The opening ceremony is tomorrow, November 1, with dinner at 5:30 and a reception ceremony at 6:30. Admission, dinner, and parking are free.
If you can’t attend the opening event, you can still visit the ofrenda exhibit from November 2-18 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10 a.m.-6 p.m., and on Thursday from noon-8 p.m.
This weekend Beacon Hill will celebrate holiday festivals, live music and food, a grand opening of a neighborhood amenity, and a closing of a neighborhood institution.
The community centers on the Hill are both holding events for kids tonight, October 28, from 6 to 8 p.m. Van Asselt Community Center (2820 S. Myrtle St.) is hosting a free Halloween Carnival for kids aged 12 and under. Games and goodies are promised for the carnival guests.
Jefferson Community Center (3801 Beacon Ave. S.) is also hosting a Fall Festival and Haunted House for kids 11 and under (the haunted house is for older kids, per parents’ judgment). There will be games for 25 cents each or 5/$1, and the haunted house admission is $1.
For both festivals, kids should dress in their best costumes, and bring a bag to collect treats and prizes.
Tomorrow, October 29, the Mountains to Sound Trail Grand Opening celebration starts at 2:30 p.m. at 900 Sturgus Ave. S. Mayor Mike McGinn and other dignitaries will be there to mark the opening of the trail, and tours of the area’s improvements will be given.
Afterwards, head down Beacon Avenue to the first Beacon Boogie, a celebration of food, art, and music. See five bands at five different venues for the grand total of five dollars (free for kids 12 and under), as well as enjoying great food and art from Beacon restaurants, artists, and galleries. See the event schedule here.
On Sunday, October 30, a more somber celebration will mark the closing of Beacon Lutheran Church (1720 S. Forest St.) after 70 years serving the community. The final worship service is at 10 a.m., and at about noon, the church and community will gather for a potluck dinner and remembrance program. All are invited to either or both parts of the event.
Acting superintendent of Seattle Parks, Christopher Williams, sent the following letter out to the community:
Dear Off-Leash Area Supporter,
Thank you for your participation in our efforts to reconfigure the Dr. Jose Rizal Park off-leash area to accommodate the new Mountains to Sound Greenway Trail. We listened to what you told us in the recent public meeting, and I’m very pleased to let you know that Parks staff have identified a 4.1 acre area that maximizes the available, usable space in the park to serve as our off-leash area. To see the new configuration, please see the attached schematic.
Major change has come to Dr. Jose Rizal Park because of the construction of the trail. The trail, which is a wonderful new amenity for the city and for the neighborhood, unfortunately took about one acre of the original off-leash area. It has also brought about renewed interest in the park, increased volunteer activity by the ever-active and much appreciated Beacon Area Neighbors, and recent Parks improvements that include:
- Thinning the quaking aspen and birch trees. This thinning, consistent with Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) principles, improves sight lines in the park, both within and outside the off-leash area. It also gives the remaining trees the opportunity to thrive and creates more usable space in the off-leash area.
- Along with volunteers from Beacon Area Neighbors, maintenance crews cleared approximately 1.5 acres of blackberries, which also creates more usable spaces within the off-leash area.
Continue reading Rizal Park Off-Leash Area reconfiguration announced
Other local publications posted about the EDG meeting yesterday:
The end is here! …of the Mountains to Sound Trail project, that is. The portion of the trail on Beacon Hill is completed, and the community is invited to come out and celebrate the grand opening and ribbon cutting this Saturday, October 29 at 2:30 p.m., at the trail’s northeast point, 900 Sturgus Ave. S. (That’s just adjacent to Daejeon Park.)
Mayor Mike McGinn, Deputy Mayor Darryl Smith, Mountains to Sound Greenway Executive Director Cynthia Welti, and others will participate in the celebration. There will be a tour offered for all to learn about the new improvements around the trail.
The trail is part of the Mountains to Sound Greenway, 1.5 million acres of green space and trails extending from Ellensburg in Central Washington to Seattle.
Construction of this portion of the trail began in June 2011. Find out more about the project on the project website.
It is very early in the process, so all the designs shown were nowhere close to a final form. (The designs are currently not available online, but should appear on the DPD website soon. I’ll post a link then.) Several options were presented, including 40′ buildings and 65′ buildings, depending on whether the rezone currently in process goes through or not. All the options had a few things in common: an entrance to a 14-17 space parking garage via the alley, a courtyard to the north of the building, and some commercial space on the southwest corner of the building. The options varied in height, the presence of live-work space, and the configuration of entrances and setbacks. A 40′ building would probably have 30 units, and a 65′ building would have 45.
