Monthly Archives: November 2010

Local Business

ROCKiT space closed, community challenged to take over

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Photo by Jason.
Another establishment on the Hill is closing, this time ROCKit space. The music and art organization on Beacon Avenue is closing due to illness in founder Jessie McKenna’s family. However, the space may not go away if there is the will to keep it alive, as McKenna is offering the space, equipment, and supplies to those in the community who can take it over and make something happen.

In a letter to the neighborhood this weekend, McKenna said: “I propose that those of you out there who feel there is a real need for a place like ROCKiT space to exist in our neighborhood… come forward with your ideas, motivation, financial contributions, whatever you’ve got to make that happen and propose to take it over. Our landlords will be advertising the space in about a week, but are willing to consider a lease extension for another party.”

ROCKiT space provided music rehearsal space and instruments, art supplies and workspace, books on the creative arts, classes in language and the arts for kids and adults, open mic nights, meeting space for local groups, and more. Additionally, it hosted the auditions for performers in last summer’s Beacon Rocks! music event.

Here is Jessie’s letter to the community:

Dear Beacon Hill,

You have been my home, my community, my friends for so long now. ROCKiT space was not our gift to Beacon Hill, but a potential commodity—a community space for us to share and use for whatever need it could fulfill. We have had an amazing go of it, but the time has come to say goodbye. Hundreds of people, probably well over 1,000, have shared ROCKiT space with us. We have laughed, cried, been frightened, overwhelmed with excitement and an outpouring of love and understanding; we have been appreciated and praised and we have used the space in so many ways.

Beacon Hill has confirmed for us what we knew going into this crazy experiment: It isn’t possible to fail when you set out to do something inherently pure and good with all your heart. We shared a vision with you. I want to see a world where people come first, where children are treated as equals, where adults are free to behave as children, where all people are welcome and encouraged and exist in a mindset that we are capable of anything we can imagine. I have truly glimpsed such a world in ROCKiT space and the people who have touched us with their individual and truly unique qualities and in turn have been touched by this place and the dream it represents.

I would like to give the Beacon Hill community the opportunity to turn ROCKiT space into whatever it is you are dreaming about. We have tried to make it a place for all people to share, and maybe it can be just that with enough time, money and energy put into it. But through unforeseen circumstances—a serious illness in the family—we have been forced to face reality. ROCKiT space has enormous potential, but after more than a year now, it is still rarely used as a creative space for teens or adults. Our open mic has been delightfully successful in the past, but has for some time now been a much smaller event. The people are incredible, the talent, the friendships made, but the event is not one that generates revenue for the space.

The hard truth is that these are difficult times for most of us financially. We at ROCKiT space totally understand if this is not a time to try a lot of new things or work a new “hot spot” on the Hill into your routines. And we also get that it’s not for everybody. Many of the people who love ROCKiT and frequent the space are not even members or paying fees to “use” the space. They just genuinely like the vibe and support the mission. We LOVE that! But let’s face it, The wonderful fact of the matter is that kids get it. Kids know how to ROCK iT like nobody’s business. As the community at ROCKiT grew, we saw over and over again just how much children, especially young children and their parents/caregivers got out of the space.

I propose that those of you out there who feel there is a real need for a place like ROCKiT space to exist in our neighborhood, either in more or less its current form or in another form, such as a space dedicated to children and their artistic/creative/social growth, come forward with your ideas, motivation, financial contributions, whatever you’ve got to make that happen and propose to take it over. Our landlords will be advertising the space in about a week, but are willing to consider a lease extension for another party. It’s no done deal, but it’s worth a shot if you are interested or know someone who would be.

I personally am no longer able to continue my outrageous (and totally awesome!) attempt to build ROCKiT from the ground up and see it through to success in whatever shape and form it comes. I have been working on a “volunteer” basis for 16mos and have reached the limit of my ability financially, emotionally and otherwise to keep going. I have learned so much, had the pleasure to get to know countless individuals and meet new, amazing people all the time. I would love to be able to take all the things about ROCKiT space that are incredibly fulfilling and wonderful and shelve the perpetual challenges of starting a nonprofit art space during a recession. But as we all know, it doesn’t work that way.

We would like to offer to the community virtually everything that has been donated to us as well as many things that were purchased specifically for ROCKiT space: musical equipment, art/office supplies and we would love to offer our insight/advice based on our experience to someone who would like to combine it with their own vision and propel the space into 2011.

