Big news for Beacon Hill skateboarders: Tony Hawk and his Birdhouse Crew are coming to the Hill for a demo of world-class skating on Thursday, July 26 as part of the Birdhouse Left Coast Tour. The event will be at 4 p.m. at the Jefferson Park Skate Park (3801 Beacon Ave. S., in Jefferson Park behind the driving range).
Here’s a preview of the tour:
And here’s a recap of the first three days of the tour so far:
The tour is presented by Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD game, which makes its debut on the Xbox Live Arcade today. So if you can’t wait until the 26th for some skateboarding action, you can keep yourself busy with the game.
Among the many activities planned for Saturday’s Jefferson Park Jubilee is the grand opening of the new Beacon Mountain Playground. The BHB visited the nearly-finished playground yesterday to see the views from the new view decks and even try out one of the slides. Here are some photos of the playground. (All photos by Wendi Dunlap.)
The two slides in the playground are surrounded by a soft, bouncy, rubbery surface for safety.The playground has a view platform.The railing of the view platform.Looking down from the top of the tallest slide.There will be ziplines here.
Last but not least, here’s a video taken while going down the tall slide at the playground:
Will we see trails like this in Cheasty Greenspace someday? Photo by Explore The Bruce via Creative Commons/Flickr.
The Friends of Cheasty Greenspace/Mt. View have posted a plea for major volunteer help on Saturday, June 2 from 10 a.m. until noon. A “bucket brigade” is needed to help surface the Ridge Trail with gravel.
If you are able to help, meet the group at 2809 S. Alaska Pl. Tools and gloves will be provided, but volunteers should bring water and perhaps snacks to share.
In other Cheasty Greenspace news, a group of neighbors are working together to create an Opportunity Fund proposal to build a multi-use trail system (including mountain bike trails) in the north part of the Greenspace. Find out more at the Beacon Bike Park website.
This 1909 photo shows the Denny Regrade in progress; the regrade is the reason we no longer have a Denny Hill. Photo courtesy of Seattle Municipal Archives.
Beacon Hill’s Jose Rizal Park is the grand finale of Saturday’s Seven Hills Walk, a guided 6.5 mile walk through Seattle (and local Scandinavian) history across the city’s seven past and present hills.
The walk is based on a traditional 20-mile hike in Seattle’s sister city of Bergen, Norway. Seattle’s shorter version starts on Queen Anne Hill at the Kerry Park viewpoint, 211 W. Highland Dr. Walkers and history guides will then visit Denny Hill (at least, what remains of it — including Denny Park and the Denny Park Lutheran Church, as well as the former Sons of Norway Hall), Capitol Hill (Cal Anderson Park and Seven Hills Park), Second Hill a.k.a. Renton Hill (Fred Lind Manor, a retirement home which features historical pieces from the old downtown Swedish Baptist Church), First Hill (lunch at Swedish Hospital), Yesler or “Profanity” Hill, and last but not least, Beacon Hill and Rizal Park.
The walk will start at 9 a.m. at Kerry Park and run until about 3 p.m. It is free and all are welcome. Walkers can purchase lunch at Swedish (there is a limited lunch menu) or bring their own lunches. Metro buses will return walkers to Kerry Park; bring a bus pass or money if you wish to ride.
‘Tis the season for Wednesday evening summer lawn bowling. This is a call out to all the ladies of Seattle who might want to consider joining this fabulous, but little known, summer outdoor activity on Beacon Hill. We are the Beacon Hill Bowl Busters — a women’s league at the Jefferson Park Lawn Bowling Club working hard to walk the friendly line between social and competitive. The season goes from June 6 to August 1.
Things to know:
We are an eclectic group of women lawn bowlers.
We bowl every Wednesday evening from 7 til you pretty much feel done or we get kicked off the greens.
We have created a light-hearted, socially-competitive environment.
We like to get our drink on and have a permit to do so on Wednesday evenings.
We like to get our drink on.
We welcome people who don’t want to get their drink on.
We love our community.
We fire up the grill and welcome food.
We have a blast bowling together.
We have an amazing million-dollar view.
You:
You do not need to know how to bowl.
You enjoy unpredictable outdoor Seattle weather.
You want to be around interesting people and want to have a good time.
The weather yesterday and today makes summer seem a long time off. But it’s coming soon, and the Jefferson Park Lawn Bowling Club wants you to make note of some of their summer events.
