(This post was submitted by Richard Haag Associates, a Wallyhood sponsor. Rich Haag was the designer of Gas Works Park.)

Gas Works Park Children’s Play Area Renovation: An Integrated Solution
Inside and Outside the Play Barn
Patrick Waddell, Tom Grant, Judy Moise
Friends of Gas Works Park

The Gas Works Park Master Plan (1971) declares that a principal design element is to transform industrial age artifacts into a park offering opportunities for active and spontaneous play. This element was particularly rich within the Children’s Play Area. However, the play area constructed according to the original design has been lost over time due to lack of maintenance, and is now at odds with the Master Plan.

Fortunately, the 2008 Parks and Green Spaces allocated 1.4M$ specifically targeted for the GWP Children’s Play Area renovation. Work on this project has now reached active status for Seattle Parks and Recreation and public meetings are beginning to ensure community participation in the development of the project scope. The first of these meetings will take place at the Good Shepherd Center, next Tuesday, March 11, starting at 6:30 PM.

Shortly after the passage of the Parks & Green Spaces Levy, and at the time hoping for an early start to improve this important element of the Park, an ad hoc committee of Friends of Gas Works Park members and Wallingford residents worked to develop a “renovation plan”. This is exuberantly reflected in the Richard Haag Associates play area plan (see illustration). While school-aged children, especially those in the north Lake Union neighborhoods, will get the most enjoyment and use of the play equipment, the play area will delight all children and their companions visiting this historic park.

The Play Area Integrated Elements:

Inside the Play Barn:

• Fall-protected flooring
• Soft seat swings on stanchions
• Endless “monkey bars” to complement original historic machinery
• Daylighted formerly dark area (requires roof paneling, est. $150K)
• Modern, fun play equipment

Outside the Play Barn:

• Modern play equipment, connected by multiple slides to the indoor barn
• Spray and splash pool
• Camera Obscura/Children’s Light and Optics Display in the small tower
• Mural to incorporate energy production history, art in an educational way
• Play area brought up to current ADA and safety standards for accessibility
• Compatible with solar panel initiatives to set green standards for Solar Energy Collection, designed in collaboration with Wallingford Solar Initiative, a neighborhood solar organization

Friends of Gas Works Park members are passionate about this creative gem in the center of Seattle, and we strive to preserve its design vision and move its development toward completion as envisioned in the original Master Plan. Gas Works Parks is a Seattle Historic Landmark, listed on the Washington State Historic Register and the National Register of Historic Places 2013.

(There is a public meeting to discuss the Gas Works Play Area renovation March 11^th, 2014 from 6.30-8pm at the Good Shepherd Center.)

I would like to buy some people tickets to this free event:

Public Discourse and Civic Intelligence
Gift of Grace at 2102 N. 40th St. is hosting and inviting you to a presentation and discussion with our Wallingford neighbor, Dr. Douglas Schuler, Professor at Evergreen College. The discussion will take place after GraceFeast (12:15ish) on Sunday, March 9 and will be held in the sanctuary. Dr Schuler has compelling ideas for improving public discourse and helping people gain what he calls, civic intelligence.

“Civic Intelligence is the generally unacknowledged and unnamed but indispensable aspect of living together on the planet — the ability of people to come together to address common issues. All societies and groups have some degree of civic intelligence; the question is whether we have enough — and what, if anything — should we do about it.”

Before Dr. Douglas Schuler’s presentation, all are welcome to GraceFeast Sunday Dinner (Lone Star Chili and Fresh Cornbread) hosted at 11:30AM each week by Gift of Grace as a service to the Wallingford neighborhood of Seattle. We gather in the lobby and then head to the dining hall together. We hope you’ll join us!

Thanks to Vivian Little for forwarding.

There’s a play area just to the south of the barn in Gas Works. No, not the barn itself, the building with all the colorful equipment, but the desolate, sandy area just to the south of it, with virtually no play equipment.

Fortunately, when the 2008 Parks and Green Spaces levy passed, it included $1.4 million in renovation funds for planning, design and construction of the Gas Works Park Play Area. The Parks Department will be kicking off their design process with a public meeting Tuesday March 11 at the Good Shepherd Center (4649 Sunnyside Ave N), Room 202 , from 6:30 to 8 p.m.

The meeting is an opportunity for the community to hear about the upcoming project and offer input on the play area renovation. Seattle Parks staff will be at the meeting to discuss the project and answer questions. The community is encouraged to participate and all are welcome.

The project schedule is:

For more information about the project visit the project web site, or, better yet, attend the meeting!

(Photo by Eric Willhite)

Reminder: if you’re interested in sending your child to the John Stanford or McDonald schools next year (or to any public school except the one they would otherwise be automatically assigned), forms must be received (not just submitted, but actually received) by the city by 4:00 pm this Friday, March 7th.

More details in the Public School Open Enrollment Begins Tomorrow post from February 23rd.

Vivian Little sent along this announcement for an open house this Saturday at a new preschool located in the Gift of Grace Church (2102 N. 40th St):

Huckleberry Forest preschool, which used to be at the same location, has moved elsewhere.

The Wallingford Community Council will meet Wednesday, March 5^th , 2014, 7:00 PM at the Good Shepherd Center. A number of items will be discussed including:

• 3500 Interlake Site: Proposals and Plans for use of Public Property near Skanska Project.
• Community response to Avtech site project, including comment and appeal periods.
• Gas Works Park Phytoremediation
• Major pedestrian improvements at Stone Way and Northlake Way through WCC Grant
• Waterway projects.
• Community grants and recycling challenge participation
• Updates on land use and other neighborhood issues.

WCC March 2014 Agenda

Everyone is welcome.

Lunarmodule spotted this story from the Seattle Police Blotter, and posted to the Wallyhood Forums:

On March 1st at approximately 3:17 a.m. officers responded to Latona Avenue NE and NE 43rd Street for the report of an armed robbery. Preliminary investigation indicates that the adult male victim had been walking to a friend’s house from a Wallingford area gas station/convenience store when two unknown male suspects approached in a black Toyota Tundra pickup truck and called out to the victim to stop. The victim did not comply. The suspects then got out of their vehicle both armed with handguns. They pistol-whipped the victim on the head and robbed him of his money. The suspects then fled the area northbound on Latona Avenue NE in their truck and remain at large. The victim sustained a laceration to his head.

The suspects were described as a white male and a Native American male, both about 5’8″ tall and both with medium builds. The suspect’s vehicle was a black Toyota Tundra pickup truck with a black canopy.

This area, close to the I-5 entrance ramp, has been the source of complaints from residents for years now, with reports of drive-by drug sale activity. Note Mandy’s comment from two years ago on the “Incident outside JSIS” story, for example:

I think the bigger question is: What is going on right near us on Latona street? Another JSIS parent said there is a group of parents very concerned. There is a “drug house” on Latona near 42nd, there have been parents witnessing drug deals en route to school in the morning, etc. Yes, we all signed up for urban living by living in a Seattle (as suburban as it can feel at times), but we don’t need to tolerate this crap right near our school. Or do we?

I’ve heard from several people that they have seen at least one of the ostensibly homeless panhandlers near I-5 trading something out of their backpacks for cash, and manipulating large wads of bills in the process.