Category Archives: Recreation

Education, Recreation

Van Asselt playground project needs neighbor help

Keyunda Wilson at Van Asselt is trying to get a Neighborhood Grant to bring a play structure to Van Asselt Elementary @ the African American Academy.

To be eligible for the grant and to bring a community playground to this area we need 25% of the pledges to come directly from the neighborhood! I need to have pledged commitments by Friday the 28th.

Time is short: the 28th is tomorrow!

Ways you can pledge to help:

  • With your time: join the Playground Committee, attend a planning meeting, help design the playground
  • With materials: lending or buying tools and equipment, providing snacks for the builders
  • With labor: paint or assemble the play structure
  • With organizing: contact and recruit other people in the community who may be interested in the project

If you’d like to help, email Keyunda at krwilson@seattleschools.org or pwfowler@seattleschools.org with your name, address, phone number, and the number of hours you are willing to pledge and/or kinds of volunteer activities or items you can pledge. Or call 206-252-7500.

Help Wanted, Local Events, Recreation

Rizal Park Music Fest urgently seeks assistance

Tess is organizing the Rizal Park Music Fest to create awareness in the community about the talents of Filipino Artists and Musicians. This will also benefit the Rizal Park Preservation Society and the Zenaida Guerzon Foundation. Photo from Tess's Facebook page
Tess is organizing the Rizal Park Music Fest to create awareness in the community about the talents of Filipino Artists and Musicians. This will also benefit the Rizal Park Preservation Society and the Zenaida Guerzon Foundation. Photo from Tess's Facebook page
Tess Guerzon, coordinator of the previously mentioned Rizal Music Fest coming up on August 8th, is looking to add some last-minute sponsors, vendors, or artists wanting to display their work during the festival, and she’s also hoping to find volunteers and someone who might be able to assist with providing and/or setting up tent(s) and a stage.

The current roster of sponsors includes Coldwell Banker-Danforth, OMA Construction, and Goldie’s Restaurant.

Time is running short — if you know anyone who might be interested in sponsoring the show, displaying their wares, selling items, volunteering, or providing tent and stage assistance, please contact Tess via email or phone at 206-819-8377.

Local Events, Photos, Recreation

Rooftop hip hop from above Spoons

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Dope Emporiums Rooftop Saturday Series kicks off here on Beacon Hill
Dope Emporium's Rooftop Saturday Series kicks off here on Beacon Hill

Caught wind of a free hip hop show on the roof of Spoons and the Golden Daisy at 15th & Beacon just before it stated. From 3 to 6 this afternoon, Dope Emporium and Black Stax hosted the show. The live acts started a bit late with Steelo and several more, but the DJ provided a funky mix that made for a good time outside (where, at least in the shade, it was cooler than hanging around in the house). There were some minor audio glitches for those watching from street-level, but nothing that seriously detracted from the show. Lucky for you, there’s another show set for the same location coming up on July 25th.

Some more photos after the jump.
Continue reading Rooftop hip hop from above Spoons →

Recreation, Urban Planning

Jefferson Park expansion followup: your input sought

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Overview image from PDF below
Overview image from PDF below
Following up on the well-attended Jefferson Park expansion meeting April 21st, Joel Lee points us to the updated project status page containing updated options that differ from the original park plan.

On that page, you’ll find a series of PDFs including a prioritizing worksheet that can be downloaded, filled out, and returned to the parks department by FAX (how quaint!) or email (see further below), providing them with your valuable input. Just do it before May 8th! Full instructions excerpted below.

  1. First, read the Park Element Description: These elements are items that have been discussed in the past either in the 2002 Long Range Plan or as part of the process.
  2. Next, look at the Images of Options: This rendering shows what is included in phase one. The numbers on it correlate to the park elements discussed above so you can see the location of each item.
  3. Next, review the Preliminary Costs and Options: The options listed are to be used as food for thought only. This should give you an idea of what combinations are possible given the range of funding that may become available.
  4. Last, open the Prioritizing Worksheet: Fill out this form, add your name and address, and FAX (206) 233-3949 or Email to kim.baldwin@seattle.gov

If you prefer to email your feedback, we’ve put together a simplified text-only version of the Prioritizing Worksheet you might wish to copy and paste to fill out instead of trying to figure out how to get your feedback entered into the PDF and email it.

Thanks Joel!

Recreation, Urban Planning

Follow-ups: Daejeon Park’s spelling change explained, North Beacon car wash inspected

Photo of Daejeon Park pagoda by Bridget Christian.
Photo of Daejeon Park pagoda by Bridget Christian.
Following up on the earlier post about the car wash located at an intersection not zoned for auto-centric businesses, 15th and Beacon: an inspector from the DPD visited the business on April 13, and apparently found it in violation, reporting: “‘Violation Alert’. Violation of the Seattle land use and zoning code observed. Change of use permit required for new car wash business. Also help wanted sign for auto detailers, stereo installers & auto tint installers.”

In more cheerful news, Laurie Dunlap at Seattle Parks and Recreation sent us some information on the recent change of name from Taejon Park to Daejon Park.

“A sister-city delegation was recently here to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their connection with Seattle, and they brought to our attention that their city is now officially known as Daejeon.

If you look around on the internet, you see the city referred to most places as Daejeon, some places as ‘Daejeon (Taejon),’ ‘Taejon or Daejeon,’ and some places (the online Encyclopedia Britannica) still give Taejon as the primary spelling, saying ‘also spelled Daejeon.’

…In both cases, correct pronunciation of the first syllable is a long “I”, so DIE-john.”

Apparently the Korean government adopted a new romanization style a few years ago: the Revised Romanization of Korean. In this change, Pusan became Busan, Taejon became Daejeon, and Taegu is now Daegu. The new romanization style is intended to represent the sounds of Korean more accurately. So the new sign at Daejeon Park represents the current spelling of the Korean name; the park name hasn’t changed, just its spelling in Roman characters.

Recreation, Urban Planning

Supporters appeal for Beacon Mountain Playground funding

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The planned design for the Beacon Mountain Playground at Jefferson Park. Click this image to see a larger version of this design.
The planned design for the Beacon Mountain Playground at Jefferson Park. Click this image to see a larger version of this design.

David Gackenbach forwards this appeal from Glenn Herlihy:

Dear Friends of the Playground,

This is a crucial moment for funding the Beacon Mountain Playground.

As you might have heard the levy money is now (this week) being allocated to different parks projects and Jefferson Park will receive a portion but where it will go is still up in the air. There is a good chance we might be able to fund the entire new Playground design if we can convince Parks Department Head Timothy Gallagher, and Parks Committee Chair Tom Rasmussen to allocate the levy funds to build Beacon Mountain Playground.

If we get them to fund and build the entire new design we will have a magnificent playground completed by next year. If they don’t allocate the funds toward the the new design it would be phased construction for the next few years.

It been a long road to get our design approved by parks and ready to build so with one last push maybe we could see this dream through to completion. Those of us on the Beacon Mountain Playground Team believe play infrastructure is a healthy and sustainable investment for the future of our community.

Please take a moment and write a letter stating you wish to see levy funding to build the entire Beacon Mountain Playground at Jefferson Park. Include your name and address. Thanks

timothy.gallagher@seattle.gov
tom.rasmussen@seattle.gov

Long live play

Glenn Herlihy
18th Ave S

You can read more about the Beacon Mountain Playground here.