Seattle Parks and Recreation

Beloved metal animals stolen from Ravenna Park playground

June 18, 2013 by Rebecca Leave a Comment

Where Lucy the Pika once crouched…

Pika statue from Ravenna Park playground. Used with permission from Seattle Parks and Recreation.

…there is naught but a hole, a bent screw, and the name of the missing critter and her donor family.

Photo courtesy Tracey Sconyers

Of the eleven bronze animal sculptures that have graced the Ravenna Park playground since 2008, four reportedly went missing over the weekend: Two pika, a deer mouse, and a mourning dove.

View Ravenna Park playground in a larger map

From resident Tracey Sconyers, who lives near the park (via email):

My girls informed me today [Monday, June 17] that four of the small animal statues are missing from around the Ravenna Park playground. They noticed yesterday (Sunday) that they were gone. I walked over the the park about an hour ago, and it looks like two pika, one deer mouse, and one mourning dove were cut from the rocks. All the missing pieces were along the upper sidewalk area, the one that passes directly in front of the little maintenance building.

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Each [sculpture] was custom made for its location, and were a gift to the park, in commemoration for the extensive time and money that several families made to ensure that the playground was renovated.

Sconyers says she has called several local metal recyclers to make them aware of the thefts, and to keep an eye out for the sculptures.

Seattle Parks and Recreation’s Joelle Hammerstad tells us that Parks has already contacted the artist, Rachel Boughton, about possible replacements if the stolen animals are not returned. Good news: The artist still has the molds.

You can see all of the animals that artist Rachel Broughton (Flying Dog Press and Gallery) made for the playground here.

Photo courtesy Tracey Sconyers

You can view the Friends of Ravenna Playground site here, thanks to the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine. The playground was renovated with money from grants and fundraising, and reopened with new play equipment in 2007.

Filed Under: Crime, Families, Kids, Lost/Found, Photos, Ravenna, Ravenna Park

Wading pool season opens on Saturday! Yay!

June 17, 2013 by Rebecca Leave a Comment

It’s almost too hot right now to write this post, but I know you’re all wondering…

AND, YES, IT’S ALMOST WADING POOL TIME.

I want to go to there.

Your two Northeast Seattle wading pools for 2013 are:

Dahl Playfield (7700 25th Ave NE) open T/W/Th from noon-7 PM, June 25 through August 15
Magnuson Park (7400 Sand Point Way NE) open daily from noon-6:30 PM, June 22 through August 25

And your closest spraypark is:

Northacres Park (12800 1st Ave NE) open daily from 11 AM-8 PM, now through September 2

Wading pools are open when the temperature is fore case to be 70°F or higher. Sprayparks, however, are open daily (unless thunder and lightning are present).

You can download the full Seattle Parks and Recreation wading pool, spraypark, and swimming beach schedule here (in all its Comic Sans glory; 302 KB PDF).

Filed Under: Dahl Field, Families, Kids, Magnuson Park, Northeast Seattle, Seattle Parks and Recreation

Cafe Racer Love: Concert at the cafe and walk to Cowen Park on May 30

May 28, 2013 by Rebecca 1 Comment

Those lost during the shootings at Cafe Racer a year ago will be remembered and celebrated this Thursday, May 30 with music and friends and a great deal of Cafe Racer Love.

Cafe Racer’s Kurt Geissel told us that Orkestar Zirkonium will play a concert at the cafe (5828 Roosevelt Way NE) at 8 PM. An hour later, at 9 PM, Cafe Racer will close early, and everyone will walk over to Cowen Park.

Taken on May 31, 2012 at Cafe Racer.

Earlier in the month, the Seattle Weekly and the Seattle Times both published pieces about the shootings, now a year in the rearview mirror. Both, touching portraits of a gathered family hit by violence, but moving forward in love and community.

Seattle Weekly (May 7, 2013): Cafe Racer, Gun Violence, and the Power of Song

Following the shooting, [Racer Sessions] grappled with whether or not to hold the usual Sunday-night session. “Ultimately we decided that there’s no way in hell we’d cancel it,” says Icasiano. “On a Sunday night, there’s nothing we would rather be doing than hanging out and playing music at Racer. We just figured we do music, so we should do that to help.”

Seattle Times (May 11, 2013): A year later: Cafe Racer lives on.

“Knowing that so many people are there for you, it’s mind-boggling,” [Leonard Meuse] said. “Powerful.”

Moving forward? It’s simple, he said. But not easy. His advice:

“Love. Love more than you can. The more you love, the more you put out, the more it’s going to come in.”

Want to know more about Cafe Racer in general? HistoryLink.org’s Peter Bletcha published this essay on “Seattle’s Famously Quirky Dive” in October 2012.

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Ravenna Blog posts about Cafe Racer from last year:

Shooting at Cafe Racer in Roosevelt (UPDATES) - May 30, 2012

Our post from the day of the shootings. Most recent updates were listed at the top of the post.

