Neighbors around South Graham Street will have new pavement this week, but first, they’ll have to deal with a few traffic complications. The Seattle Department of Transportation plans to grind and pave South Graham Street between Swift Avenue South and 23rd Avenue South this Thursday and Friday, August 29 and 30, weather permitting.
During the work, the street will be closed to eastbound traffic, and drivers will be directed to continue south on Swift to Beacon Avenue South. Work hours will be 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Pedestrian traffic will not be affected, and police officers will be on hand to keep vehicle traffic moving.
Members of Ala Carte performing at Beacon Rocks! in 2011. Photo by Wendi Dunlap/Beacon Hill BlogIs it really almost the end of August? It is. And that means that this Sunday, August 24, is the last Beacon Rocks! of the summer of 2013. This month’s event from 1-5 p.m. on Roberto Maestas Festival Street is themed “Duwamish!”
There will be a flea market, kids’ wading pools, and the usual entertainment from local performers. Youth from the Duwamish Tribe will share Duwamish River clean up information along with info about current efforts for Federal recognition of the tribe.
Here’s the schedule for the event:
1-1:45pm: Ala Carte
2-2:45pm: X8 Interactive
3-3:45pm: Stefanie Robbins
4-4:45pm: Tumbuka Marimba
Break dancing by “Catch ‘Em All” during every set break!
Photo courtesy of Chobo-Ji.Neighbor Tobin from Chobo-Ji sent us this announcement about an upcoming event on North Beacon Hill:
Chobo-Ji, the Zen temple on S. Horton, has a three-day meditation retreat that is aimed at beginners and older folks interested in getting a more intimate experience of what Zen meditation is.
It is from Friday-Sunday August 23-25 from 7am-8pm, ending at 4pm on Sunday. Three vegetarian meals will be provided. Cost is $100. The description from our website is as follows:
“Odayaka†means peaceful in Japanese and this Sesshin is a little less arduous with more dialogue than our weeklong sesshins. It is especially suited for Dharma Dragons (practitioners over 60) and others looking for a more spacious daily schedule. Each day begins with zazen at 7AM, followed by a flexible schedule with breakfast at 8AM, lunch at noon, dinner at 6PM and close at 8PM. Sunday the sesshin will close at 4PM. A vegetarian breakfast, lunch and dinner will be served each day with zazen, kinhin (walking meditation) dokusan (private interviews with the Abbot), teisho (dharma talk), chanting, qi gong, dialogue and personal time for reflection and integration. Cost is $100. To hold a spot please send a deposit of at least $25 as soon as possible. For more information email zen@choboji.org.”
The community is invited to attend a public meeting on Tuesday, August 27 from 7 – 8 p.m. at Jefferson Community Center to discuss new emergency access road construction and removal of 22 white poplar trees on the edge of Jefferson Park.
Construction of an emergency access road for the VA hospital has caused root loss to 22 trees between the hospital and Jefferson Park. The trees were in poor condition previous to the construction and root loss.
The Veterans’ Administration Health Care System will fund the restoration of landscaping and replanting of trees at a 2:1 ratio when the construction project is finished.
Jefferson Community Center is located at 3801 Beacon Ave. S. For more information about the meeting, contact Michael Yadrick at 206-615-1046 or michael.yadrick@seattle.gov.
Photo by Wendi Dunlap / Beacon Hill Blog.Seattle Central is probably coming to Beacon Hill after all.
The Seattle Times reports tonight that the Pacific Hospital Preservation and Development Authority’s governing council has agreed to a tentative deal for the state Commerce Department to lease 205,000 square feet of the Pacific Tower/PacMed building (13 floors) for 30 years. This will begin a 90-day due diligence period for the state, which plans to sublease six floors to Seattle Central Community College for health-training programs, including a new Bachelor of Nursing degree.
The remaining seven floors would be subleased to other non-profit agencies that focus on health care and social services.
