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Thanks to everyone who posted photos in the pool! We love seeing all of your amazing views of the Hill.
Tag Archives: jefferson park
Beacon Bits: Tunnel views, golf memories, and closed wading pools
- The Times is all about the Hill lately. A couple of days ago, transportation reporter Mike Lindblom gave us a glimpse inside the new Beacon Hill tunnel as part of a series about light rail stations. Today, Marc Ramirez reports on the wave of Beacon Hill plant thefts discussed last month in this very blog — Seattle Times
- Tiger Woods played golf right here on Beacon Hill in 1992, and there are pictures to prove it — Seattle P-I
- The wading pool at the Beacon Hill Playground will be one of 11 wading pools closed this summer, as the result of a new federal law mandating safety improvements to the drains. The improvements cannot be completed for all pools by the end of the summer. The Georgetown pool is also closed, but the Van Asselt pool will be open. — Rainier Valley Post
Parks supe to hear Beacon neighbors at community meetings
Seattle Parks and Recreation is holding community meetings on Beacon Hill next week. At the events, neighbors will have a chance to meet with the Superintendent, Tim Gallagher, and have a dialog with Parks and Recreation about how the department is serving the needs of the community. This is intended to be an opportunity to meet the local Parks staff, discuss with the staff what is working, and what can be improved, and talk with the Superintendent about your ideas to make the parks serve the community better. All are welcome.
The meetings are scheduled for Monday, June 15, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm at the Van Asselt Community Center, 2820 South Myrtle Street; and Tuesday, June 16
6:30 pm – 7:30 pm at the Jefferson Community Center, 3801 Beacon Avenue South.
Beacon Bits: Tunnel trip, park priorities, planning photos
- A bunch of folks were able to ride the Link light rail through the Beacon Hill tunnel and down to Tukwila on Wednesday. Here’s a liveblogged description of the trip from the Northwest Progressive Institute Advocate blog. Dominic Holden from The Stranger rode it, too, and loved it.
- The community discussed what to prioritize in the Jefferson Park expansion, at a community meeting on April 21 and also via an online poll. The results have now been tallied and are posted here. The city is using this process to set priorities since the funding for the project is not all available at once. (Thanks to Joel Lee for forwarding us this document to host.)
- Jason has posted a photo set of the the North Beacon Hill neighborhood planning update meeting which was held on May 30. The set shows many of the discussion points that were brought up at the meeting.
- The Seattle Public Library system, including the Beacon Hill branch, will be closed from August 31 through September 6, due to citywide budget cuts. The library will also be closed September 7 for the Labor Day holiday. During the closed week, no materials will be due, nor will any fines be accrued. None of the library’s website services, such as the book catalog, will be accessible either. (Can’t they find a way to at least allow us to use the website during that week?)
Spokane Street closure this morning
Thanks to Joel Lee for the photo and the tip!
The sun is out and flowers are blooming on Beacon Hill
Most of these photos are from the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool on Flickr, which has tons of photos of our neighborhood. Want to contribute, or just browse the pool? Go here. Thanks to all the pool members who have contributed such wonderful images!
Neighbors and Soccer fans pack the Beacon Hill Library for Jefferson Park meeting
by Frederica Merrell
(Editor’s note: Frederica Merrell reports from last night’s well-attended Jefferson Park expansion meeting.)
Wow! I counted over 115 people in that room (don’t tell the Fire Department). Tonight people filled the chairs, stood all around walls, and spilled into the hall of the Beacon Library meeting room to talk about construction at Jefferson Park. As some of us said afterward, “geez, I guess we need a new library too!” (just kidding)
Parks Department had a lot of good info, including three options (A, B, C) for bundles of projects at Jefferson. I really hope they put it all up on their website soon so people can see the options. Parks wants people to fill out a form of low, medium, high, priorities for about ten recommendations. I don’t know whether this can be done online or not. (There’s nothing on the Parks site about this, at least not yet. — Ed.) They also will just take input from your perspective about whatever you are interested in. (See list of projects below and/or email Parks Department Project Manager Kim Baldwin).
Of those 115 people, I estimate 6 were city staff and 4 were city consultants. The highest Parks staffer was Kevin Stoops, who is the Superintendent’s right-hand man. Parks Superintendent Tim Gallagher told me he couldn’t come, regrettably because it was his turn to host the local VW Van Club meeting (Cool!). Back to the demographics, about 18 or so folks were advocates for soccer fields, at least some of whom were from the Beacon Hill community. Another 15 or so, all Beaconites, were from the Jefferson Park Alliance (including me). The majority of locals had no group affiliations. The public question and speaking time was short for that many people, only about 40 minutes. I think most people walked out partially informed.
On the synthetic soccer field issue, Kevin Stoops addressed the issue of why there is no synth turf at Jefferson. Basically it comes down to lights. For several reasons that weigh heavily, lights have been axed from the picture at Jefferson: cost, environmental impact (views), technical difficulty of sinking poles into reservoirs, and limited electric utility may all be part of the picture on that decision. Without lights, no synth turf. Soccer fans are an enthusiastic bunch, though perhaps a bit deaf, and they keep coming back to argue about it. I just wish we didn’t spend so much time talking about something that is already decided and adopted into law. The Parks Board already decided this issue and the City Council passed view protection legislation two months ago at Jefferson. There will never be light poles over the reservoirs. The views are just too magnificent for that.
Other questions/areas of discussion: planning for the orchard/farm p-patch on 15th Ave. S., why we have asphalt paths instead of concrete (money), getting Beacon Mountain Playground built in Phase I so they don’t come back and tear the area up later, refurbishing Jefferson field, adding picnic grounds, siting a second basketball court, and maintenance costs.
Overall, it was a great meeting and I left with tears in my eyes realizing it is finally going to get built and we are so lucky!
Questions? Post!
Click to see the list of projects
Continue reading Neighbors and Soccer fans pack the Beacon Hill Library for Jefferson Park meeting
Supporters appeal for Beacon Mountain Playground funding
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.govLong live play
Glenn Herlihy
18th Ave S
You can read more about the Beacon Mountain Playground here.
Jefferson Park earth wall coming down on Spokane Street
Joel Lee writes:
“Great progress is being made every day on Jefferson Park and I know these photos don’t look like much, but they are significant because today they started taking down the looming former earthen dam that paralleled Spokane St. For those of us that live near by it feels a little like the Berlin Wall is coming down!”
First the blue wall, now this — feels like things are starting to happen, doesn’t it?
Jefferson Park Expansion community meeting scheduled for April 21
At this meeting, Parks staff and the community will discuss the community’s priorities for Phase Two of the expansion project, and the community will hear an update on Phase One. Design of Phase Two begins later this year. For more information, contact Kim Baldwin, Project Manager at 206-615-0810 or kim.baldwin@seattle.gov. For translation services at this meeting, contact Karen O’Connor at 206-233-7929.