A brief post here on the Lincoln Park reservoir work we reported on yesterday that will require a portion of Cal Anderson park to be closed for more than a month beginning on Monday. Seattle Public Utilities spokesperson Andy Ryan said the work is not related to the leaks that occurred in other similar city reservoirs this summer. He's looking into how much of the park will be shut down for the work which is scheduled to last through December 11.

CHS examines some potential locations for new parks here

If you have ideas about where Capitol Hill's next park should be located, you might want to make time to attend tonight's October meeting of the Capitol Hill Community Council.

Chip Nevins, acquisitions planner for Seattle Parks will be on hand to discuss finding space for a new park on Capitol Hill. CHS wrote about the process here.

Assume the council will also spend some time discussing last minute preparations for Saturday's mayoral candidates forum at Seattle University.

Here is tonight's complete agenda:

Capitol Hill Community Council
7-9pm on October 15, 2009
Cal Anderson Park
Cal Anderson Shelter House

October General Meeting Agenda

 

Officer Introductions & Welcome – 2 min

Open Floor – 15 min

September Meeting Minutes/Finance Report – 8 min

Committee Reports

- Open Space – 5 min

- Policy & Planning – 10 min

- Community Events – 5 min

Discussion Topics

Guest Speaker: Sandra Fann, Daniele Dunjic & Rebecca Sadinsky, WSDOT - 20 min

Discussion on SR 520 Bridge Replacement & HOV program.

Guest Speaker: Chip Nevins, Acquisition Planner, Seattle Parks & Recreation - 20 min

Discussion on potential properties to be acquired for new parks.

Guest Speaker: John Taylor, Government Relations Manager, CleanScapes - 20 min

Discussion on new neighborhood waste reduction reward program.

As we first reported last week, Seattle Parks has restarted the engine on the public process to name Capitol Hill's two new parks. The Parks press release is below. CHS picked up the best suggestion it has heard yet for a name for the 16th at Howell project at the park's groundbreaking ceremony this weekend. Iconic Hill scarf dancer Boe Oddisey suggests the park be named for Gray Lambert, the activist nearby Lambert House is named for. Here are ideas from recent CHS comments:

16th and Howell:

• Shannon Harps Park
• Desmond Tutu Park
• Queen City Park
• Emerald City Park
• Parkcrest Park
• Maidan Park
• Flattop Park
• Mia Zapata Park
• Riot Park
• Seven Hills Park
• Capitolinus Park
• Second Hill Park
• Lambert Gray Park

Summit and John:

• Paradise Park
• Summit Slope Park
• Wayside Park
• Rest Stop Park

A group of neighbors, gardeners, poets and parks employees gathered in a paved parking lot Saturday afternoon to celebrate the start of construction on a new Capitol Hill park. Community members were encouraged to bring a card with their favorite word or line from a poem or play to add to a poetry tree. Two cans of spray marking paint were also handed out and attendees were encouraged to leave a message on the pavement. A few wrote their names. Someone made a large 'Yay for parks' marking.

That was about as close to actually breaking ground as things got. The afternoon featured a few speeches, some poetry readings and an occasional blustery burst of fall wind. It was noted that the park still doesn't have a name and that the community would be invited to start providing suggestions. CHS asked one Capitol Hill notable in attendance who he would like to see the park named after. Boe Oddisey -- the Capitol Hill scarf dancer -- said his pick would be Gray Lambert, the man nearby Lambert House is named for. CHS also...

Anybody want to share your poem online? Ceremony starts at 4 PM.

Purple Mark
Originally uploaded by Siege N. Gin

On Saturday, community members and city officials will gather in a parking lot at 16th and Howell to celebrate the start of construction on a new Capitol Hill park.

Only one problem: Nobody knows what to call it.

According to Paula Hoff of Seattle Parks neither of the two upcoming Capitol Hill parks have official names yet. Her department will be putting out a call for names, Hoff said, probably on Monday.

But why wait for Monday. We like to keep CHS neighbors out in front of this kind of stuff. Let the community group think begin. Here are some of the ideas we kicked around last fall when the process started (and was supposed to end):

Summit at John An angled, sloped walkway separating a grassy grade and community garden plots. With skateboard element and picnic area	Howell at 16th A level turf area in the middle of the site, bordered by a collective garden to the north and a crushed rock plaza and allee to the south
Non-Person Candidates Summit Park (literal) John Park (bad idea) Paradise Park (neighbor suggested) Starbucks Park (too corporate but if they write a check)	Non-Person Candidates First Church Park (too religious) Group Health Park (too medical) Capitol Hill Park (too obvious)

We've attached the general rule set from the Parks Department for guidelines to follow. Here are a few highlights:

7.5.2. In naming a park or facility, the Committee will consider geographical location, historical or cultural significance, distinctive natural or geological features, and the wishes of the community in which it is located.

