All posts by Wendi Dunlap

Editor of the Beacon Hill Blog.
Arts, Local Events

Tonight: Spice Box celebrates 5 years of Skin Deep Dance

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Tonight’s monthly Spice Box show put on by Skin Deep Dance is a special one to celebrate Skin Deep’s 5 year anniversary. The event runs from 7 to 9 p.m. at Skin Deep Dance Studio in the El Centro de la Raza building, 2524 16th Ave. S. #311.

Among the attractions in tonight’s show are art by Melissa Metesh and performances by ModRom Dance Collective, Maureen, Skin Deep Dance, Carly Aniluk, and Sirens of Serpentine (students of Leslie Rosen). The show will be emceed by Sarah O’Brien.

All ages are welcome, and the show is family-friendly. Admission is $10 per person, free for teens and under. Proceeds will benefit Skin Deep’s SEEDs (Self-esteem, Empowerment, and Education through Dance) program. Guests should enter El Centro through the north entrance; elevator access to the top floor is available. Parking is free.

Volunteering and Giving

Volunteers needed for free tax prep at El Centro de la Raza

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Photo by John Morgan via Creative Commons/Flickr.

United Way of King County is currently recruiting volunteers to manage and operate free tax preparation sites in King County during the tax season in early 2013.

Volunteers will help clients complete their tax returns efficiently, to get all refunds and credits they are eligible for. Clients will also be able to sign up for public benefits, get help completing FAFSA (financial aid) applications, get their credit report, and learn about opportunities to open a savings account or invest in a savings bond.

Last year at El Centro de la Raza on North Beacon Hill, volunteers helped 604 households file returns, which resulted in $967,992 in refunds returned to the community.

United Way is still looking for volunteers at the El Centro de la Raza tax site. Each volunteer is asked to commit to training (provided by United Way) and a 4-hour weekly shift. Speakers of Chinese, Vietnamese, Spanish, Somali, Korean, Amharic, Cambodian and Russian are encouraged to volunteer. For more information or to register,

For complete descriptions or to register, go here.

Meetings, Urban Planning

Community invited to give input on new plaza

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On Monday, December 10, at 6:30 p.m. El Centro de la Raza is hosting a community meeting about the public gathering spaces in the planned Plaza Roberto Maestas (PRM) development, to be built in El Centro’s south parking lot, just north of Beacon Hill Station.

Representatives of El Centro and Beacon Development group will present and discuss ideas for 10,000+ square feet plaza and the adjacent community center, including how the two spaces will work together on the site and with the surrounding community.

Monday’s meeting is the latest in a series of community meetings about the PRM development project. Community opinions and concerns stated at a meeting last June are viewable here.

The meeting is at El Centro de la Raza, 2524 16th Ave. S. There will be refreshments available, and translation will be offered. If you plan to attend, please RSVP to execasst@elcentrodelaraza.org to confirm attendance for planning purposes.

This preliminary design shows a possible plaza in the PRM development project.
Clean and Green, Getting Around, Neighborhood Pride, Urban Planning

Beacon Hill bicycle and pedestrian plan honored with award

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Photo by Wendi Dunlap.

The Beacon Hill Family Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan, a project of Beacon BIKES and the City of Seattle, has won a 2012 VISION 2040 Award from the Puget Sound Regional Council. Vision 2040 Awards honor real-life examples of sustainable growth and improvements to quality of life in Puget Sound communities.

The Beacon Hill Family Bicycle and Pedestrian Circulation Plan has been designed as a ten-year plan to develop a network of pedestrian and bicycle routes to connect important and well-used locations with neighborhood greenways, cycle tracks, intersection improvements, and other solutions to increase safety for walkers and cyclists of all ages. Among the proposals is a crosswalk and “median refuge island” at South Spokane Street and Lafayette Avenue South, a location that leads directly into Jefferson Park from a neighborhood greenway but is currently very dangerous to cross.

Read more about the award here.

Getting Around, News

Zipcar car sharing service returns to Beacon Hill

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Zipcar sign in Washington DC. Photo by NCinDC via Creative Commons/Flickr.
In December 2008 carless Beaconians received an unwelcome Christmas gift when Zipcar announced they were pulling out of Southeast Seattle. The car sharing service had kept a car in a spot at Red Apple for some months. The closing announcement they emailed to customers suggested unhelpfully that the Zipcar location at South Charles Street/Hiawatha Place (on the other side of I-90, near Dearborn, and about 1.4 miles away from the Red Apple site) would be a good alternative. (That location is no longer in service.)

This December, Zipcar is bringing a much more welcome gift: the return of a Zipcar location on Beacon Hill. Two vehicles will be located at the El Centro de la Raza parking lot at 16th Avenue South and Roberto Maestas Festival Street. The cars, a Nissan Sentra nicknamed “Seahawk” and a Kia Soul named “Shapeshifter,” will be available to Zipcar users for $8-10.25 per hour (depending on vehicle) or, in the case of the Sentra, $72 per day.

Along with the Beacon Hill location, there are two other Southeast Seattle Zipcar sites: Rainier Avenue South/South Angeline, and South Othello Street/MLK Jr Way South.

Meetings

NBHC meeting cancelled this month

If you saved the first Tuesday of the month for the North Beacon Hill Council meeting, you don’t have to save it any more. There is no Council meeting this month. Stay tuned to this spot for information on the January meeting; in the meantime, enjoy your free evening!

(Edited to add: I’ve been told the January meeting is Tuesday, January 8, since the normal date would have been New Year’s Day.)

Education, Food and Drink

Canning Connections offers classes, gift certificates

Marmalade photo by Lenore M. Edman, www.evilmadscientist.com, via Flickr/Creative Commons.

Interested in food preservation? Canning Connections is a group who meet monthly on North Beacon Hill to can and preserve different foods. (Most recently, they made cranberry mustard and cranberry conserve.) This year Canning Connections is offering holiday gift certificates for $15. Certificates can be used at the January 22 beginner/refresher session, covering required equipment and the latest techniques for safe canning. The January session is suitable for those who have never tried preserving, as well as those who just need a refresher.

All sessions are held at the Garden House, 2336 15th Ave. S. Everything you need is supplied except your apron! For more information about sessions or certificates, contact Canning Connections at gaspari5@msn.com.

Local Events

Save the date: Las Posadas and Tree Lighting 12/12

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Christmas lights, by Brendan C via Creative Commons/Flickr.
The second annual Las Posadas and Tree Lighting event will take place on Wednesday, December 12, sponsored by El Centro de la Raza and Beacon Hill Merchants. Everyone in the community is invited to this free holiday family celebration, with music, free food, dancing, and the annual lighting of the Christmas Tree. There will also be a visit from Santa Claus.

The event begins at 6 p.m. at El Centro de la Raza, 2524 16th Ave. S.

Come early at 5 p.m. for piñatas at The Station coffee shop, across the street at 2533 16th Ave. S. The Station will also host this month’s Beacon Bards poetry reading at 7 p.m. that same evening, with poets Kary Wayson and Melanie Noel.

Getting Around

Columbian Way/I-5/West Seattle Bridge interchange repairs to force weekend closures

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The West Seattle Blog reports that a new WSDOT project will start early next year which will affect Beacon Hill drivers traveling through the West Seattle Bridge/I-5/Columbian Way interchange. The project, “Spokane Street Interchange Vicinity – Special Bridge Repair,” is to replace deteriorating expansion joints on the interchange. Some weekend ramp closures will be required to complete the work.

Closures will begin the weekend of January 4-7 and continue into April. See the closure schedule and detour maps here.

The ramps to be worked on. Map courtesy of WSDOT.