Public comment meeting TONIGHT on potential Theodora redevelopment (LIVE COVERAGE; PHOTOS)

On Thursday, August 14, representatives from the City of Seattle’s Department of Planning and Development will be collecting public comment on the land use application to redevelop the Theodora Apartments (6559 35th Avenue NE). The meeting is being held at the Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center (6535 Ravenna Avenue NE) from 7-8:30 PM.

Prior to the meeting, at 6:40 PM, the Theodora Rescue Committee and their supporters will be marching from the Theodora to the RECC.

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Land Use Application information

The owners of the Theodora, the Volunteers of America (VOA), have agreed to sell the property to Goodman Real Estate, a private real estate developer. The apartment building is one of two buildings that the VOA owns in Western Washington and has been used as housing for low income elderly and disabled people. In redeveloping the Theodora and converting the building from low income senior housing, Goodman intends to:

“alter and change the use of existing two story, 62,937 sq. ft. 113 room congregate residence (The Theodora) to a 64 unit apartment building and to allow a 35,361 sq. ft. addition for new apartments (45 units) for a total of 109 units. Parking for 56 vehicles will be located below grade.”

Additionally, Goodman is seeking landmark status for the building. The Landmarks Preservation Board will be considering the nomination at their meeting on Wednesday, August 20, at 3:30 PM in the Seattle Municipal Tower (700 5th Avenue, 40th floor, Room 4060).

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Additional information

Tenants With Disabilities Filing Suit Over Sale Of Seattle Apartment Building (KPLU, July 3, 2014)

Ravenna-Bryant Community Center information on Theodora sale and redevelopment (various posts from 2013-current)

Permit and Property Records and Documents for Project #3017233 (includes public comments already submitted)

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We’ll be providing live coverage of the meeting below, starting just prior to 7 PM.

UPDATE (Friday, August 15): First, a few pictures from last night.

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Marchers from the Theodora Apartments arrive at Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center around 7 PM. The banner reads “GOODMAN REAL ESTATE BACK OFF OUR HOMES.”

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Peter Metzger, a member of the Theodora Rescue Committee, speaks at the public comment meeting. Metzger held up part of Goodman’s landscape plan, which includes the removal of trees on the present Theodora property. Then he held up the Seattle Times A section from Thursday (same day as the meeting) whose cover story was about Seattle’s dwindling tree canopy.

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Another speaker (this one with Real Change) takes his turn. In the background, Jerry Sudor (with the Department of Planning and Development) writes down parts of of all speaker’s comments. Carly Guillory (seated; also DPD) looks on.

Below are the notes that Sudor took during the public comment period (not in chronological order, however). Click on any of the images to view the larger, readable version. The full phrase on the last on the last sheet (partially blocked by a reporter’s shoulder) is, “Portland/Bellevue better keeping trees.”

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Now We Are Six (Years Old)

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Happy birthday to…us!

Six years ago today the Ravenna Blog was born. The site started out with questions and observations about the neighborhood (a lost cat flyer and free stuff in an alley was among our first posts) and has become many local residents’ first source of information about Northeast Seattle events, power outages, and the answer to “Why is there a helicopter hovering over my house?”

This is also a good day to thank all of YOU for reading and asking questions and sharing your kale jokes and telling us about events and all that jazz. Really: THANK YOU.

 

Top Stories of the Past Year

Here were the most-read stories on the Ravenna Blog between August 8, 2013 and today:

1. AM Shooting at NE 55th Street and 26th Avenue NE, September 10, 2013

2. Shooting behind U-District Safeway, March 26, 2014

3. Dozens of guns stolen from home near Roosevelt High School, January 14, 2014

4. So, about those boarded up houses at 15th and 65th…, May 5, 2014

5. Mark Mullan sentenced, November 15, 2014

Our all-time most-visited post (since we’ve been keeping track) is still our behind-the-scenes tour of the University of Washington Light Rail Station at 60% completion, from January 2013.