7.5.3. In naming community centers and other facilities, the committee will give considerable weight to the names that reflect the geographic location that gives identity to the community.

7.5.4. Parks and recreation facilities may be named for a person subject to the following conditions: the person must be deceased for a minimum of three years, and the person must have made a significant positive contribution to parks, recreation, or culture in the community without which the park/facility may not exist, or in which the individual’s contributions enhanced a program or facility in an extraordinary way.

The City will bear the cost of the plaque or monument indicating the name of the individual for whom the facility is named.

Neighborhood activist and CHS contributor Andrew Taylor also set us straight on one key aspect of park naming rules -- the person doesn't necessarily have to be dead to be honored:

Homer Harris Park (on 24th, near the YMCA) was named after a living person: Dr. Harris attended the naming ceremony a few years ago.

An anonymous donor gave a megabuck or so for the project. Dr. Harris (who died recently) was a revered local African-American athlete and doctor.

Nonetheless, the rule HAS been broken, so if you do want to campaign for a park named after a living, or recently dead, person, there is a precedent.

That opens things up for Purple Mark -- who is very, very alive.

While we're already busy planning where the next park developed on Capitol Hill will go, work is set to begin on a new green space coming to the top of Capitol Hill at 16th and Howell. Celebrate the start of construction with a groundbreaking ceremony and community poetry event this Saturday in the paved parking lot the new park will soon be replacing.

View Larger Map

CAPITOL HILL PARK GROUNDBREAKING CELEBRATION

The Friends of Capitol Hill Park and Seattle Parks and Recreation will celebrate the beginning of construction for the new park located at 16th Avenue & E Howell Street on October 3, 2009 from 4 – 5 p.m.

The celebration features poetry from Marion Kimes, Susan Kerry, Ashley Flannagan and Jesse Minkert.  Community members are encouraged to bring a 3”x5” card with their favorite word or line from a poem or play to add to the poetry tree

Seattle Parks and Recreation Superintendent Tim Gallagher will be a featured speaker at the event.

Through the Pro Parks Levy, Seattle Parks and Recreation purchased the .21-acre asphalt parking lot. The Levy allocated $545,800 for park planning, design and construction. Mithun Architects is the landscape architect firm in charge of design and construction. Incorporating feedback from community meetings held in 2008, Mithun created a design concept for the park.

The construction contract was awarded on September 24, 2009 to Precision Earthworks. Construction will begin in early October. The awarded contract includes basic park elements such as grading, lawn, pathway, plaza, steps, barbeques and picnic tables and both bid additives.  Parks will install benches, bike racks, and the art feature under this contract. Completion is targeted for January 2009.

The Friends of Capitol Hill Park community formed in the summer of 2008 and spearheaded fundraising efforts that enabled a more complete build out of the park.

The 16th and Howell park will be built to its base design leaving community groups to raise funds for things like BBQs and bike racks. You can learn more about how to help raise funds for those elements at Saturday's event or by checking out http://www.capitolhillpark.org/. For more on the park's design, check out the Seattle Parks 16th/Howell project page.

We're also trying to dig into the Seattle Parks naming process to find out what the status is on potential names for this park and the park at Summit/John. Maybe Capitol Hill Park is the official name -- we're looking into it and, if it is, will ask why our suggestions were ignored. CHS Capitol Hill Seattle Blog Park is much more catchy, no?

With Seattle's 2009 fall election approaching, a choice voters made in 2008 will soon create even more open space on Capitol Hill. From the property taxes collected by the 2008 Parks Levy, money is being set aside to purchase land for another new park on Capitol Hill and the community process has begun to gather feedback on our parks needs -- the city was even out on Park(ing) Day collecting ideas and suggestions. The project will join the spaces created on Summit at John and on 16th at Howell in a wave of new grass and p-patches on the Hill.

But where to put the new Capitol Hill park? The funds are intended to create a park within the Capitol Hill Urban Village, the area ringed in red in this map (the purple line is the light rail tunnel path, btw).