ROCKiT space is now closed aside from musician rehearsals and one more Tots Jam and Spanish class. The well-meaning gal who has been running the space needs to focus on family right now. If ROCKiT space, or some incarnation of it is to go on, it will go on in new hands. I’m hoping that will be the case! But if it isn’t and we do close our doors with no particular hope of opening them up again, I must say from the bottom of my heart, thank you Beacon Hill for being such a dear friend to me. This is not goodbye, not for me, or for ROCKiT.

ROCKiT space is a state of mind. And I for one will do my very best to maintain that state and continue to share not only that vision, but make it my personal mission to remain grounded, true to myself, my heart and to all of you.
Sincerely,

Jessie McKenna
Owner/Operator/Director/Janitor, ROCKiT space NPO
3315 Beacon Ave S
Seattle, WA 98144
206.323.7115

A young artist creates at ROCKiT space. Photo by Bridget Christian in the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool on Flickr.
Getting Around

Expect Link delays Sunday-Tuesday evenings

The doors to the southbound platform at Beacon Hill Station will be closed on Sunday-Tuesday evenings this week. Photo by Oran Viriyincy in the Beacon Hill Blog Photo Pool on Flickr.
Link Light Rail riders will experience delays due to maintenance work between 8:00 pm and 1:00 am each night from Sunday, November 21, through Tuesday, November 23. Link will operate every 20-25 minutes during those times, and the southbound platforms at Beacon Hill and Mount Baker stations will be closed. Board all trains at the northbound platform, and dress warmly — it’s going to be cold.

(Thanks Seattle Transit Blog for the heads-up!)

Beacon Bits

Beacon Bits: Contest, Cloud Nice, and Christmas trees

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Can you identify this landmark? If so, you should enter our contest. Photo by Wendi.
You can still win a NAMSAYIN #36 bus t-shirt and a $50 gift card to The Station coffee shop (and, folks, that’s a lot of potential caffeine!) if you’re the first person to identify the 16 locations pictured in our contest post from earlier this week. Better work fast, though — we already have some guessers who are very close to getting all of them.

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The Seattle Department of Transportation wants to know “what you think about transit in Seattle and how it could be better.” You can tell them by taking their survey. It’s fairly short.

And speaking of SDOT, The SDOT Blog has some pictures of the newly spiffed-up South Columbian Way.

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Andrew Matson of The Seattle Times features rapper Nacho Picasso of Beacon Hill’s Cloud Nice hip-hop collective. There is a sound clip and a link to download even more. The Cloud Nice page also has a link to a Nice Dreams trailer with some Beacon Hill-area footage.

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You might have noticed sheep baa-ing somewhere on Beacon Hill lately.

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Dylan Ahearn mentioned it the other day, but here’s a reminder: Tomorrow (Saturday) is the Walk & Bike Beacon Hill Neighborhood Transportation Summit. It’s a neighborhood meeting to discuss ways to improve safety and mobility while walking and biking on Beacon Hill. The event is from 10:00 am to noon at Beacon Hill International School, 2025 14th Avenue South. Activities will include designing safe walking and biking routes, learning about bike safety for children, and more. Refreshments will be served. All ages are welcome. For more information, please contact Frederica Merrell, frmerrel@seattleschools.org.

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If you’re already thinking ahead to Christmas, you might want to get your Christmas tree right here in the neighborhood. No, don’t chop one down in the Cheasty Greenbelt, please. Instead, you can get one from El Centro de la Raza. Trees will be available at their lot Wednesday through Sunday, starting November 26 and running through December 19. Order before the 26th and there will be a discount. There will be 2′-7′ Grand and Noble Firs, live trees, and 20″ and 30″ wreaths. Purchases will support El Centro’s many programs. El Centro is located at 2524 16th Avenue South.

Neighborhood Pride

Contest: The sights of Route 36 — Prize added!

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(This is a repost, edited to mention the new prize: a $50 gift card!)

Remember the NAMSAYIN limited edition t-shirts featuring the #36 bus? (The design is pictured on the right.) Only 56 of the shirts were printed, but we have t-shirts to give away—if you can demonstrate your Beacon Hill knowledge!

Here’s how the contest works. Below in this post, you’ll see 16 detail pictures of Beacon Hill locations that are on the #36 route. You need to identify all 16 as precisely as possible, then email your list of 16 guesses to us at blog@beaconhill.seattle.wa.us.