And my favorite picture that I took this year was from the live fire exercises up at NE 68th Street and 32nd Avenue NE on May 16:

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Three hours of taking pictures of fire fighters with a 35-pound toddler on my back. I’m still sore, but it was AWESOME.

 

Annual Pledge Drive Section

If you enjoy the Ravenna Blog’s coverage of local news and events, consider saying thanks with some financial support.

How about six bucks for our sixth birthday? That’s the cost of one smoothie from the new juice bar at Roosevelt Whole Foods, spent instead on homegrown local news coverage.

*click* one-time, anytime donation *click*

Last year’s birthday support was spent on a photography class at North Seattle College. And if that’s not the gift that keeps on giving…

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…then I don’t know what is.

 

UPDATE (11:25 AM): If you thank us, we’ll thank you. Here are the folks who have helped fund the site today lately:

Donna DeShazo

Andres Salomon

Kristi Coulter

John Eddy

Ulysses Hillard

Doug Plummer

Brad Mohr

Jeremy Holmes

David Katz

James Simmons

Per Johnson

Deborah Casso

Stephanie Jewett

Northgate Link update: Capitol Hill’s big red crane a-comin’

Capitol Hill Station's big red crane is on the move northward to start work at Roosevelt Station. (Photo by Capitol Hill Seattle. Used with permission.)

Capitol Hill Station’s big red crane is on the move northward to start work at Roosevelt Station. (Photo by Capitol Hill Seattle. Used with permission.)

Roosevelt Station news

A big ol’ tower crane used to help construct the Capitol Hill Light Rail Station is finished with its job on Broadway and is shortly headed north to the Roosevelt Station construction site. Sound Transit plans to start delivery of Big Red* early Sunday morning on August 10. Due to the size of the loads, the crane parts must be delivered at night to minimize traffic disruptions and such.

Delivery times are as follows:

  • 2-6 AM on Sunday, August 10
  • Midnight-3:30 AM on Monday, August 11 through Wednesday, August 13.

Residents may hear “intermittent truck noise” as the crane parts arrive and are off-loaded at the construction site.

From CHS’s pre-crane-removal coverage:

The Krøll 1800 (Capitol Hill’s is the metric model) was set up with its enormous 250-foot jib about 100 feet off the ground. The model can be as tall as 200 feet. It can lift more than 30,000 pounds at full extension and more than 130,000 when operating at a shorter radius, according to the manufacturer.

Some pictures of Big Red’s assembly can be seen here. The crane was installed at the Capitol Hill Station construction site back in late January, 2011.

Visit Sound Transit’s Roosevelt Station project page here.

*My nickname for the crane. It is big and red, after all.

U District Station news

The U District Station construction site is a busy one. Look for this trend to continue in August.

1. The L-shaped pedestrian pathway between NE 43rd Street and Brooklyn Ave NE (around the NW corner of University Manor) is complete! But it has business hours: 7 AM-6 PM, Monday through Friday. Outside of those hours and on weekends, your options for getting around the construction site are:

  • 12th Avenue NE to NE 42nd Street or NE 45th Street
  • Brooklyn Avenue NE to NE 42nd Street or NE 43rd Street
  • University Way NE to NE 42nd Street or NE 45th Street

2. Drilling along the shoring walls is almost complete! Only the south shoring wall is left (currently 75% finished), and expected to finish up by the end of August.

3. Station excavation has already started on the north end of the site. (Brenda IS on her way, after all.) Trucks are hauling station box dirt and such off-site down Brooklyn Avenue NE. More on station box excavation:

As crews dig down, they will install long nails, called tie-backs, into the soil to secure the underground station walls. Crews will also be installing long metal beams, called struts and wales, across the top and sides of the box. These braces hold the soil during station excavation. Crews will dig until they reach about 95 feet below ground. Excavation will be ongoing through spring 2015.

Visit Sound Transit’s U District Station project page here.

Registration for fall Parks & Rec classes begins August 5

The end of summer approaches! Time to think about buying school supplies (Seattle Public Schools’ first day is September 5), and registering for fall classes with Seattle Parks and Recreation.

Fall 2014 Northeast Community Centers brochure (click to download the 4.8 MB PDF).