Chip Nevins, acquisitions planner for Seattle Parks, said the decision on where to put the next Capitol Hill park will hinge partly on the Summit/John and 16th/Howell locations:

The Neighborhood Park Acquisition portion of the Pro Parks Levy specifically named two projects to help implement the Capitol Hill Neighborhood Plan: Capitol Hill Park Acquisition: (“Acquire one or two sites listed in Capitol Hill Neighborhood Plan”) and Bellevue Substation Acquisition (“Acquire Bellevue Substation”).

The Bellevue substation wasn't available (and wasn't a great park site) so an alternative site (John and Summit) was proposed by Park staff and agreed to by the community.  The other park that was acquired (16th and E Howell) was proposed by a member of the community.

In this case we would be looking for a park that complements those acquisitions by filling a need in another part of the neighborhood.

According to Lise Ward, senior real property agent for the city, there are a few specific attributes Seattle Parks will look for. "In general, we look for neighborhood park sites that are at least 10,000 sf in size," Ward told CHS. "We are also trying to fill gaps in urban villages where there is more than a 1/8-mile to 1/4-mile walking distance to a park."

This map created by CHS shows Capitol Hill's park coverage using a very fuzzy approximation of the walking distance factor.

That measure leaves a swath of Capitol Hill between Broadway and 14th Ave and Harrison and Aloha relatively park-less. So here's where CHS is plotting the next Capitol Hill park. We'll leave it to you to figure out which 10,000+ sqft plot of land should be used.

View Capitol Hill Park Zone in a larger map

Let the open space celebration begin. Here's Friday's schedule from People's Parking Lot:

Park(ing) Day 2009 Central Park Schedule
9:00 AM: All parks open

11:30 AM - 2:00 PM: Negative Space Charette

12:00 PM: Mike O'Brien stops by

2:00 - 4:00 PM: Capitol Hill Housing reviews Broadway Station Charette (informal; may be updated)

4:00 - 5:00 PM: Toy Box Trio performs

5:00 - 6:00 PM: Work in Progress...Ice cream social maybe?

6:00 - 7:00 PM: Awards "ceremony"

8:00 PM: Disappear

George from Seattle Gay News will also be tabling for support of Referendum 71, and I hear he might have cookies.

And last not but not least, 12 hr notice will be in attendance, performing when he is inspired.

Plus there will be activities at many of the mini-parks on the lot.

Hungry? There will be at least one BBQ so bring some grillin' goods. Plus, Hollow Earth Radio will have a plot in the Central Park lot and is encouraging people to stop by to share their 'urban confessions.'

Complete Seattle Park(ing) Day Map

And of course Central Park isn't the only Park(ing) Day activity on the Hill. Sustainable Capitol Hill will be creating a pocket park in the street in front of Bluebird Ice Cream and Tea Room. Meanwhile Seattle Department of Transportation will be on Summit between Denny and Olive with a cool park to collect community ideas on, well, parks. From SDOT's e-mail to CHS:

A large map will be available for people to mark where locations they think should be turned into parks and the Crawl Space Gallery will also be participating by opening their gallery from 10AM to 5PM and starting at 1PM hosting a ‘meet and eat’ with Brendan Jansen the artist exhibiting at the Gallery.

And CHS will be out there to cover it all. See something cool? E-mail CHS or let us know on twitter @jseattle.

On Friday, September 18th, people all across the nation will take to the streets to turn car spaces into people spaces. In Seattle, Feet First is leading the charge by making it relatively cheap and easy to get street use and meter permits.  On Capitol Hill, People's Parking Lot (a.k.a. the Keith Harris Conspiracy) and the Capitol Hill Community Council have stepped up to make Park(ing) Day 2009 even better. 

On that Friday, the vacant lot on 500 E Pine will truly be a people's parking lot - Keith Harris' ingenious plan is to recruit neighborhood groups and businesses to host individual parks in the space. Over a dozen names are already on the list, including SVR Design, WorldChanging Seattle, and co-working space Office Nomads. Alongside the many and varied amusements supplied by the individual parks, a schedule of events is being planned for the entire lot as well.

The crown jewel of the day's events on 500 Pine will undoubtedly be the awards ceremony for the first ever Park(ing) Day Seattle Prize,...

The mostly empty People's Parking Lot at Belmont and Pine occasionally bursts forth with life. There was a guerilla dance party. There was Capitol Hill Garage Sale Day. And, next Friday, there will be a park. About a dozen of them, actually.

Friday, September 18th is Park(ing) Day when people across the country create temporary pockets of open space in the middle of cities from coast to coast. There will be mini-parks on the streets of Seattle in many parts of the city and on Capitol Hill. The center of the action will be Park(ing) Day Central Park which will transform the People's P-Lot into a series of group parks with music and various entertainments.

