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.)
Last but not least, here’s a video taken while going down the tall slide at the playground:
There’s lots of construction happening on the hill right now. Work on Beacon Mountain has begun in Jefferson Park. Fire Station 13 is getting a fancy temporary parking structure for the fire trucks in preparation for construction work to make the building more stable during an earthquake. The temporary public pay lot at El Centro is being graded and drainage installed; the goal is for the lot to be completed within a month.
Each project is noteworthy in its own way, but all Beacon Hill toddlers and preschoolers need to know is: BIG TRUCKS! Lots of big trucks! Please allow extra time on your next outing to appreciate them.
Molly Hueffed writes to let us know about adult pottery classes at Jefferson Community Center this spring, meeting on Mondays and Wednesdays during the days, and Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays in the evening, depending on which classes you take. Classes start on Monday, April 5, and enrollment is open now. You can find and register for classes via this Teachstreet page, or via the Jefferson CC website (go to SPARC registration), or by calling 206-684-7481.
There will be a preschool summer camp at Jefferson Community Center from July 5 through September 3. The sessions are for 3 1/2- to 5-year-old (potty trained) kids and the cost is $125 per week. Kids can attend for a week or for the whole summer. Camp sessions are each day from 9:00 am until 2:00 pm, and each week has a special theme such as “Summer Safari” or “Water, Water, Everywhere.”
The first of three design meetings for the new Jefferson Park Skatepark, including updates on the Beacon Mountain Play Area and the Jefferson Park Playfield, is scheduled for April 14 from 6:00 – 8:30 pm at the Jefferson Community Center.
From 6:00 – 6:40 pm the project manager will provide updates on Beacon Mountain and Jefferson Playfield, then at 6:45 the design workshop will begin for the skatepark.
The community is asked to bring their skatepark ideas, images and drawings to share with the design team. The next meeting on May 26 will refine the skatepark ideas and a final meeting will be held on July 14 to review a final skatepark schematic design. Each meeting will begin with a construction update of the overall park, Beacon Mountain and Jefferson Playfield.
If you’re closer to Rainier Beach than Jefferson Park, fear not, you also have a great new community center and pool coming soon! All are invited to come and learn about the design of the new Rainier Beach Community Center and Pool at a public meeting at the Rainier Beach Community Center, 8825 Rainier Avenue South, on Tuesday, April 13 from 6:30 – 8:30 pm. For further information, see the project website.
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Thanks to David Gackenbach, Molly Hueffed, Frederica Merrell, and Heather Dwyer for forwarding us community center/park info!
The North Beacon Hill Council is meeting on Thursday night from 7:00 – 9:00 pm at the Beacon Hill Library meeting room, 2821 Beacon Avenue South. We don’t have the agenda yet, but will post it if we get it. Everyone is welcome.
An artist’s rendition of Beacon Mountain Playground at Jefferson Park, from last year. Click this image to see a larger version of this design.
The Beacon Mountain Design Committee will be meeting next Tuesday, January 12, from 5:30 – 6:30 pm at the Jefferson Park Lawn Bowling Clubhouse, 4103 Beacon Ave South. The agenda is to work on the final design and details of the Beacon Mountain Playground at Jefferson Park. The meeting will be followed by a Jefferson Park Project Advisory Team meeting. The committee has appointed members, but visitors are always welcome and meetings are informal.
6:30pm Tonight at the Jefferson Community Center: Park enhancement and expansion with discussion of Beacon Mountain, the Park service road and promenade, improvements to Jefferson Playfield, and the Jefferson skatepark and basketball court.
Update: Missed one while assembling this post: 5:30pm Wednesday (tomorrow) at the Beacon Hill Library: SDOT community open house regarding the planned changes for Columbian Way between Beacon Avenue South and 15th Avenue South.
1:00pm Saturday at the Central Area Senior Center: Broadstripe is to report on their February promises to the 30th Ave Neighbors group on the status of their recent service upgrades. Beacon Hill Broadstripe customers might also be interested in attending.Via Central District News
7:00pm next Wednesday (the 9th) at the Jefferson Community Center: Follow-up meeting with Seattle City Light regarding the new power lines going up the west side of the hill and the new higher poles running along South Stevens Street. Seattle City Light Superintendent Jorge Carrasco is expected to present remediation options to the nearby affected neighbors.
“Who lives on Beacon Hill and wants to go to the Jefferson sk8 park? Dec 1 630-830 @ Jefferson Park Community Center – $1million allocated!” said skatelikeagirl on Twitter last night. The planned Jefferson skate park is just one of the projects to be discussed on December 1, at a community forum to talk about future developments at Jefferson Park including Beacon Mountain, the Park service road and promenade, improvements to Jefferson Playfield, and the Jefferson skatepark and basketball court.
Comments made by the community at this meeting will be incorporated in the planning and design of all of these features, and then there will be two follow-up meetings: one at which schematics will be presented, and another to present the final design.
The meeting is at Jefferson Community Center, 3801 Beacon Avenue South, from 6:30 – 8:00 pm on Tuesday, December 1. Skaters, park enthusiasts, basketball players, and all others interested in Jefferson Park’s improvements are welcome.
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