Fall 2014 Northeast Community Centers Brochure (click to download the 4.8 MB PDF).

In the Fall 2014 Northeast Community Centers Brochure, you will find event information for the following facilities:

Here are a few hand-picked highlights:

  • The Laurelhurst Salmon Bake at Laurelhurst Park will be held on Thursday, September 11, from 5:30-8 PM. Delicious dinner, dancing, and carnival games. Price to be determined (but we’ll add it in here when it is determined).
  • The Meadowbrook Community Center and Pool tag team the Halloween holiday with a Haunted Bounce and Spook the Pool on Friday, October 24. The Bounce portion at MCC is from 6:30-7:30 PM, and the Spook portion at the MP is from 7:30-8:30 PM. $2 for the Bounce, $3.75 for the pool for youth (accompanying adults are free). There’s a 100 lb. floating pumpkin involved.
  • The Ravenna Holiday Arts & Crafts Sale is back on Saturday, December 6, from 10 AM-3 PM. Those crafty people who wish to participate should contact the Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center for more details (206-684-7534).
  • Two Seattle Parks Christmas Ship dates this year:
    • Saturday, December 6, at Matthews Beach. Park at Meadowbrook Community Center and hop a shuttle to Matthews Beach for luminaries, a weather-permitting bonfire, and the flotilla of festive ships off-shore (Christmas Ship performance time is 9:45-10:05 PM).
    • Friday, December 19, at Magnuson Park Beach. Pre-activities at the Magnuson Community Center start at 8 PM and include live music, refreshments, and luminaries. Christmas Ship performance off-shore from 8:50-9:10 PM.

 

 

 

Rollover collision near northbound I-5/Lake City Way exit

Shortly after 3 AM, Seattle Fire Department units responded to a rollover collision near or on the I-5 offramp to Lake City Way.

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Via scanner, we’ve learned there are six patients: Three patients with life-threatening injuries and three with non-life-threatening All six have been transported from the scene to area hospitals in stable and with non-life-threatening injuries, the fire department said via twitter.

The collision has the two right lanes of I-5 blocked, with traffic slowly moving through on the left. We expect northbound traffic on I-5 through the area to be impacted for some time as the collision is investigated.

You can see current highway conditions and the I-5/LCW WSDOT camera here.

UPDATE (7:06 AM): Washington State Patrol has more information on this incident:

Power outage in south Ravenna as tree downs power lines (PHOTOS; UPDATES)

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Some wild weather this Saturday morning took a toll on the local electricity infrastructure.


View Downed tree causes brush fire, power outage in a larger map

Just before 10 AM, just after some heavy rains had fallen over the area, a tree on a hillside near NE 50th Street and Ravenna Avenue NE became unstable. The tree, or part of it, fell against some power lines and ignited a fire that was first reported as a house fire, but was downgraded later to a brush fire. Downed lines could be seen in the trees on the hillside as well as in the road below it.

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The affected hillside is just to the south of the Raven View Apartments (5001 25th Avenue NE). This section of Ravenna Avenue NE is a dead end, and residents south of the downed lines were unable to use the road until the scene was deemed safe by Seattle City Light crews.

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As a Seattle City Light crew worked to move the lines from the road, the downed lines on the hillside ignited another small brush fire.

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The ensuing outage affected about 2,000 customers. The estimated time of restoration is 2:41 PM, but some residents of the area have reported lights coming back on already.

UPDATE (1:21 PM): Seattle City Light reporting that power is coming back for another round of residents:

UPDATE (2:08 PM): Seattle City Light has updated the estimated power restoration time to 5:45 PM, over three hours later than the original estimate.

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Here is a picture of what Seattle City Light crews are up against as they make repairs at the incident site (picture taken from Ravenna Avenue NE looking southwest toward where the tree or tree limb downed some of the lines). The conditions at the scene are anything but ideal for SCL crews: Lots of tall, wild greenery and trees on a hillside, with the lines on the uphill slope.

