Here’s the full schedule of the first Beacon Rocks! concert, which will take place this Sunday, June 13, from 1:00 – 5:00 pm at the Lander Festival Street just north of Beacon Hill Station.
While the performances are the focus of the day, there will be a lot more going on, too. Local restaurants will be vending food near The Station coffee shop on 16th Avenue South, and El Centro’s playground will be open for the kids to enjoy. People can also make rubbings of the ethnic patterns on Beacon Hill Station’s plaza, and enjoy the plaza’s art by artist Carl Smool.
Kajsa Soderlund wrote to tell us that A Touch of Sweden will be one of the vendors at the event. She says, “If you want to get your taste buds rocked, come and see us at The Chop House parking lot on Sunday from 1:00 pm right next to the main Beacon Rocks event on South Lander Street.” Items for sale will include Swedish meatball sandwiches, almond and chocolate beskvi, cinnamon rolls, apricot custard pie, decadent chocolate praline cake, carrot cake, banana bread and more.
Photo by Wendi.The Washington State Liquor Control Board announced this week that the owners of the Beacon Pub have applied to change the location of their liquor license from the current location at 3057 Beacon Avenue South to 5609 Rainier Avenue South. Is the Pub moving away from Beacon Hill? We stopped by to ask, but no one was in who could answer our questions. We are wondering if the Beacon Pub site might be the mystery location that is soon to be the Bar del Corso pizza restaurant.
Alleycat Acres and ROCKiT space are planning to transform this yard into an educational garden for the community. Photo courtesy of ROCKiT space.Alleycat Acres and ROCKiT space have been pretty busy in the neighborhood lately. Now, they are working together to build an educational community garden in the backyard at ROCKiT space. On Saturday from 1:00-5:00 pm, the two groups are inviting the community to a work party to transform the space. They will also sell plant starts and baked goods to help raise funds for the garden, and there will be music and artsy activities as well as a potluck. To help out, email rockitspace@gmail.com or volunteer@alleycatacres.com or just show up on June 12th. ROCKiT space is located at 3315 Beacon Avenue South. For more information, see the website.
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El Centro de la Raza is hosting another series of Spanish classes, to begin on June 28. Classes are instructed by professional native Spanish speakers in an interactive community-based setting. Classes will be on Mondays and Wednesdays from 6:00 pm to 7:30pm. Go here for information and a registration form. If you have questions, please call (206) 957-4605 or email execasst@elcentrodelaraza.org.
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The last two parts of Kevin Minh Allen’s three part series in the International Examiner, “Beacon Hill, Our Story,” are online now. Read the full series here: part I, part II, part III.
Speaking of Link, Mike Lindblom reported in Sunday’s Seattle Times (BHB news partners) that there are still issues with the noise of the trains in Tukwila, along Martin Luther King Jr. Way South, and along the curve near Mount Baker Station and the Beacon Hill tunnel, though a lubrication system added last winter has helped somewhat. Have you noticed the noise, and have you noticed any improvement?
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Dan Bennett took this cool panoramic photo of Jefferson Park recently. Click on it to see a larger version. Once you’re there, click “Original” to see a much larger version.
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A land use application has been filed to allow change of use in the basement of an existing apartment structure at 1731 South Horton Street to a religious institution (Zen Buddhist Meditation Center); it would require approval of an Administrative Conditional Use to allow an institution in a single family zone. See this bulletin for further information. The comment deadline is June 20.
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Lastly, we wanted to pass on some information about a financial assistance program that is currently open for low-income families in Seattle. Central Area Motivation Program (CAMP) offers an Energy Assistance Program that provides financial assistance through LIHEAP and Puget Sound Energy HELP to help low-income families and individuals pay home heating bills and minimize future home heating costs. Eligible clients can receive up to $1,000 through LIHEAP or Puget Sound Energy for utility payment assistance and up to $5,000 for dysfunctional heating system, chimney, or window repair or replacement. For more information, see the website or call the Appointment Hotline at 1-800-348-7144.
