• Generation Q Mega Mixer, Sunday October 11th, 6:30pm, The Sole Repair Shop
All events are free and open to the general public, with the exception of the Generation Q Mega Mixer which is aimed at young people 23 and under. For more information, please visit www.seattleoutprotest.org for local details, and www.equalityacrossamerica.org for national updates.
It's tempting to simply slap up the CHS post from the last Sound Transit construction update meeting and call it a night -- much of the content from Thursday's meeting, we had heard before. But there was some news to be had:
We'll follow up with more about the marketing and business mitigation side of things and how the whole brand thing will play out when we have a chance to ask Sound Transit more about it. As Sound Transit's Brooke Belman said during the meeting, "Capitol Hill isn't really a neighborhood that wants to be branded." CHS asked no questions Thursday night -- we get plenty of opportunities to pester government employees without cutting into your time. CHS saw this tweet yesterday:
And wondered: Is Capitol Hill's Google Maps irritating mislabel also fixed? To refresh your memory, here's how Google Maps used to display the info for Cal Anderson Park :
As CHS neighbor kayzel wrote at the time, "The map incorrectly calls the park Bobby Morris Reservoir (there has never been such a thing) and indicates a large blue open reservoir which also doesn't exist (the reservoir was buried in 2003-05)." She'll be happy to know that Google -- or really, Google's map info provider -- got it half right. The park is now labeled Cal Anderson Park.
Reminder that Sound Transit will be hosting a public forum tonight at Seattle Central to go over the latest updates for the Capitol Hill light rail station construction and tunneling. To refresh your memory, one of the big topics tonight: a crucial noise variance that will allow Sound Transit to work 24x7.
Also to be discussed, community use of the empty lot at Broadway and John and updates from ST's perspective on the streetcar project. We can also check in on whether any Sound Transit officials are going to take us up on the offer to move in across the street from the station construction site. A man allegedly trying to buy drugs was beaten and robbed this morning near Broadway and Roy, according to this report from the Seattle Police Department. The full report is below. As you can see, it's a case of not very friendly customer service -- the alleged robber and beater is also an alleged drug dealer. UPDATE: The Seattle Police Department's public information officers maintain a blog where these kinds of reports are posted. They typically use it to post updates on bigger cases. They typically are a little slow -- it's faster to call or e-mail -- but they're getting faster. Sometimes, stories like this robbery make it in the mix.
What's interesting to CHS is how the SPD chooses the cases it features. This robbery was deemed important enough to warrant the entry. This attack, to pick one obvious example, was not. What's also interesting is to watch our media counterparts process this kind of report. Here's the write-up in the PI about robbery. Look familiar? You might notice that CHS has started to feature SPD reports in-full in its regular coverage -- here's a recent example. We don't see a reason to re-write these -- unless the report is really unclear -- if we don't have additional information to add. Don't misunderstand -- CHS will dig deep and keep digging when there's a story that needs to be told. But when we're only passing on the SPD's side of the story, why not be honest about it? In what just might be the last in-store at its 15th Ave location, Sonic Boom Capitol Hill hosts Dutchess & The Duke for a free show tonight at 6:30. You might have seen our previous post about the Boom neon rocket having already been taken down in preparation for SB's move to the other side of the Hill. The new shop is slated to open November 7. UPDATE:
UPDATE: Johnson said the work of art -- a colorful abstract original by Pacific Northwest artist William Cumming -- was found outside the clinic's E. Olive offices Monday morning, leaned next to the garbage. "Somebody couldn't figure out how to sell it or changed their mind," Johnson said. "Who else is going to be willing to take it?" "It's hanging behind our front desk again," Johnson said. This isn't the first time a Cumming work has been lost on Capitol Hill only to be found again. In 2008, a lost painting of his at Meany School was discovered hidden away in storage:
You can read more about Cumming in this HistoryLink article that refers to him as the 'Willie Nelson of painting' and check out this Regina Hackett article for a good example of his work. Johnson said Sound Mental Health will be taking extra precautions to make sure the painting doesn't tempt another would-be art thief including mounting the painting to the wall. CHS asked to photograph the painting but Sound Mental Health denied the request. Original Report: The target: a painting hanging behind the front desk at E. Olive St. counseling services provider, Sound Mental Health. According to a Seattle Police Department incident report, sometime during the night of Thursday, September 17th, somebody entered the front desk area, lifted the art walk from the wall and walked off with the $50,000 painting. The only evidence found at the scene: a black scrunchie found on the ground below where the painting was hanging. There is not much information on the work of art that was taken other than the estimated value and its location when stolen. The name of the artist is redacted in the report. We are trying to learn more about the painting and the theft from Sound Mental Health. According to the report, the administrative assistant was questioned and said he left the building at 5:15 PM Thursday night and locked the doors behind him. There were 'several' Sound Mental employees still in the building when he left, according to the report, and each had keys to the locked front desk area. A cleaning crew also worked in the building the night of the theft. Officers found no signs of forced entry. CHS has contacted SPD to find out if there have been any breaks in the case -- we're waiting to hear back. This Friday morning at 4:30 AM, the moon is going to explode -- and you'll want to be in Cal Anderson Park to see it.
... is throwing a bit of a party in the park early Friday a.m. -- and everybody (especially a body with a telescope) is invited. Here's the scoop on the man-made celestial event that's going down:
Think we can all agree that sharrows barely qualify as news any more. The debate can meander on about their symbolic value vs. actual value of making space for bicyclists on our roads. But we felt the painting of sharrows on Aloha between 15th Ave and 19th Ave deserved notice. It's where this bike 'accident' turned into this controversy. We also missed this little stretch of Aloha when we wrote about the new sharrow plans for Capitol Hill last spring. So let it be noted. Aloha hill between 19th Ave and 15th -- and beyond to 10th -- is to be shared. Here is the complete bicycle master plan recommendation map from SDOT. Download the attached PDF to see the whole Hill and zoom in, etc.
Below, via a speedy E-mail from S-DOT's Ethan Melone, are the rules for the recently funded First Hill Streetcar project, issued on October 5th. Note especially the requirement for double-tracking: The Project will be double-tracked, although termini or exclusive-lane segments may feature a short segment of single track if this will not impede service objectives.
Will the double-tracking requirement make the plans for a loop route impossible? A single-track system obviously just has one set of rails and the trains shuttle back and forth. If the two sets of tracks are on separate streets, does that count as a double-track system? The wikipedia article mentions some "non-parallel" double-track systems, but those were constrained by geography. My thanks to Jim Erickson of First Hill for pointing... |
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