So far, eleven mini-parks are planned for the space including a space created by Seattle Arts and Lectures, a little park project by Capitol Hill Housing, and a co-working park space by Office Nomads (CHS sponsor). And the good news is there is still time -- and room -- for you to create a park. All you need is time and a little imagination to be part of the...

Sadly, it looks like the last few days of operation for Capitol Hill's wading pools and spray parks won't be sunshine-filled. Both the Volunteer and Cal Anderson park pools close for the season Monday evening. News isn't any better for Miller Park's spray feature -- it shuts down on Monday, too. So, when the sun breaks through the clouds, make the most of it, get your swim diaper on and enjoy a few last moments of summer.

http://cabc.com/12hr

It's our job to ask lots of questions here at CHS. But sometimes we know when to shut up and simply wait to enjoy. Don't know exactly what 12 Hr Notice has planned for tonight but they're teaming up with Three Dollar Bill Cinema for some kind of interesting experience that's free, fun and open to everybody. Movie starts when it gets dark. (Supposed to see a lot of the Dolly bills around the Hill today, too. Have you?)

Lots of news on the Capitol Hill parks beat: It sounds like the Hill has been tapped to get another park, there is a big pro-open space event coming up in September and the money has come in for the Summit/John park project.

First, the community group working to raise money to meet the full design construction budget for the Summit/John park says that with money from the Seattle Parks Levy the project was awarded, park construction is set to begin early next year:

Dear neighborhood green thumbs,
As of this last week, Unpaving Paradise made the August deadline and raised enough money to fulfill the construction budget for John and Summit Park. While we still plan on raising money for some of items that will go in after the park/P-Patch is built (tool shed, benches, art pieces), the Parks Department now has all the money it needs to start bidding out the project. We'll keep you updated, but if everything goes according to plan, Parks should break ground at John and Summit at the beginning of next year.

As...

First, let me say that sharing this Seattle Police incident report isn't an attempt to add to any freaking out over the kinds of illegal stuff that goes on in Cal Anderson Park even though the Slog just churned up this report of a 'roving gang of hooligans' supposedly committing acts of thuggery in the park at night. It's not a call for increased police patrols or more surveillance cameras (though we are checking in with City Hall to ask them a few questions about the efficacy of Cal Anderson's spy cams).

Instead, CHS is running this report because it sheds light on something we know happens in the park -- people doing drugs -- and describes the small drug bust with more detail than the average Seattle Police Department report. I'm ready for Mike with Curls to take me to task for covering another small crime. I'll take the heat. These things happened on the Hill. The way they occurred is interesting to me and I'm here to report interesting stuff. I'm not here only to cover what the TV helicopter camera crews say is news. Also not here to glamorize the cops and bad guys thing -- the details do a good job of making sure that won't happen -- but to understand a bit more about the culture and logistics behind an every-day drug bust in Cal Anderson Park. (Anybody know a better way to embed a PDF? Flickr slideshow is a pain -- make sure to hit pause in bottom control bar)

Flash Gordon
Originally uploaded by Adam Preble

Three Dollar Bill Cinema's free outdoor movies in Cal Anderson park continue this Friday with a very important film: 1980's Flash Gordon.

There are several reasons to attend this showing Friday night:

1. It is such an excellent film that, after sitting through it the first time in 1980, I asked my dad if we could watch it again. Immediately. Another 111 minutes later, we staggered into the late afternoon light flashier and wiser men.
2. Temperatures should be in the 80s.
3. Buying snacks supports Three Dollar Bill.
4. Queen.

Movies start at dusk so think 9ish or later. The series wraps up August 21st with another movie with a spectacular theme song -- Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin in 9 to 5.

Dorothy Wolens Block
Originally uploaded by After_Midnight

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.

Explosion Originally uploaded by Single Malt

It's hot and sticky and things on the Hill are getting weird. CHS can't always explain the news but we can pass it on.

Here is what we know. A group calling itself 12 HR NOTICE has published this manifesto:

Cal Anderson Water Volcano "disgrace" is "set to blow up"

FAT IMP's first + last performance, ever! Also- a baker's dozen of FREE CUSTOM T-SHIRTS and FREE STICKERS!!

Per FAT IMP: "This abhorrent water structure is a disgraceful mockery against Seattle's way of life + must be wiped off the face of Capitol Hill. Citizens for the Lincoln Reservoir Restoration Front, UNITE!."