Once, many years ago, I was in a very bad financial situation and CAMP’s program was what kept the heat from being turned off in my apartment that winter. I want to take this opportunity to thank them for being there when I needed help. If you know anyone who might need similar help, please do make sure they get information about CAMP’s program.
Kids having fun with crafts during a class. Photo courtesy of ROCKiT space.ROCKiT space is hosting afternoon arts and crafts classes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 2:45 – 6:00 pm. The classes are geared toward school-aged kids, but the classes are open to all ages and skill levels. Children K-12 may participate unaccompanied by an adult, but parents or caregivers may also stay and join in the fun! Classes are $5 per class participant. Drop-ins are welcome, but you may reserve a spot by calling ROCKiT space at 206-323-7115.
Laura Feinstein of the Solid Waste Advisory Council recently wrote us:
I was hoping to get an opinion from your readers on the topic of mandatory food composting for multifamily residents (apartment and condo residents). The city of Seattle is considering the idea of making food composting subscriptions mandatory for this sector of our city. It is already mandatory for Seattle residents living in single family homes. This requirement would mandate landlords and building managers provide food composting service to the occupants of the building for a cost that is similar to the cost that single family residents incur for this service. Several tenants may share a food waste cart so the cost could potentially be divided up to a much smaller number for each tenant. SPU estimates that there are 15,000 tons of organics going into the garbage from multifamily tenants currently. The city already provides voluntary food waste subscribtions to multifamily residents although only about 1,200 tons of organics is currently being diverted through voluntary means. The city is considering the implementation for the fall of 2011. I’d like to get input from BHB readers on how this would impact them positively, negatively or otherwise.
Please send an email to Laura at feinstei@mail.com or leave a comment here on the blog with your input.
In the last few days on the hill, some people worked on neighborhood issues, and some had fun at the Beacon Hill Festival, while only a few blocks away, others slept in the park. Photos in this post are by Jason unless otherwise noted. Meeting with neighbors, discussing development... (City Councilperson Sally Bagshaw, at the North Beacon Hill Council meeting on Thursday night. Photo by Wendi.)Proudly displaying pottery at the Beacon Hill Festival...Perusing plants at the Festival...Cooking meat at the Festival... ...and sleeping on the grass in Stevens Place (Triangle) Park.
It’s midway through KEXP’s summer membership drive and Fifth Annual Hood-to-Hood Challenge, in which Seattle neighborhoods are pitted against each other to see which neighborhood can win bragging rights by contributing the most support to the non-profit, independent radio station.
Currently, Capitol Hill/First Hill/Madison Park are in first place with $19,305 in pledges, while Beacon Hill/Georgetown/South Park/Sodo are in a weak 14th place with only $1,815. Rainier Valley/Mount Baker/Columbia City/Rainier Beach/Skyway have nearly twice the pledges, with $3,420 — but they had to combine five neighborhoods to do it. (We have four, but one of them is a neighborhood no one lives in!)
If you’re a KEXP listener and want to show some neighborhood pride while supporting independent radio, go here.
Thanks to Matthew McDonald for reminding us to mention this!
The first free Beacon Rocks! show featuring Beacon Hill musicians is coming up on next Sunday, June 13, from 1:00 – 5:00 pm, with scheduled performances from Lion Dance, Unite One/Traq Essentials, Robert Hinrix and Angela Castaneda, Octothorpe, Beacon Rockits, Better World, and Zumba. There are three more shows to follow on July 11, August 8, and August 29, all held at the new Lander Festival Street at Beacon and Lander, next to Beacon Hill Station.
Beacon Rocks! t-shirts to help support the event will be available at the Beacon Bazaar at Beacon Hill International School on June 12, as well as on the day of the event.
Volunteers needed
Volunteers are needed to help set up and run the first day of Beacon Rocks! on June 13. Setup will start around 9:00 am and cleanup will run to 6:00 or 7:00 pm. If you can’t help on June 13, volunteers are also needed for the other events in July and August. If you can help out on June 13, please respond by today, June 7.
