At this meeting, Parks staff and the community will discuss the community’s priorities for Phase Two of the expansion project, and the community will hear an update on Phase One. Design of Phase Two begins later this year. For more information, contact Kim Baldwin, Project Manager at 206-615-0810 or kim.baldwin@seattle.gov. For translation services at this meeting, contact Karen O’Connor at 206-233-7929.
There are a few changes from the 1956 photo to today, though the site is still clearly recognizable. This is just north of where Columbian Way carries the I-5 and West Seattle Bridge ramp traffic up toward Beacon Hill.
In the 1956 photo, there are much fewer trees and plants than we see in the modern view. The empty lot on the left side of the old photo is now the big apartment building at Columbian and Spokane, though it’s hidden behind trees in the new photo. The Columbian/Spokane intersection is rather busy now, but there’s no obvious traffic signal there in the 1956 photo.
The sidewalk on the right side of 14th no longer exists; the space is now blocked by a chain-link fence. And the car turning right onto Columbian at the bottom of the hill is doing something that is no longer legal; 14th is a one-way street going northbound in this area now. However, while I was taking the current-day photo, a car sped past me, down the hill, and took the right turn anyway.
Here’s another 1956 photo of this location:
The North Beacon Hill Council monthly meeting is this Thursday, at 7:00 pm at the Beacon Hill Library, 2821 Beacon Avenue South.
Here’s the agenda, as sent by Judith Edwards to the Beacon Hill Mailing List:
The North Beacon Hill Council Meeting will be a short one this month, as we must be out of the Library by 8:00. Though short, it’s very important.
Planning Director Ray Gastil of the Seattle Department of Planning and Development will be with us. Ray chairs the inter-departmental team that is updating our Neighborhood Plans.
On Saturday many of us met with Ray and others to provide input to the Station Area planning and ultimately, our Neighborhood Plans. Ray is meeting with us to answer these questions:
1. How can the community stay involved in the process, particularly concerning how the information gained at Saturday’s workshop is incorporated into our existing neighborhood plan and matrix?
2. What are realistic time lines for different phases of the planning process? How do zoning updates, review by other city departments, Seattle’s Comprehensive Plan, etc. affect this timeline?
3. How can we build a collaborative and trusting relationship with your department and others in the city? What can we expect from you? What do you expect from us?
Please plan to attend this important meeting. The agenda is as follows:
7:00 Hellos, Introductions, Announcements
7:15 Ray Gastil, Director, office of Planning and Development, City of Seattle
7:25 Q&A with Ray
7:40 Community Concerns – due to our limited time frame there will be no police visit this month.
7:55 Close
“As early as Tuesday, March 31, Sound Transit’s contractor, Obayashi Corporation will begin removal of the blue noise wall that surrounds the site of the Beacon Hill light rail station.
“The first phase will include the removal of the blue noise wall starting with the northernmost sections along Beacon Ave S., 17th Ave S and S. Lander Street… The second phase will include removing the remainder of the blue noise wall on the south end of the property. The second phase is currently scheduled for the middle of May to early June. Once the blue noise wall is down, the site will be secured by a chain link fence. As a result, residents may experience increased noise from construction activities.
“Pedestrians should use caution while using the sidewalk on the eastside of Beacon Ave (that borders the blue noise wall) as pedestrian access will be moved safely around the work site.
“The noisier activities (such as jack-hammering) will take place during the day, and will be restricted to the hours of 7:00 am to 5:00pm.
“Construction activities expected between the hours of 5:00 pm and 10:00 pm include the installation of brick veneer, site and roadway (S. Lander St.) restoration, plaza paving and landscaping.
“No surface-level construction activity is expected between 10:00 pm and 7:00 am.
“Sound Transit will continue to monitor construction noise levels and any activity whose noise is outside of acceptable limits will be restricted to the hours between 7:00 am and 5:00 pm.
“If you have any construction-related concerns, please call Sound Transit’s construction hotline at 1-(888) 298-2395.”
A map of the affected area is located in Sound Transit’s PDF.
Some portions of the wall already seem to be coming down, as seen in Jason’s photo above.
Photos posted recently to the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool on Flickr are showing a hint of spring. Thanks, neighbors, for taking such wonderful photos!
The area just south of Cleveland High School on Swift Avenue South is notoriously pedestrian-unfriendly to students and others walking there. Fortunately, there are improvements coming to the area.