The first person to get all 16 right wins one of the NAMSAYIN t-shirts and a $50 gift card from The Station coffee house! The second person wins one of the NAMSAYIN shirts too! Unfortunately, sizes are limited — winners will probably get an XL. In the event of a tie, the person whose answers are most precisely located will win. If there’s still a tie, we’ll flip a coin.

Hints:

  • All locations are on Beacon Hill and within view of the #36 bus route. Some of the images may match something that is in another neighborhood. You need to find the location that is on the Hill. We’re defining the Hill’s east boundary as Martin Luther King Jr. Way South for the purpose of this contest. The north boundary is the south end of the Jose Rizal Bridge.
  • You could probably see most of them from the bus itself if you look hard enough.
  • Remember, be as precise as you can possibly be—it’s a tiebreaker. If two people are tied, and one guesses that an item is “at the Red Apple” and another guesses that it is “on the east side of Red Apple, above the doorway”, the latter guesser will win. (I can tell you that none of the photos are of the Red Apple.)

Questions? Let us know. Good luck! Now, on to the pictures:

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Meetings, Other Neighborhoods

Meetings planned for Thursday to discuss Nickelsville location

A few days ago, Mayor Mike McGinn proposed that a city-sanctioned homeless encampment (the tent city previously known as “Nickelsville“) be operated on the site of the old Sunny Jim factory, west of Beacon Hill on Airport Way South between South Adams Street and South Snoqualmie Street. The city-owned Sunny Jim building was recently destroyed by fire. In his blog post about the encampment, McGinn said “A suitable site should accommodate on-site services geared toward moving residents to self-sufficiency… We would seek a nonprofit or other organization to manage the encampment, providing services to residents and data to the City.”

The City is holding two community meetings this Thursday, November 18, to discuss the proposed encampment location. Deputy Mayor Darryl Smith will lead the meetings, and he and other City staff will be available to answer questions.

The first meeting is for adjacent businesses, and will run from 5:30 to 7:00 pm at the City of Seattle sign shop, located on the south end of the Sunny Jim site at 4200 Airport Way South. The second meeting is for the general public, and will run from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. at the Showbox SODO, located at 1700 First Avenue South. For more information about the meetings, contact Elliott Day at 206-233-2664 or elliott.day@seattle.gov.

Over the next few days after McGinn’s proposal was announced, reactions to the announcement on the Beacon Hill and BAN neighborhood mailing lists were mixed. Some neighbors raised concerns about the suitability of the site, given its location just across I-5 from the Beacon Hill greenbelt, and the “Jungle” problems happening elsewhere in the greenbelt. Some commenters were concerned about the potential for accidents from pedestrians running across I-5 between the encampment and the greenbelt. Other commenters wanted to discuss ways that the project could do a better job to help the Nickelsville residents, and the types of structures that might enhance services for the encampment residents.


View Former Sunny Jim site in a larger map

Weather

The return of Snowpocalypse? Probably not.

A Beacon Hill deck on December 22, 2008. Will it happen this year? Photo by K. Shuyler in the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool on Flickr.
The National Weather Service has issued a warning that “there is some risk of lowland snow… or mixed rain and snow showers over portions of Western Washington this weekend.” We all know that predicting snow in the Seattle area can be difficult, and for every Snowpocalypse there has also been a time when snow was predicted and it just never showed up. Still, the NWS made a good suggestion: “Now would be a good time to think about how you could prepare for the first possibility of winter weather conditions in the lowlands. Are your tires ready for snow covered roadways? Are your outdoor pipes and faucets winterized?”

(Headline edited 11/16.)

News

North Beacon Hill Council protests closure of Neighborhood Service Center

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City Councilmember Sally Bagshaw spoke at a North Beacon Hill Council meeting earlier this year at the Beacon Hill Library. Closure of the Neighborhood Service Center will not only remove the services provided by the center, but also prevent the NBHC from holding its meetings at the library site. Photo by Wendi.
The North Beacon Hill Council sent a letter today to all members of the Seattle City Council, protesting the planned closure of the Neighborhood Service Center located at the Beacon Hill Library, 2821 Beacon Avenue South.

Severe cuts to the Department of Neighborhoods in the proposed City Budget would close the Beacon Hill (Greater Duwamish) Neighborhood Service Center and remove the Greater Duwamish District Coordinator, Steve Louie. The Service Center and the Coordinator provide services and help for the community, including (but not limited to):

  • Community and neighborhood organization contacts
  • Crime prevention and block watch materials
  • Information on heating bill assistance and food banks
  • Information on city and other job opportunities, including summer youth employment
  • Land use and zoning information
  • Application forms and assistance for the Neighborhood Matching Fund, business licenses, voter registration, and passports

Additionally, Louie’s access to the building allows the North Beacon Hill Council to use the space for council meetings even though the meetings usually need to run later than the library’s normal closing time.