UPDATE (5:22 PM): Seattle City Light says, “[c]rews have restored about 1,000 customers from the NE Seattle outage. About 850 homes and businesses remain out. Crews still working.”

UPDATE (5:43 PM): All but 57 Seattle City Light customers have power restored. Estimated restoration time for the remaining residents and businesses is 10 PM as remaining fixes require the replacement of the downed lines.

Northgate Link update: Brenda now 500 feet closer to Roosevelt

Today’s Northgate Link Extension news from Sound Transit includes a tunnel boring machine (TBM) update.

Maple Leaf Portal/tunnel boring news


View TBM Brenda’s current position (as of July 31, 2014) in a larger map

Sometime today, Thursday, July 31, TBM Brenda will have chewed her way through 500 feet of Maple Leaf soil on her way south to Roosevelt Station. Another TBM now being assembled at the Maple Leaf Portal will start carving the southbound light rail tunnel sometime in October.

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I’m guessing Brenda is a bit dirtier these days.

Roosevelt Station news

Station box wall construction now complete, the main work at the Roosevelt Station construction site is now the *excavation* of said station box. Crews are digging down about four feet at a time, removing soil from the station box area, pausing to stabilize the station walls that have been newly revealed, and then digging some more.

The station box needs to be fully excavated by the time Brenda arrives, sometime in early 2015.

And now for some NE 65th Street detour news:

In mid to late August, drivers heading past the Roosevelt Station site on NE 65th Street during the day may be detoured due to a project to install water lines under the road at the intersection of NE 65th Street and 12th Avenue NE. The signed detours will be in place from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays. Westbound drivers can expect detours via 12th Avenue NE, NE 70th Street and Roosevelt Way NE and eastbound drivers can expect detours via 12th Avenue NE, NE 75th Street and 15th Avenue NE. Only one direction of travel will be detoured at a time.

These detours combined with the work on the Rooster Apartments on the west side of Roosevelt Way NE are making travel on NE 65th Street through the Roosevelt neighborhood a pain for all concerned (drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, etc.). We urge all travelers in the area to have some patience and practice grace-filled egress in the area.

U District Station News

This week, crews are digging holes in which to place piles that will make up the southern wall of the station: 76 holes, each between 50 to 105 feet deep. To help speed this work along, crews are now on site on Saturdays AND using two drill rigs.

NE 43rd Street east of Brooklyn Avenue NE is still closed to motorists, but what are you doing driving around in that area anyway it is a mess.

Northgate Link webcams

If you’re sitting near internet and wondering how construction is doing at any of the above locations, there’s a webcam (or three) for that:

Each page also has a “Stream Time-Lapse Movie” button on the left-hand side, for those who appreciate more action than a live shot once every 15 minutes.

20140731_SaturdayConcretePourUPDATE (2:17 PM): Just into the Ravenna Blog inbox is a Roosevelt Station construction alert for Saturday.

Saturday morning concrete pour at Roosevelt Station construction site

On Saturday, Aug. 2, construction crews working for Sound Transit will begin work at 7 a.m. for a concrete pour. Residents may notice noise from truck engines.

Crews will do everything within reason to keep noise to a minimum.

Why is this concrete pour happening on Saturday?

High demand for concrete resulted in limited schedule availability for the concrete pour at Roosevelt Station. Doing the work on Saturday morning will help keep the project on schedule by at least two weeks.

Spoke & Food is back! Ride and dine, and support Outdoors For All

For the second year in a row, thanks to Ravenna Blog’s sponsors and supporters, we are able to sponsor the Ravenna neighborhood during the Spoke & Food evening of dining and bikes* on Tuesday, July 29th.

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Vios Cafe at Third Place and the Ravenna Blog, together again for Spoke & Food 2014.

Starting at 5 PM on Tuesday, various restaurants around the city and beyond (Bothell! Lake Forest Park!) will be donating 20% of their dinner bills to a local non-profit. And you get a great excuse to dust off your Schwinn and enjoy a summer ride to dinner with friends and/or family.

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Full list Spoke & Food 2014 host restaurants, sponsors, and supporters. Click to enlarge.