Jobs include but are not limited to:
Hanging up balloons, signs, arrows in the morning
Setting up equipment
Shifts as crossing guards on Beacon Avenue
Setting up/running T-shirt stand/sales
Helping attendees park in designated lots
Setting up/maintaining stage area
Post-event clean-up
Assisting kids at the etching area
All volunteers will be provided with water, snacks, and sunblock, and the opportunity to buy shirts at cost (about $7 vs. $15 regularly).
If you are interested in helping out, please email beaconrocks@gmail.com with what dates and times you are available, and any preferred jobs or jobs you have experience with.
The Beacon Hill Music folks want you to know: “We would appreciate it so much if you could spare just a few hours in the morning or afternoon on any of the event days to come help out. Thanks!” You can join these Beacon Rocks! volunteers and help put on this Sunday's event at Lander Festival Street. Photo by Jason.Octothorpe performed at Rockit Space a couple of weeks ago, auditioning for Beacon Rocks! Photo by Joel Lee in the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool on Flickr.
I live on 14th and South Hinds Street, an area right by the freeway exit. People often drive very fast on this almost one-lane neighborhood street, in order to cut down to the freeway (thus bypassing 15th and therefore saving seconds of time). Since we don’t have sidewalks, and the road has two curves, it is very dangerous—poor visibility, and literally nowhere for pedestrians to go.
When even this shortcut takes too long, they also often bypass even 14th/South Hinds Street, and instead cut at high speeds through my alley. This is even worse, since it’s very narrow and abuts right next to all property—and of course, no alley sidewalks as well.
A few days ago, I was walking in the alley to my house (I take the alley due to lack of street sidewalks) when a man, smoking and driving a silver Lexus SUV, sped towards me up the alley from the freeway. Please keep in mind that I am very obviously pregnant, which makes me slower than normal. Regardless, apparently this short pregnant pedestrian didn’t move out of “his” way fast enough, so, barely stopping, he rolled his window down and shouted “this road is for cars.” No sir, it is not. It is an alley. It is for property access. There are actual roads to the left and right of this alley. This kind of thing is, unfortunately, common.
I feel this is very unsafe but don’t know what to do. My dream would involve a speedbump or two in the alley to prevent speeding impolite people shaving off fractions of a second of their drive by taking the alley instead of a road, and sidewalks on the curved stretch of South Hinds Street.
A neighbor at the Beacon Hill Festival, thinking about how to prioritize Neighborhood Plan ideas. Photo by Jason.(By Frederica Merrell, with some added text by Wendi.)
138 people voted on a Neighborhood Plan Update actions and strategies survey at the Beacon Hill Festival on Saturday. If you couldn’t attend the festival, have no fear—click this link to take the survey online. (This is a different survey than the one we posted about several weeks ago.)
The purpose of this survey is to ask North Beacon Hill neighbors and non-residents to rate their support for elements of our 2011 Neighborhood Plan update. In the survey, you are asked to indicate your level of support or agreement for various strategies to be included in the plan. (Some examples of the strategies that are included in the survey: “Create affordable rental and home ownership housing targets for the Beacon Hill Urban Village and periodically evaluate progress,” and “Create the Town Center campus on Beacon Avenue between McClellan and 15th, by calming and redirecting traffic flow, extending the festival street, and creating bus/bike lanes and activated alleys.”) The proposed plan update will be edited based on your input. Questions or comments? Send them to nbhcplan@gmail.com.
This plan update is proposed by neighborhood volunteers, with ideas that come from neighborhood groups and individuals. It incorporates the work done by the Seattle Department of Planning and Development (DPD) in 2009 and the comments they collected. Look for future reports on the survey results here on the Beacon Hill Blog.
Our neighborhood plan
The 1999 North Beacon Hill Neighborhood Plan has been a highly successful document because neighbors and City of Seattle departments implemented significant improvements for our community over the ten-year planning period. It was built on the shoulders of the 1993 North Beacon Hill Action Plan, our first neighborhood plan and one of the first residential neighborhood plans in the City. The 1993 Action Plan was supported by extensive study of housing trends, demographics, and conditions in the North Beacon Hill neighborhood. Continue reading Your opinions wanted for Neighborhood Plan Update survey→