If the Neighborhood Service Center is closed, neighbors on North Beacon Hill seeking equivalent city services would need to go to the Southeast Neighborhood Service Center instead, located 3.5 miles away on South Othello Street.

North Beacon Hill Council Chair Judith Edwards says, “The loss of our District Neighborhood Coordinator and Neighborhood Service Center would have a tremendous negative affect on all of us. Please contact the City Council.” You can find contact information for all Council members here. The council will vote on the new budget next Monday, November 22.

Here is the letter sent by the North Beacon Hill Council to the Seattle City Council today. Judith suggests that people use this as a starting point for their own letters to the Council.

North Beacon Hill Council
3211 Beacon Ave. S., Suite 14
Seattle, WA 98144

November 15, 2010

Dear City Council Members,

This is a final plea from all 150 members of the North Beacon Hill Council (NBHC) and its Board of Directors. We ask that you leave the Beacon Hill Neighborhood Service Center open to the public which it serves in our diverse, but active, neighborhood, and retain the services of our Neighborhood Coordinator.

If the Neighborhood Service Center no longer exists in the Beacon Hill Library, an average of 3-5 citizens per day will have no one to turn to with questions regarding the City and other neighborhood problems. Many of these citizens speak English as a second language, use bus transportation or walk, and find the Service Center to be very accessible when they come into the Library for other services, such as classes, computer use, etc. Since diversity and reaching out to under-represented populations is a high priority for the City, closure of this Neighborhood Service Center will be a great injustice to one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the city, and will diminish greatly the City’s outreach to under-represented populations.

Our District Coordinators have helped many members of the North Beacon Hill Council to apply for and receive many Small Sparks and Neighborhood Matching Fund grants. Without this guidance, I suspect that the applications for these grants will diminish in number. Stairwells have been cleaned of drugs and prostitution; cross walks have been made safe; parks have been restored—all thanks to the guidance of our Neighborhood Coordinators.

The North Beacon Hill Council will be without a meeting place if the Neighborhood Service Center is closed. As many as fifty (50) concerned citizens and citizen activists regularly attend these meetings. We are able to use the Beacon Hill Library Community Room for meetings which end at 9:00PM only because our Neighborhood District Coordinator is housed in the Library and has authorization to lock up after hours.

We, the Board and members of the North Beacon Hill Council, ask that you give strong consideration to keeping the Neighborhood Service Center and Neighborhood Coordinator in the Beacon Hill Library, where a very strong community need is now being met.

Thank you.

Judith Edwards, Chair – North Beacon Hill Council

Crime

Walker Street Stairway attacked by marauding SUV

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This is not a through street.
by David Gackenbach

Neighbors in the area of 17th Avenue South and South Walker Street on North Beacon Hill were awakened late Thursday night by the sudden sound of metal grinding on metal followed by the long honk of a car horn.

Not knowing if something had fallen out of the sky nearby, one neighbor at the top of the stairway looked around the house in the dark, saw nothing, and went back to bed.

It wasn’t till daylight that the point of impact and projectile were discovered. A dark green Ford Explorer took a wild ride down the Walker Street Stairs, from the cul-de-sac near 16th Avenue, down to 17th Avenue and across into the cul-de-sac above the stairway to 18th Avenue.

Along the way the SUV broke some railing, bottomed out at the midway landing, then annihilated the steel guardrail and neighborhood bulletin board at the bottom. The impact was enough to rip the guardrail out of the ground, break up the concrete sidewalk it was anchored into, and send a chunk of concrete clear across 17th Avenue to the east. The SUV bounced onto the planting strip, went up the sidewalk (missing parked cars) and stopped when it hit a neighbor’s tree.

Injuries to the driver appear to be minor, as she was seen being helped away by friends with a van, who also pushed the Explorer out of a driveway and to the side of the road. Whether the damaged SUV will be towed by the owner or the city as an abandoned vehicle remains to be seen.

Neighbors recalled that a similar incident happened about ten years ago, but the car was smaller.

(All photos by David Gackenbach.)

Damage to the sidewalk, bulletin board, and stairway.
The SUV left quite a mark.
The guardrail and sidewalk were ripped out.