This year’s fundraising recipient is the Outdoors For All Foundation (headquarters located at Magnuson Park, so you’ll even be supporting a Northeast Seattle non-profit). From their About page:

Sit Skiing. (Photo by Outdoors For All, used with permission.)

Sit Skiing. (Photo by Outdoors For All, used with permission.)

The Outdoors for All Foundation is a national leader and one of the largest nonprofit organizations providing year round instruction in outdoor recreation for people with physical, developmental, and sensory disabilities since 1979. Outdoors for All’s year round programming includes snowboarding, snowshoeing, cross country and downhill skiing, cycling, hiking, river rafting, canoeing and kayaking, day camps, water skiing, rock-climbing, camping and Custom Events.We are a customer driven organization where each year more than 2,000 children and adults with disabilities exercise their abilities thanks to the training and support of more than 700 volunteers. Outdoors for All offers opportunities for individuals, families and custom programming to meet your needs. Please take a look at our programs and contact us at anytime so we can find a recreation option to fit your needs.

The Northeast-ish Seattle restaurants who are participating this year are:

Green Lake: Duke’s Chowderhouse
Maple Leaf: Flying Squirrel Pizza
Montlake: Traveler Montlake
Ravenna (WOO!): Vios Cafe at Third Place Books
U-Village/U-District: Eureka

*Bikes not actually required! If your party would like to donate 20% of your bill to the Outdoors For All Foundation during the event, but you arrived at the restaurant by other means, no sweat!

Your Busy Weekend in Northeast Seattle: July 25-28

The sun returns this weekend. Clear skies and temperatures in the mid- to high-70s. Perfect weather for visiting a farmer’s market or an outdoor festival?

FRIDAY, July 25

SATURDAY, July 26

  • Buy your neighbors’ stuff!
    • Multi-family yard sale along 18th Avenue NE between NE 80th and 82nd Streets, 9 AM. Lots of kid stuff, and more!
  • Party with neighbors and friends just down the road. 
    • Bull Moose Festival at 68th and Roosevelt, 11:30 AM-7:30 PM. Enjoy the pancake breakfast, dog show, fashion show, food, music, and beer garden. FREE.

MONDAY, July 28

  • Watch a classic film by a master director while surrounded by books.
    • Hitchcock by the Decades, University Branch of SPL (5009 Roosevelt Way NE), 6 PM. Third movie in the series of five is Rear Window,” produced in 1954, run time of 115 minutes. FREE.

Oralea BONUS Event:

SATURDAY, July 26

  • Watch the salmon run and jump; ask a volunteer naturalist all your salmon-related questions. 

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Anything else to add? Garage sale? Fundraiser? Lemonade stand? Let us know in the comments, and we’ll add it to the post!

Want to promote an upcoming NE Seattle weekend happeningEmail us ahead of time, or use our online comment form to tell us about it.

We publish these Busy Weekend posts at noon-ish on Thursdays-ish.

Roosevelt house fire being investigated as arson (PHOTOS)

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An early morning house fire in the Roosevelt neighborhood is being investigated as an arson.

From the Seattle Fire Department’s Fire Line:

[SFD crews were] dispatched at 2:09 am to a house near 8 Avenue NE and NE 72 Street for a report of a porch fire that extended to the roof. Firefighters quickly extinguished the visible flames but worked for about an hour aggressively digging out the hidden fire located in the attic void spaces. The home owner discovered the fire and was out of the building by the time firefighters arrived.

After the home was extinguished, fire investigators determined that the fire was intentionally set on the front porch, and the case was turned over to the Seattle Police Department’s Arson/Bomb Unit.

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Investigators also estimated $100,000 in damage to the house and its contents, with an additional $5,000 damage to the home next door where the siding had begun to melt.

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If you have any information which could aid detectives in their investigation, please call the SPD Arson/Bomb Unit at (206) 684-8980.

Todd Byers, in yellow, talks with neighbors as they  survey the damage to his home on the morning after the fire.

Todd Byers, in yellow, talks with neighbors as they survey the damage to his home on the morning after the fire.