NEVER FORGET!!!

Tonight- Tuesday, July 21st, 9PM

Sources indicate there will be music, projections and tomfoolery.

The empty frame and plywood backing left behind (Photos: Friends of Seattle's Olmsted Parks)

CHS is offering a $300 reward for the return of an exhibit panel stolen from Volunteer Park in late June.

The recent theft of the porcelain-enamel and steel panel from an exhibit inside the Volunteer Park water tower has left the community group that created the display looking for answers. Why would somebody steal a 50-pound interpretive panel illustrating the interrelationship of Seattle's Water System with Seattle's Parks? And how can the section of the more than $20,000 exhibit be replaced?

"We can't quite understand why anyone would take it and why anyone would want it," Friends of Seattle's Olmsted Parks board member Jerry Arbes told CHS. "It's not something you'd want to hang on your wall. The only hope is somebody thought they wanted it and then changed their mind."

According to Arbes, the panel was produced in 1997 by the community group as part of a 6-panel permanent exhibit on Seattle's Olmsted legacy. It was a neighborhood matching grant project with co-sponsorship by the Capitol Hill Community Council.

Arbes said the cost of replacing the panel could be between $5,000 and $10,000.

"We're looking at the options," Arbes said. "One option is to try to replace it as it was and try to raise some money to do that. We also might explore new technology that has emerged in recent years."

CHS is offering a $300 reward for the return of the panel in good condition. Contact us at chs@capitolhillseattle.com if you have any information about the incident.

Spokesperson for Seattle Parks Joelle Ligon said her office is not able to offer a reward at this time but is helping Arbes' group get the word out and make contacts for fundraisers to support replacing the panel.

Inside the Volunteer Park water tower
Originally uploaded by cleverdame107

An exhibit panel valued at $9,000 has been stolen from the Volunteer Park water tower.

Parks employees discovered the theft Tuesday, June 23, according to a Seattle Police Department report. The panel was part of an interpretive exhibit about Seattle's Olmsted parks installed on the walls of the tower's upper level.

According to the SPD report, the parks employee said the panel was ripped from the brick wall of the tower sometime between Tuesday and Wednesday night, June 24th. There were no signs of forced entry reported at the scene meaning the thief or thieves likely removed the 3-foot by 4-foot metal panel while it was light out and the park was still busy with people. The tower is open to the public between the hours of 9 AM and 9 PM.

The investigating officer attempted to collect fingerprints at the tower but was unsuccessful. You can review the officer's report on the theft below:

Pride means different things at different times. Parties, parades, politics. On Saturday morning, Pride on Capitol Hill will take a different pace for a few deeply breathed moments. The Stonewall 40 Group's Equalityoga event is an attempt to create another way to bring people together for Pride. Hard to argue with any idea that involves a big group of people, good health, sunshine and Cal Anderson Park.

In the shadow of Stonewall’s 40 anniversary, yogis, yoginis and studios across Seattle will unite in advocacy for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality by participating in the largest outdoor class Seattle has ever seen. Equalityoga on June 27, will use the flow of and energy of community to create positive social change. The event, the first of its kind, will take place at Cal Anderson Park Playfield and will be led by instructors Troy Lucero, Maygen McGrew and Matt Meko. Musical accompaniment will be provided by Steve Gold and Gina Salá. It will be a unique experience for the LGBT movement as the heterosexual community is coming out in full force to support the rights of LGBT minority. Proceeds raised will directly benefit organizations that are advancing the equality movement: Lamdba Legal, Equal Rights Washington and Gay City Health Project

Equalityoga is produced by StonewallForty, a group dedicated to ensuring that LGBT people receive the same rights guaranteed to everyone else.

Equalityoga

Saturday, June 27
Gates open: 9 a.m.
Flow begins: 10 a.m.
$15 suggested donation

Organizer Genessa Krasnow told CHS while they're not sure exactly how many people to expect on Saturday morning, her group is hoping to bring together hundreds of Pride celebrants. "We want to grow the community," Krasnow said. "There's something that happens when you get on a yoga mat and are breathing together."

Krasnow said she also thinks people are ready for new elements for Seattle's Pride. "It's not an event in a bar. It creates wellness. It creates energy."

Krasnow thinks Equalityoga can be part of a more political Pride. "The politicism is coming back," she said. "Communities are uniting together. This advocacy for gay rights is really happening at the local level," Krasnow said.