Pacific stated that their goal is “sustainable principles”; they hope to include solar cells and possibly even wind power generators on the roof. They intend to plant large trees in the planting strips around the building.
Materials Pacific said they may use for the building include “some lap siding,” masonry, concrete, and some paneling for upper levels. (Several community members expressed a strong dislike for panel-type siding during the public commentary period.) “Green walls” would probably be included as well.
Parking would be below-grade, with a small 14-17 space garage. Parking is not required at all within the station overlay area, so there is no requirement to have spaces for each unit.
The amount of commercial space in the building, as presented by Pacific last night, is very small—one small unit in the southwest corner. This was the most frequent concern mentioned by commenters during the public comment period. Neighbors who spoke up about it were unanimous in wanting more retail/commercial space in the building, preferably along the entire McClellan frontage. The current proposal “is not lively,” said neighbor Judith Edwards.
Some commenters also expressed concern about setbacks. The designs showed setbacks above the fourth floor. Judith Edwards commented that, according to neighborhood design guidelines, setbacks are supposed to start above the second floor. She concluded, “We are going to hold firm on this.” However, this was not a unanimously-held opinion. Another neighbor commented that setbacks are unnecessary for this building because it will have plenty of visual interest already.
Another major concern mentioned by the neighbors in attendance was the alley. In the proposed designs, the alley side of the building contains a driveway into the parking garage, but seemingly nothing else. Commenters wanted to see the alley as an “active alley,” with shops and cafe tables, preserving the view toward El Centro de la Raza. (See this illustration by Joel Lee for the basic idea.)
In general, however, the commenters seemed fairly supportive of the development.
After discussion, the Design Review Board members recommended “significant modulation” and an increase in commercial space. Setbacks will be required if the building is 65′ tall. The designers should draw on existing structures in the neighborhood for materials influence. They must enhance the alley, activating it for pedestrian use.
There will be another meeting in the future, after new designs have been created to address these issues. Stay tuned for the rest of the process.
(Thanks to Melissa Jonas for some additional information.)
By KOMO Communities Staff (Beacon Hill Blog news partners)
The search is on for the driver who crashed into a church, then fled the scene.
Service was canceled at the Ethiopian Orthodox Church on 14th Ave. S. Tuesday morning after a car rammed into the side of the building.
The crash, which occurred just before 2 a.m., tore through the stage inside the church, and left behind a large gaping hole.
No one was injured in the crash. Firefighters said the driver ran from the scene, leaving behind his car, before police arrived.
The crash displaced several church elders who live above the church. The Red Cross is assisting the displaced residents while investigators determine whether the structure is safe for occupancy.
A description of the sought driver was not available.
Robinette Struckel posted some wonderful photos of autumn on Beacon Hill to the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool on Flickr, including these amazing leaves. Thanks, Robinette!
We’d love to feature your Beacon Hill photos, too. If you have images of Beacon Hill to share, please consider contributing to the pool. Sometimes we aren’t able to use photos right away, but we do appreciate all of them. Thanks to all the wonderful Beacon Hill photographers out there!
As alluded to in this space yesterday, this evening is the Early Design Guidance meeting for the proposed four-story commercial/residential structure at 2721 17th Ave. S., the southeast corner of the Beacon Hill Station block.
The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. at the Wellspring Family Services community room, 1900 Rainier Ave. S.
The property was previously used for staging during the construction of Beacon Hill Station, and before that, contained single-family homes. Since the station opened in July 2009, the lot has been bare and surrounded by chain-link fence.
This proposed building would only cover part of the station block property. The triangular lot at the southwest corner would not be developed, nor would part of the rest of the block, as those properties have different owners. The development firm involved in the project is Pacific Housing NW.
Neighbor Carol Sanders posted to the Beacon Hill mailing list yesterday, encouraging interested Beacon Hill residents to attend the meeting:
“This is the best chance for the public to offer comments about design and the siting of the development. We’re going to have a lot of density coming our way with developers building up housing around the light rail area. It would be really great to have the neighborhood involved in making sure that these buildings will contribute to the look and feel of Beacon Hill and not just become big sterile boxes for folks to live in. We can really impact things like how the sidewalk areas interact with the building, possible public spaces, greenery, etc. if people get involved early in the design process and speak up at these meetings.”
View Larger Map. This is the location of the proposed apartment building at the Beacon Hill Station block.
