Now that most of the election malarkey is wrapped up, we can turn CHS’s attention to coverage that really matters. A Seattle Parks work crew was busy this week preparing the area around Cal Anderson’s southern stairway entry to the Bobby Morris playfield in a project to widen the access point, add a small retaining wall and, Parks hopes, help save a big old tree.
Construction on the project is expected to start in a few weeks and wrap up by December, a Seattle Parks and Recreation employee told CHS. The goals of the project include making the stairway more pleasant and accessible.
One of the biggest obstacles for the project — which might impact the time needed for construction — is the large tangle of roots protruding from the ground next to the current stairwell. A Park rep tells CHS the department’s “intention is to save the tree” and that specialists are evaluating the situation.
There are no changes planned for the wheelchair accessible ramp to the left of the current stairway, and the widened stairway itself will not be designed to be wheelchair accessible.
In 2011, many hedges and bushes as well as features like benches were removed from the park in an effort to make the area safer and quell reported problems with drug use and camping in the park. Parks says it has no other construction projects of the stairway work’s scale currently lined up for Cal Anderson.
Meanwhile, the stairway tree isn’t the only arboreal feature around the park getting special treatment. Sound Transit has painstakingly worked to protect the giant Chinese Scholar Tree on the northwest edge of Cal Anderson adjacent the Capitol Hill Station construction site.
Last week, CHS reported on the ongoing use of the park’s lights at night in an effort to deter crime. The mayor’s office said it is talking with the community and nearby residents about ending the practice.
