Category Archives: Recreation

Meetings, Recreation

Seattle Parks meeting tonight at Jefferson Community Center

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Sorry for the late notice — we’ve been dealing with some technical issues earlier today, and after receiving this announcement this afternoon, weren’t able to post this until now. There is a meeting tonight at 7 p.m. at Jefferson Community Center (3801 Beacon Ave. S.) on Environmental Programs, Open Space and Maintenance in Seattle Parks.

Here’s the announcement:

Dear Jefferson Park neighbor,

Seattle Parks and Recreation is hosting their fourth Parks Legacy Plan meeting tonight at Jefferson Community Center. Attached is a brochure that explains importance of the plan and tees up some questions that will help direct future funding.

At Parks we’re nearing the end of two consecutive levies, primarily for capital projects, that have expanded our park system. We’re at a crossroads. We’ve created the first draft of a Parks Legacy Plan that will take us into the future. This is the time when the public can have the greatest impact in shaping the future of Seattle Parks and Recreation.

The draft includes information on our city’s changing demographics, our current budget and basic services, what people think about our current parks system based on a series of recent surveys, national and regional trends in recreation, and information on costs, attendance and community benefit. It poses policy questions we’re asking the public to answer at the six meetings and/or by email.

The Plan can be found here along with important timeline information.

Here is additional information posted on the Mayor’s Blog Post.

Recreation

Summer lawn bowling league for women forming at Jefferson Park

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Jenny Mears of the Jefferson Park Lawn Bowling Club writes:

Photo by Jenny Mears
Hello ladies! Come spend your sunny summer Wednesday nights in beautiful Jefferson Park with a fabulous group of women learning how to lawn bowl! What’s lawn bowling, you say? It’s an amazingly fun outdoor sport in which you and your team compete to see who can roll their bowls closest to the white ball at the end of the green, all while drinking gin and tonics (or a beverage of your choice). In other words, it’s a completely civilized way to spend a summer weeknight!

Jefferson Park Lawn Bowling Club has a great assortment of member events, tournaments, and leagues, including Bowl Busters, a league for women. We get together on Wednesday nights throughout the summer, sharing food and drink, and rolling bowls in the summer sun. All skill and experience levels are welcome; lawn bowling is one of those “moment to learn, lifetime to master” things! New Bowl Busters can try out the league with a special introductory rate of $40 for the Bowl Busters season. The first night of Bowl Busters is June 5th and the league runs Wednesday nights through the end of July. For more information or to sign up, see the Bowl Busters page on Jefferson Park Lawn Bowling Club’s website.

New bowlers do need to get a lesson on the basics before league begins. You’ll learn things like how to hold and roll a bowl, the objective of the game, and small tips to make you a good teammate your first game. Lessons are offered May 22 and May 29 at 7 pm. Sign up for a lesson by contacting BB@seattlebowls.org. Learn all about Jefferson Park Lawn Bowling Club at seattlebowls.org.

See you on the greens!

Recreation

Beacon Mountain to reopen soon

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Families enjoyed the Beacon Mountain playground when it was open last summer.
With the recent fine weather, a few neighbors have been wondering what’s up with the Beacon Mountain playground at Jefferson Park, and when it will reopen.

Andy Sheffer at Seattle Parks and Recreation says:

I have the fencing scheduled to be removed next Tuesday, May 14th. At that point the entire park will be open and the spray park will be in operation starting Memorial Day, 5/27/13 (Date when all spray parks open). The following work has been performed:

  1. Slope fortification
  2. Installation of curbs along pathways to prevent mulch from entering spray park system.
  3. Replacement of portions of concrete surfacing to enhance amt. of water re-circulated in the spray park.
  4. Mechanical enhancements to ensure smooth operation of spray park.
  5. Replacement of long open slide with a tubular slide.
  6. Installation of additional site furnishings.
  7. Installation of additional stepping stones in areas where desire paths appeared.

The following work is getting wrapped up this week.

  1. Installation of replacement safety surfacing associated with the installation of the new slide.
  2. Planting.
  3. General clean-up.

Please feel free to call me anytime at 206.423.1917 with any additional questions or concerns.

Recreation

Kids? Van Asselt CC track team wants you!

Kids aged 5-17 are invited to join the Seattle Parks and Recreation track and field team from Van Asselt Community Center. Coaches John and Charlotte Shoecraft return this year to guide the team in 50-3000 meter, long jump, turbo javelin and shot put, with meets starting in late April. Kids of all skill levels are welcome to join and compete.

To find out more, contact Carl Bergquist at 206-386-1921 or carl.bergquist@seattle.gov. Participation is $35 for the season and includes a singlet. Volunteers are also needed to help out, and should contact Carl the same way.

Education, Health and Safety, Recreation

Fitness classes still open at Van Asselt Community Center

It may be February, but it’s not too late to make or keep your New Year’s resolution. Yoga and aerobics classes are still open at at Van Asselt Community Center, 2820 S. Myrtle St.

Class information:

Aerobics
Ages: 18 and Older
Tuesday/Thursday
1/14 – 3/4/13
6 – 7 pm
Cost: $75/$65(Seniors 65+)

Adult aerobics on Tuesday and Thursday nights with health and fitness expert, Noel Montgomery. No class 3/12.

Beginning Yoga
Ages: 18 and Older
Wednesday Nights
2/6 – 2/27
3/6 – 3/27
Cost: $30 per month

In this class you will learn the fundamentals of yoga. It is taught at a slower pace to allow you to experience postures fully and to learn to incorporate modifications specific to your abilities and limitations. The class is appropriate for both new yoga students and students with some experience who want to develop a regular practice. Please provide your own yoga mats and water bottle.

For more information, call 206-386–1921.

