CHS Pics | No New Youth Jail Valentines at 12th and Alder

Activists may have lost in court but they haven’t given up on winning hearts in their battle against the new youth jail at 12th and Alder.

Saying she and fellow activists were there to celebrate Valentine’s Day and “what it means to love community and love young people,” activist and attorney Nikkita Oliver said a group gathered outside the under construction King County Youth and Family Justice Center would be delivering No New Youth Jail Valentines to officials and judges.

“We are here to uplift ourselves and love ourselves and say we’re not going to allow buildings like this to be built and invested in,” Oliver said. Continue reading

Machine House Central District pub ready for Wold Cup debut on E Jefferson

(Image: @machinehouse)

Just as the World Cup gets really serious, Machine House is ready to debut its new Central District pub:

🚨MHB Central District is opening this weekend at 1315 E. Jefferson St.🚨 Doors open 7am this Friday 7/6 for the start of the World Cup Soccer Quarter Finals! Enjoy $4 imperial pints of the Cambridge Bitter during matches on Friday and Saturday as a part of the celebration!

You might expect a bit of a crowd at the new venue from the Georgetown-born brewer of English-style cask ales Saturday morning as England takes on Sweden.

CHS first reported on the E Jefferson tap room project in January as Machine House co-founder Bill Arnott told us a big part of the drive behind creating the pub was making sure the brewery’s prized creations are receiving the pours they deserve. “Very few pubs can serve it properly,” Arnott told CHS earlier this year. “We’ve found we need to control the experience. We need bartenders who can explain and present it.”

Arnott and co-founder Alex Brenner’s new venture is tiny compared to the massive and spartan factory setting of the Machine House brewery in Georgetown — just 1,000 square feet — so expect close quarters with some good new friends down the rail and plenty of good beer.

Youth jail construction site targeted in overnight ‘molotov cocktail’ attack — UPDATE

An attempted arson attack early Tuesday morning on the under construction expansion of the county youth jail facility was thwarted by a Seattle Police officer at the 12th Ave site and “molotov cocktails” that failed to explode.

All information in this report has not yet been confirmed by police and is based on East Precinct radio dispatches. UPDATE: SPD confirmed the investigation and said more details will be released soon. UPDATE x2: An update from SPD is below. Continue reading

CHS Pics | Salvage at 14th Ave’s Progressive Missionary Baptist Church

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14th Ave’s Progressive Missionary Baptist Church is a goner but some of the 109-year-old house of worship’s bits and pieces will live on. CHS stopped by the demolition site earlier this month as a crew from Earthwise Architectural Salvage carefully went about preserving some of the old building’s features including its amazing stained glass.

“The age of it is really the crazy thing,” Earthwise’s Aaron Blanchard said. “We’ve done a couple churches but this is the oldest one.” Continue reading

Central District elementary school testing program to help families stay in rapidly developing neighborhood

The City of Seattle, the Seattle Housing Authority, and Seattle Public Schools have partnered to launch a pilot program at 14th and Yesler’s Bailey Gatzert Elementary School that aims to help families at the school find housing. The program can hopefully grow to help students on the edge of homelessness and displacement across the city.

“All the stress is lifted off of them and teachers notice as well and that makes a big difference,” said Keith Ervin, family support worker at Bailey Gatzert, who helps families in crisis whether it’s getting them clothing, or now helping them find a place to live under the Home from School program.

When students are homeless and don’t know where they’re going to sleep or are worried about their parents who are out looking for shelter, Ervin said students aren’t able to focus on their work.

Ervin has been working with shelters in the area and assessing what the families there need to get them housed and keep the kids at Bailey Gatzert. So far, two families have found new housing in the school’s Central District area, and Ervin is working with others. Continue reading

City green-lights plans for demolition of 14th Ave church, planned development on hold

(Image: CHS)

(Image: CHS)

The City of Seattle has signed off on a permit to demolish a 109-year-old church on 14th Ave.

The Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections issued the permit last week but when the house of worship owned by the Seattle Word of God Church will be demolished isn’t yet clear.

Word of God Church Pastor Curtis Taylor wouldn’t speak to details about the demolition, and a representative with the demolition contractor Ryatt Construction said the company didn’t have information about when the church would be torn down.

According to city documents, 22 townhouses were being planned to fill the lot, but the project has been canceled, a city permit technician supervisor confirmed. Continue reading

#pacifiquenorthwest — L’Oursin washes ashore at 14th and Jefferson

The flavors of the Salish Sea now reach the shores of E Jefferson.

L’Oursin, French for “The Urchin,” opens its doors to the masses — 50 at a time — on Tuesday.

“It feels really good. It’s been a long time coming,” co-owner and bar manager Zac Overman told CHS Sunday night at a party for the restaurant’s Kickstarter backers.

Co-owner chef JJ Proville and Overman hosted a couple of test runs with family and friends and one for their Kickstarter backers that raised $27,325 from 183 supporters. Continue reading

109-year-old church slated for demolition on 14th Ave

(Images: CHS)

(Images: CHS)

The bell tower of 14th Ave’s Progressive Missionary Baptist Church is boarded up, shingles are missing from its roof, and bricks appear to be crumbling away from its walls. While lights were on outside the building this week, demolition plans for the church at the corner of 14th and Spring have been filed with the city. The corner’s future appears to be townhouses — 22, to be exact.

CHS briefly reached Rev. Curtis Taylor of the Word of God Church that owns the old house of worship by phone last week. He told us he couldn’t talk about the property now due to medical reasons. According to city documents, the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections has accepted the demolition application filed by Taylor last month. The project is under review and a permit has not yet been issued. Continue reading

Central District Art Inn boutique hotel checks in for last step in design review

Screen Shot 2016-06-07 at 4.40.30 PMThe first project on the docket for Wednesday night’s session of the East Design Review Board might will create a mixed-use office development and preservation project in the heart of Pike/Pine. But the second one, well… the second project will create… art.

The Art Inn, a four-story, 15-room component of a small global boutique hotel chain destined for the corner of E Jefferson and 13th Ave, will come before the review board for what should be its final step in the design process. Continue reading

Council to hear arguments on Swedish Cherry Hill campus expansion

Screen Shot 2016-02-19 at 2.21.09 PMThere’s a brewing storm for the Seattle City Council’s planning committee: the final decision on whether or not to approve the controversial Swedish Cherry Hill hospital expansion proposal, a plan that faces opposition from numerous local neighborhood groups. Saying no — or not yet — will further delay a critical expansion project for one of the area’s largest employers.

At a committee meeting Friday morning, Ketil Freeman from council central staff brought with council members Rob Johnson, Mike O’Brien, and Lisa Herbold up to speed on the basics of the expansion proposal and a timeline for ruling on Swedish’s desired upzone to add an additional 1.5 million square feet to the 1.3 acre Cherry Hill Campus.

The expansion proposal has been several years in the making. In 2012, Swedish Health Services and the Sabey Corporation (who owns roughly 30% of the Cherry Hill campus) began the long process of applying to renew their Major Institution Master Plan [MIMP]—a city-approved development plan required for hospitals who want to deviate from standard zoning in the area—and they wanted up zones in the new version. Continue reading