Blog

The Community Council, Nick Licata, and the GSC

  • Post author:

Are related only in as much as I will cover all three so that I have enough material for a post.

As the WCC just had the annual meeting, we are scrubbing the June 2nd Community Council meeting. On July 7th, we will likely meet to participate in 520 rebuild feedback round 4253, more on that as the time approaches. I suspect nothing will be built until flying trains can be built for free.

If you want a political fix this month, please see city councilman Nick Licata at Not a Number tomorrow night at 6 PM for a book signing. All part of the community goodness that is Art Walk and the Farmer’s Market.

I want to request comments on the Good Shepherd Center, that big building behind Meridian Playground. While the site is managed by the Parks Department, the GSC is managed by Historic Seattle. Historic Seattle provides an excellent summary of the history of the site on their Web site.

While the building is not a “community center” in the “parks department pays employees to build community” sense, there is a mandate that a mix of tenants be maintained and that non-profits fill the majority of space, resulting in the current tenant list. There is also community representation on the advisory board for the building. We mostly try to provide guidance on what room to paint next and how to deal with the graffiti (paint there too!), but given the impact of the Great Recession there’s also a bit of shifting going on regarding the mix of tenants. Tilth just got new space and will be staying (good!) and Meridian School is looking to expand (good?)

So, how would you like to see the site use change, if at all? Do you have energy to help make changes to the site – the playground or GSC? Let me know!

Discover more from Wallyhood

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Eric

I've lived here since 1998. I spent 13 years at Microsoft as a developer and manager, concurrent with Ballmer's reign. I quit after seeing my third consecutive project cancelled, while my parents needed help, and my wife was getting stressed working at Seattle Public Schools. Since then, I have helped family and community while taking on side projects and volunteer work. I led the renovation of Meridian Playground, helped moderate the South Transfer Station design, helped advance the Green Lake Way road diet, and have guided several transportation and parks projects through neighborhood involvement. I wrote for Wallyhood for a while and was president of the Wallingford Community Council during the great recession, where thankfully, land use was not an issue. I'm an impatient moderate vegetarian who believes in practical win-win solutions.

This Post Has One Comment

  1. Nancy M June 2, 2010

    I think it is worth exploring having the Senior Center morph into an aspect of a Community Center with many more rooms, room to dance . . . not only in the basement. Historic Seattle would need to be persuaded to look at their rent structure and perhaps revise, update it. Seems like Meridian School and a Community Center could have some shared/flexible spaces. No need to build a new CC building or have anything to do with the ever-changing mandates of the Seattle Public School District regarding Lincoln (unless they are willing to sell it to the community). All said, we would need to build a covered , accessible pedestrian access from Meridian Ave across the park for access from the #16 bus . . .

Comments are closed.