The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) is completing a sidewalk improvement at the Metro bus stop on Swift Avenue South at 19th Avenue South. This will widen the 3-foot wide sidewalk to 9-feet wide at the bus stop. This sidewalk widening is part of a larger project that also includes a new lighted bus shelter, a new southbound bike lane, guardrail improvements, new school zone signs, and approximately 270 street trees in the neighborhood around Cleveland.
To celebrate these improvements, SDOT is hosting an event
next Friday, March 27 at 1:00 pm at the corner of South Orcas Street and 16th Avenue South. Grace Crunican, the Director of SDOT, will join approximately 30 school children from nearby Maple Elementary School to plant approximately 30 trees on South Orcas Street. The Mayor may possibly attend as well.
Thanks to Steve Louie for the information!
Mia Williams has been appointed by Seattle Public Schools as principal of Aki Kurose Middle School for the 2009-2010 school year. Williams is the current interim principal at Aki Kurose, and served as assistant principal at Denny Middle School for four years and assistant principal at Salmon Bay K-8 School for three years. She received the Distinguished Assistant Principal of the Year Award for 2002-2003.
Aki Kurose is located near Beacon Hill in the Rainier Valley, at 3928 South Graham.
The North Beacon Hill neighborhood planning workshop we’ve mentioned before is next Saturday. Judith Edwards sends this timely reminder:
“What do you want Beacon Hill to look like in five years? Ten?
What about the plans that were made at the Pancake Breakfast last November? What’s happening with Jefferson Park? What kind of development is going to occur on the Hill? These and many more topics will be explored in the City of Seattle Neighborhood Plan Updates meeting on Saturday, March 28th. Your ideas are important! Please join your neighbors to talk about the changes that are coming to Beacon Hill, and the changes you would like to see.‘Child care will be provided, as well as Interpretation services in Amharic, Cantonese, Khmer, Mandarin, Oromifa, Spanish, Somali,Tagalog, Tigrinya and Vietnamese. If you are in need of special accommodations or interpretation services, please contact Kerry Wade at 206-733-9088, or email her at kerry.wade@seattle.gov.”
This meeting is to begin the process of possible revision to the North Beacon Hill neighborhood plan, in light of possible changes from the arrival of light rail.
Need to get an idea what’s at stake? The existing neighborhood plan is online, here. The survey answers from last year’s Pancake Breakfast are here. (Thanks to David Gackenbach for sending us the latter file.)
Is the rumored increase in demand for property on Beacon Hill (particularly around the North Beacon light rail station) starting to kick in? Two local real estate blogs have recently touted Beacon Hill as the place to be.
“When people ask me where I think it would be wise to invest, I point their sights south to Beacon Hill. Otherwise known as NoBeHi or SoBeHi, North/South Beacon Hill has incredible values and views with unbelievable proximity to downtown’s core. With the Light Rail on its way, it is one more reason this much overlooked neighborhood needs a second chance.”
“One ingredient that makes a deal a deal is knowing about something that is going to be popular before it becomes popular. Right now there are not a lot of people, even in Seattle, that know much about North Beacon Hill. It is one of the few undiscovered neighborhoods left in Seattle. It is my opinion that very soon that is all going to change. The main reasons for this upcoming change is its location to Downtown Seattle (5 minutes away – and no need to use the freeway), I-5, and I-90 (easy access to the Eastside), and the soon to open North Beacon Hill light rail station.”
Will Beacon Hill be “discovered”? People have been predicting it for years, but now that the light rail is opening there may actually be some new momentum. Time will tell.
At first glance this is one of the less-recognizable past/present photos we have. In 1923, there was a considerable amount of farming in this lower Beacon Hill/upper Rainier Valley area, an Italian neighborhood, but now this spot just off Rainier Avenue, in the 1800 block of 21st Avenue South, is just a big ugly warehouse.
Still, something has survived. See the apartment building behind Mr. Ditore’s hot house? If you move just a bit further north on 21st, you can see it:
The Polk Directory for Seattle in 1923 lists Antonio Ditore, a gardener, and his wife Grace residing at this address. Though the 1923 photo is captioned “E. Ditore,” this seems likely to be Antonio. You can read more about Antonio Ditore, one of the farmers who sold at the Pike Place Market on its opening day in 1907, and see a picture of him years later with his garlic crop. (Scroll down to the post by John Ditore.)