Friday Night BBQ and Bowls will happen each Friday night from June 1 through August 31 (except for July 27), from 6 p.m. until dusk. This event is free, and open to anyone interested in trying lawn bowling. No experience or equipment is needed — just bring flat-soled shoes and something for the grill. Donations are welcome; alcohol is not.
On the Fourth of July, the Club is holding its annual Ice Cream Social and Bowls event from 7 – 10:30 p.m. This event is also free and open to anyone who is interested. Bring flat-soled shoes, and don’t bring any alcohol — it’s not allowed at this public event. Everything else is supplied by the Club.
The Jefferson Park Lawn Bowling Club is located at 4103 Beacon Ave. S. The Club is an all-volunteer non-profit organization, founded in 1942.
Classes offered include pottery, Zumba fitness, toddler “Precasso” arts, a community kitchen project, Shaolin kung fu, voiceover work, ballet, piano, Chinese, rugby, and many more.
This mural is a landmark in Dr. Jose Rizal Park. Photo by Seattle Daily Photo in the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool on Flickr.Seattle Parks and Recreation will hold a meeting this Wednesday to discuss Dr. Jose Rizal Park’s off-leash area as well as future opportunities for the park.
Because of the recent snow and slush, Parks rescheduled the meeting to this Wednesday afternoon, February 1, from 1 to 2 p.m. The first part of the meeting will be at the park itself, 1008 12th Ave. S., and the second half will be held at the Quarters 1 conference room at the Pacific Medical Center building, 1200 12th Ave. S.
Topics under discussion at this meeting wil be the newly-redesigned off-leash area and the other partnership efforts in the park. Parks staff will address the following issues:
Why the off-leash area was redesigned and why it is 4.1 acres in size
Program and partnership opportunities to re-activate the park so it is safe and accessible
Identification of maintenance priorities and fund raising opportunities
Roles and responsibilities of Parks staff and volunteers in park maintenance and attention to ongoing issues
“So long story short, I’m coming from the East Coast and I’m moving to North Beacon Hill. –is it safe to run outside as a mid-20’s female by myself?
I know the area is mostly blue-collar and there’s a school right across the street for me, and park next to it. But just because there’s a school doesn’t promise me it’s a safe neighborhood. So I’m looking for thoughts, suggestions, tips. I’d like to run close to home so even if you can point me to link so I can find the answers myself that would be cool.”
A few sample responses:
“I am a late 20’s female, and live on North Beacon Hill. Running during the day is not a big deal at all. The most that’s happened is getting cat calls while running on Rainier. I’ve lived here almost 5 years and haven’t been running at night, but honestly, I don’t even really feel safe walking at night here.” – phantompoop
“Beacon Hill is fine. The neighborhood is a little lower-rent than some areas, but overall you should be safe. Try to stay out of poorly-lit/isolated areas (the I-90 trail comes to mind), don’t run with your headphones or anything that makes you less aware of your surroundings, don’t run at 3 in the morning, and just trust your own instincts. That goes for any neighborhood, actually.” — fact_bears_eat_beets
“There are only a few other parts of Seattle that are worse. Anyone who tells you Beacon Hill is ok is flat out lying to you or delusional.” — Fishermansterminal
The fences at the Jefferson Park Skatepark came down yesterday. Photo by Joel Lee (thanks!).
The fences came down yesterday at the Jefferson Park Skatepark — it’s now fully open to skate! According to Seattle Parks and Recreation, “The new park features the deepest bowl in Seattle, with shallower bowls alongside, a hexagonal elevated dish, great street features and lighting. The skatepark also features one of the best views of Seattle.”
The park was designed by Grindline Skateparks Inc., in collaboration with The Berger Partnership and with input from several community meetings. It was funded by the Parks and Green Spaces Levy which contributed $1,000,000. SubPop Records contributed an additional $10,000.
The Jefferson Park Skatepark is located at 3801 Beacon Ave. S., behind the Jefferson Community Center.
Also of interest to Beacon Hill skaters is the Benefit Park Skatedot, which is currently in the design phase.
In December, Joel Lee wrote "The Jefferson Skate Park is not officially open but dozens of skateboarders can none the less be seen utilizing the space on the weekends. The 11' bowl towards the back of the park is killer and must be one of the larger public bowls in Seattle." Now the park is officially open. Photo by Joel Lee.