View Walker Street Stairway in a larger map

Getting Around, Local Events

Opinion: Biking and walking are viable options on Beacon Hill

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Map on Everytrail website, showing safe bicycle routes to MacPherson's produce market. The map includes videos with commentary about the route and reasons why certain paths were chosen.
Beacon BIKES! is excited about our upcoming community-wide biking and walking information event on Saturday, November 20 (at Beacon International School, 2021 14th Avenue South, from 10:00 am until noon)!  To celebrate biking as a viable option on Beacon Hill and in Seattle in general, I thought I would show how safe and easy biking can be in and around our neighborhood.

Many years ago I lived in Davis, California, which is known as the biking capital of the U.S. (Their city logo is even a bike!).  In Davis, biking is just the easiest way to get around, not only because it is a dense city and flat as a pancake, but because there is an amazing bicycle infrastructure to keep biking safe for everyone.  As a result, 17 percent of the population commutes by bike (compared with the less than 3 percent in Seattle).  I bring up Davis because what is interesting to see is that when that many people are biking, they stop identifying as cyclists—they are just people who happen to get around town in the easiest manner available, by bike.  So that is our goal at Beacon BIKES!, to make biking so safe and easy that even your grandma will want to hop on a bike to head to MacPherson’s for her afternoon errands. 

“If we get out of our cars more often, we become more neighborhood-oriented.”

We are not a bunch of spandex-clad aggro bike advocates, but rather neighbors who want to see you on the streets walking or biking to your local destinations.  If we get out of our cars (and yes, we all have cars too) more often, our options for what are viable trips change and we become more neighborhood-oriented.  We go to Red Apple instead of Safeway, The Station instead of Starbucks, and we see our neighbors along the way!

Part of what we will be doing on the 20th is providing maps for safe routes to schools (and other destinations) for you and your children on Beacon Hill.  We will have a bunch of blank maps; you show us where you live, and we draw you a safe route to your destination of choice.  In the spirit of this, I have begun to compile a series of virtual tours of routes that I use to safely get around and off of Beacon Hill, both by myself and with my family.  All the routes I map either start or end at the library or light rail station.

I use the program Everytrail to map all the routes.  Here are my preferred routes to MacPherson’s (family-friendly) and Lowe’s (mostly safe, but involves biking on South College Street for a couple blocks).  Clicking on these links will take you to the Everytrail website (click on the “View Full Screen” button on the bottom right of the map to get the best view of the route). For all the routes I use the following criteria:

  1. Whenever it makes sense, use non-arterial streets or multi-use trails
  2. Whenever it makes sense, take the least steep street possible
  3. Try to make all arterial crossings at signalized intersections

I also frequently take advantage of the light rail to get back up the hill after biking off the hill.  I have more routes already mapped and more planned for future posts.  In the meantime, let me know the destinations you would like mapped in the comments section.  Happy Biking!  See you on Saturday!

Local Events

Mermaids and nymphs, currently at The Station

The Station coffee shop at 2533 16th Ave South is currently displaying paintings by Angelina Tolentino. There will be an opening reception for the exhibit from 1:00 to 3:00 pm on Sunday, November 21.

The artist’s biography:

I am a designer, illustrator and painter. I was born and raised in California but have called Seattle home for fourteen years. I love to draw and I am happiest with a little paint in my hair. I am inspired by a great number of things: old cartoons, firecracker packaging, bicycles, photo-booths, Japanese packaging design, street art, windup toys, antique stores, gardens, high-fashion, 60s soul music, dinosaur exhibits, old signs, chefs, flowers, sea creatures… just to name a few.

I paint because it’s what I love to do. I describe my painting style as whimsical, colorful, and playful. I have been known to paint women with fantastically long necks who live on tropical islands. I am specifically inspired by the natural world especially the the worlds under the sea. I find water to be a unifying element in my work. I’ve been working lately with other materials like sand and creating three-dimensional altars, exploring death and rebirth, but in a colorful, celebratory way.

One of my most recent projects was a mural on the side of a bridge in the Southpark neighborhood of Seattle. This mural will live for another year before the bridge is taken down and replaced with a new one.

Gina is also the co-owner ofa partner in the Bar del Corso pizza restaurant, currently scheduled to open at the Beacon Pub site next June.

Here is an example of her artwork:

(Photos courtesy of the artist.)

(Ed.: Correction made of Tolentino’s involvement in Bar del Corso, 11/16/10.)