The building has been mostly vacant since Amazon.com moved out in 2011.
I tried to think of the most harmless thing. Something I loved from my childhood. Something that could never, ever possibly destroy us. Mr. Stay Puft.
Who you gonna call? That’s right, the 1984 comedy blockbuster Ghostbusters is this month’s feature at the Jefferson Park Outdoor Movie Night. Showtime is dusk on Saturday, August 17, and admission is free. Bring lawn chairs, blankets, and snacks, or purchase snacks at the site.
Mark September 14 on your calendar as well, when Raiders of the Lost Ark will close out this year’s summer outdoor movie series.
For more information about the event, contact the Jefferson Community Center at 684-7481. Many Shuvs and Zuuls knew what it was to be roasted in the depths of the Slor that day, I can tell you!
A possible design for the entrance to the plaza at Plaza Roberto Maestas.El Centro de la Raza Executive Director Estela Ortega sent the neighborhood mailing lists an update on the Plaza Roberto Maestas project today. Among other things, it mentions that the Design Review meeting scheduled for next week has been canceled. Read on:
Estimadas/os Neighbors:
It has been a busy spring and summer and I wanted to provide you with a brief update on Plaza Roberto Maestas, the redevelopment of our south parking lot into a vibrant mixed-use project next to the Light Rail Station.
We are currently preparing for submission of an application for public funds to the City of Seattle in September. As such, we are also spending time this summer making sure we understand and incorporate all of the policy changes afoot right now with the City of Seattle and the Washington State Housing Finance Commission, both likely to be major sources of funding for Plaza Roberto Maestas. Unfortunately, Seattle affordable housing projects did not fare very well in Olympia this year – none made the priority list for the State Housing Trust Fund, including our project, Plaza Roberto Maestas. As we indicated on our last blog post in the spring, we do have feasible back-up funding scenarios and are in conversations right now with funders about these financing options.
However, we have unfortunately decided to cancel our August 13th City Design Review Meeting. We realize that this meeting had already been rescheduled twice, and apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused in the community. As you can tell, we are eager to begin this review process with the neighborhood and to start permitting Plaza Roberto Maestas. At this point we hope to return to the community in the fall, when the North Beacon Hill Council is meeting again regularly, for a more comprehensive update and check-in before moving on to the formal Design Review process later this year.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact Kate de la Garza at kated@beacondevgroup.com or 206-860-2491 ext. 202.
Again, gracias for your patience with us, and we look forward to meeting again with you in the fall.
-Estela Ortega
Executive Director
El Centro de la Raza
The Center for People of all Races
Prizewinning adobo comes to The Station coffee shop on Sunday, August 18, from 12-5 p.m. with the first Adobo Fest, hosted by Prometheus Brown with music by DJ 100 Proof and Sabzi. For $25, you get “all you can eat and drink.” $10 gets you five tastings and one drink, and $6 gets you three tastings and one drink. The event is kid-friendly.
Cash prizes and a trophy await winners in the event, and the winning adobo dish will also be featured in the Beacon Ave Sandwich “Jose Rizal” adobo sandwich.
Guest judges include:
Blue Scholars – Seattle’s hometown hiphop duo with Geologic DJ/Producer Sabzi
Aleksa Manila – LGBTQ Activist, counselor and Seattle’s Queen of Drag
@n_e_x_u_s followed up a bit later: “Minor injuries. Driver fled. Passenger kept @ scene for EMT. 1 lane opened. #36 NB allowed through. SB still waiting.”
Neighbors will get together for block parties from one end of the Hill to the other tonight for the annual Neighborhood Night Out Against Crime. This year’s theme for the crime-prevention and community-building event is “Celebrating Crime Free Neighborhoods.†There will be potlucks, entertainment, visits from community representatives, police officers, and firefighters, BBQs, and more.
We’ve put together an interactive map of all the Beacon Hill Night Out events we know of. Check out what your neighbors are doing tonight, and join them if you can!