Meetings, Recreation, Urban Planning

Jefferson Park Clubhouse on agenda for City Council committee meeting Friday

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A proposed design for the new Jefferson Park Golf Clubhouse, as viewed from the Beacon Avenue side.

Advance notice — this Friday, October 26, at 9 a.m., the Seattle City Council Planning, Land Use, and Sustainability Committee will meet to discuss (and possibly vote) on the Jefferson Park Golf Clubhouse project.

There will be a public comment period at the beginning of the meeting according to an agenda distributed yesterday.

Here is the information from the agenda about the Jefferson Park discussion and vote:

5. C.F. 312119
Council land use action to allow a new 19,800 square foot two-story clubhouse and driving range structure, a new 4,1 00 square foot cart storage structure and 20,000 square feet of paving improvements, including a request to waive development standards to allow field lighting up to 90 feet in height and netting and net poles up to 140 feet in height (Project No s. 3012845and 3013107, Type V).

DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE VOTE (10 minutes)

Presenters: Susanne Rockwell, Department of Parks and Recreation; Dan Miles, Bassetti Architects; Michael Jenkins, Council Central Staff

Supporting Documents:
a. Central Staff Memo
b. Attachment to Staff Memo
c. Jefferson Park Golf Master Plan
d. Jefferson Park Presentation

The new clubhouse has been the subject of some controversy, with some wanting the old clubhouse preserved, and others who want the new clubhouse built. Read more about the clubhouse in our Jefferson Park Golf Clubhouse archive here.

Local Events, Recreation

Plan ahead: Halloween activities for kids at community centers

Beacon Hill families take note: Jefferson and Van Asselt community centers both have Halloween activities planned for neighborhood kids later this month, including a haunted house, a flashlight hunt, and carnivals.

Jefferson Community Center (3801 Beacon Ave. S.) will welcome kids aged 12 and under to their Halloween Carnival and Haunted House on Friday, October 26, from 6-7:30 p.m. They promise “scary fun.” Costumes are encouraged. The event costs 25 cents per game, and $1 per person for the haunted house.

Further south, Van Asselt Community Center (2820 S Myrtle St.) is holding a Teen Halloween Flashlight Hunt and Carnival for kids aged 10-17 on Monday, October 29, from 7-8 p.m. The evening will include carnival games and activities. Admission is free.

City Services, Recreation

Parks making improvements to Beacon Mountain

The slides at Beacon Mountain will be closed through December while the playground is revised and improved. Photo by Wendi Dunlap.

You may have noticed the slides at Jefferson Park’s Beacon Mountain Playground have been closed. Have no fear — they are only closed so that Seattle Parks and Recreation can make the final revisions and tweaks to the new playground that opened in July. The work is being done in conjunction with the contractor and manufacturer of equipment, before the warranty expires. The work should be done by year’s end.

The work will include additions and alterations to the playground including revisions to the surfacing in the spraypark and additions to the mechanical system for spray features; plant replacement and hillside fortification to prevent erosion; revisions to hillside slides; and additions to site furnishings such as picnic tables, benches, bike racks, and trash receptacles. New interpretive panels describing solar energy production in the park will also be installed.

The slides will be closed through December.

For more information (or if you want to suggest additional improvements), contact project manager Andy Sheffer, 206-684-7041 or andy.sheffer@seattle.gov.

Recreation

City finds sprayparks a challenge to maintain

Kids enjoying the Beacon Mountain spraypark at the Jefferson Jubilee last month. Photo by Wendi Dunlap.

by Rose Egge, KOMO Communities
(Beacon Hill news partners)

In recent years, Seattle Parks and Recreation has converted several summer wading pool sites to sprayparks. Currently, there are nine sprayparks in Seattle, with a tenth scheduled to open in 2013.

According to the city, sprayparks use less water and appeal to a wider range of ages of kids than the wading pools intended for toddlers.

While parks staff claim the parks have been a success, they have also created a challenge for staff. The three newest sprayparks—at Northacres Park, Georgetown Playfield and Beacon Hill’s Beacon Mountain playground in Jefferson Park—have been shut off multiple times this past weekend because of very high usage.

Sprayparks operate similarly to swimming pools. The water is filtered, re-circulated, and chemically balanced to meet public health agency standards. If the balance varies from these standards, the system shuts off until the water is automatically rebalanced. The rebalance process generally takes between 10 and 20 minutes.

Over this past weekend with its very warm weather and heavy use of the sprayparks, the tanks at the new sprayparks became clogged; the filters could not keep up with the decreased flow and shut off the systems. Bulbs in the ultraviolet (UV) system, which helps sterilize and disinfect the water, overheated and turned off the spray features.

Parks technical staff who maintain the sprayparks are changing operating procedures to solve the problem, working with the contractor to eliminate shutdowns, and working with the UV manufacturer to find out how to solve the bulb problem.

The city has released this statement:

Parks appreciates the public’s patience while we work to eliminate system shut downs. Spraypark users can help by wearing swim attire and no street clothes or shoes on the splashpad and by keeping dogs off the splashpad.

City Services, Recreation

Spray park drainage to be fixed

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Photo by Furchin in the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool on Flickr.

We received an e-mail from Andy Scheffer of Seattle Parks and Recreation with some news about the spray park at Beacon Mountain. Here’s what he said:

The spray pad at Beacon Mtn. – Jefferson Park is temporarily closed because the water is not draining quick enough. The engineer is researching a fix and the contractor is going to make the necessary changes as soon as he is given direction (early this week). The system was tested on multiple occasions prior to the opening on July 14th. However, the issue was not readily apparent until the spray park experienced, continual, high usage.

I sincerely regret this inconvenience and can promise you that we are doing everything possible to get the system up and running again. Please don’t hesitate to e-mail or call me with additional questions or concerns.

Thank you, kindly
Andy Sheffer