That doesn't mean it's easy for advocate groups to survive. Rough economic times mean plans need to be simple and budgets, tight. The Stonewall 40 group had to scrap plans for a Saturday afternoon event in Volunteer Park because it would have cost too much and generated too little for the nonprofits Stonewall 40 supports. "We want to create something sustainable. It can't be sustainable if there aren't funds. I do miss pride in Volunteer Park. It was amazing. But cities change."

For the yoga gathering, Krasnow thinks Cal Anderson is a great stage for Pride events. "The thing about Cal Anderson is you are right out in the open. People can stumble onto what you're doing and join in."

If you're looking to stumble onto something to join in with, Saturday in Cal Anderson is a good bet for the sports minded and bodied. In addition to Equalityoga, The Bend-It Collective will host the Big Gay Field Day sports event in the park, and this group trying to organize a game of something called Calvinball....

wading pool
Originally uploaded by joe5hammer

UPDATE 1:28 PM:
Neighbor Juan shares the bad news. Opening delayed:

the wading pool is not open yet. We just came back from the park and cement around the new drain is still curing.

---------------------------------------------

Though temperatures will top out only in the mid 60s and clouds will likely menace the sky through the day, Saturday is a good day to put on your swim diaper and head for the park. Volunteer Park's wading pool is open for the season.

The pool is one of only four in the city able to open this weekend as delays in safety upgrades will keep some pools empty all summer.

Also, while you're wearing that swim diaper, remember that the Park's 'Western Loop' is now closed to automobiles. Forever. No driving.

For kids on the other side of the Hill, Cal Anderson's wade pool is slated to begin its season on June 29th.

Beaujolais is home

Quick burst of reminders, updates, links and other odd bits. Enjoy.

• Sound Transit construction noise meeting is 6-8 PM at the Century Ballroom.
• Beaujolais, the Australian shepherd missing on Capitol Hill and being tracked by an 'animal communicator,' is FOUND.
• BottleNeck hosts a benefit to cover medical bills for Jack 'the stoner dog' who seems to have gotten ill after eating pot found in Seward Park.
• A Capitol Hill dog walker found guilty of stealing from clients, was sentenced to two years in prison.
• The CHS Print edition gets some love.
• More about us! Look who's advertising on CHS.
• 520 bridge closed this weekend.
• Seattle Parks says more than $2,000 worth of plants have been stolen from Volunteer Park in last 16 months.

The park planned for 16th and Howell is a similar project to the Summit & John effort -- both are planned park/p-patch spaces and both had budget issues. But only one of them is getting a big injection of cash. We reported recently about the park at Summit & John getting $150,000 from the parks levy to complete its design and get on track to begin construction by the end of summer.

So where does that leave the 16th and Howell project that wasn't named in this year's levy projects? We asked parks department project manager Virginia Hassinger about the status of the planned open space. Her e-mail:

Design work is 95% complete. We plan to advertise the construction contract in July 2009! The final budgeted project includes basic park elements such as grading, lawn, pathway, plaza, steps, etc. There is not funding in the project to construct the trellis shown in the schematic design, nor to install all of the site furniture (picnic tables, BBQs, benches, bike racks, etc) and the art feature. We will complete design drawings for all the elements (including the trellis), so that the plans are ready if and when funding is available. We do plan to include the site furniture as contract bid additives which will be included in the upcoming construction contract as budget allows.

 

A Friends of Capitol Hill Park group has formed to support the park and build community. A  group of neighbors is also working with Department of Neighborhoods to develop a community garden on the site.

 

We plan to complete construction by year end.

We checked the Friends of Capitol Hill Park Web site to see what's new with the neighborhood group Virginia mentioned and have dropped them an e-mail to find out how people in the community can get involved in their effort. Given that the park abuts the First Church townhouse project, seems like there should be some well-financed community interest in park and p-patch progress.

Sounds like the park planned for Summit and John is going to get its p-patches -- and more. No confirmation from the city yet, but organizers of the effort to raise funds to support the complete design of the park including p-patch plots and an angled pathway say that $150,000 from the Seattle Parks Levy program is being made available to the project on recommendation of the Department of Neighborhoods. Details when we get them. You can read more about the Pro Parks Levy here.

UPDATE: Confirmation on the decision to make the money available to the Summit/John park program. One final step is approval by the City Council. Parks Committee will take up the matter at Friday morning's meeting at City Hall.

The .21 acre lot was purchased using Levy funds back in January 2007. The space is currently a parking lot. Construction of the park was delayed one year to give community groups time to organize funds to support the full design including p-patches, a pathway and more landscaping. There is also a group working...