Cafe Racer community remembers, and celebrates (PHOTOS) - May 31, 2012

The night after the shootings, members of the Cafe Racer family met at the cafe to mourn together, and to remember their lost friends. And to make music together.

Video and impressions of Thursday night’s “Walk for Love” - June 1, 2012

Jens Wazel and Lucia Neare of Lucia Neare’s Theatrical Wonders organized a “Walk for Love” that started at Cowen Park and wound its way through the neighborhoods around Cafe Racer, before finally stopping at the cafe. Respects were paid at the houses of those killed who were locals as the walk proceeded. Participants carried bells that gently rang during the procession.

Filed Under: Cowen Park, Meeting, Memorials, Music, Roosevelt, University District

Common themes to residents’ NE 75th Street safety concerns revealed

May 18, 2013 by Rebecca 3 Comments

SDOT Traffic Safety Coordinator Jim Curtin (in white) talks to a group of residents about NE 75th Street concerns at the April 25 meeting at the Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center. Current Department of Neighborhoods Northeast District Coordinator Jenny Frankl also attended (in blue).

The Seattle Department of Transportation’s Traffic Safety Coordinator, Jim Curtin, sent an email to the NE 75th St email listserv this week, summarizing the input shared by neighbors about NE 75th St.

Those attending the community input meetings were directed to describe street safety issues on Post-It Notes and stick them directly to maps of the area around NE 75th Street. The red stickers also indicate residents’ trouble spots.

Curtin’s email said “[h]undreds of comments have been collected through three public meetings and we’ve received more than 100 emails, letters, and completed comment sheets.”

The common themes of these comments have been:

Channelization improvements were requested along segments of NE 65th Street, NE 75th Street, 25th Avenue NE, 35th Avenue NE and Banner Way NE and at several signalized intersections.
Speeding is a problem along the NE 75th Street corridor and along segments of nearby arterial streets.
The eight schools in the area increase pedestrian, bicycle, and vehicle volumes twice a day. Speeding on non-arterial streets during drop-off/pick-up hours is a problem near schools. Many students walk and bike to school and student safety is a priority for residents. New construction at Thornton Creek Elementary will likely change traffic patterns.
There is a strong desire to improve pedestrian and bicycle safety throughout the area. Suggestions included adding more and improving existing marked crosswalks, constructing sidewalks, adding bicycle facilities to NE 65th Street and NE 75th Street, and improving signal performance for pedestrians and cyclists.
Improve access to parks throughout the area and reduce speeds on adjacent streets Improve existing traffic signals to reduce turning movement conflicts with pedestrians and bicyclists and improve traffic flow.
Encroachments in the right-of-way limit pedestrian mobility and reduce visibility for all.
Congestion is an issue along several corridors during peak hours. This often leads to cut through traffic on non-arterial streets.
Existing parking restrictions should be reviewed and existing parking laws should be more strictly enforced. New parking restrictions are needed in a couple of locations.
Increased enforcement efforts are needed area-wide to address speeding, distraction driving, impaired driving, and pedestrian and bicycle safety issues.
Educational efforts should focus on behavioral issues like impairment, speeding, and distraction with more information about student, pedestrian, and bicycle safety.

Next week, a map of geographically-specific concerns and suggestions will be sent out to the listserv, Curtin said. You can request to receive future NE 75th St Road Safety Project emails here.

Chief Traffic Engineer Dongho Chang (white, center) and Safe Routes to School Coordinator Brian Dougherty (navy, right) listen to residents concerns and take notes at the RECC community meeting held April 25.

After the map is complete, SDOT’s next steps in the NE 75th St Road Safety Project involve combining this public input with the already existing Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plans and traffic data. Options for future improvements will then be developed and presented to the community in July.

Filed Under: Bryant, Meeting, Photos, Ravenna, Ravenna-Bryant Community Association, Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center, Roosevelt, Seattle Department of Transportation, Wedgwood

New eats and treats coming soon to Northeast Seattle (UPDATE)

April 12, 2013 by Rebecca 21 Comments

Our favorite kind of news? NEW RESTAURANT NEWS.

And we have LOTS.

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Coming soon, to the old Pied Piper Alehouse space (2404 NE 65th St) is…

…a Patty’s Eggnest.

There are currently nine Patty’s Eggnest locations in Washington State, all of which are independently owned and operated. Patty’s specializes in breakfast. So much so that their Eggs Benedict have their OWN MENU. NINE different kinds, people.

Here’s more about their menu, from the About page:

We serve delicious, hearty meals made to order and made from scratch with fresh, choice ingredients. In a comfortable, family-friendly atmosphere, we’ll be happy to fill your table with home-cooked breakfast favorites. Fresh-squeezed orange juice, Swedish pancakes, scrumptious scrambles, and hearty chicken-fried steak are just some of the dishes that we feature on our menu at all locations. We also feature tasty lunches, like hot delicious sandwiches, big burgers with seasoned fries, and fresh salads. For several of our locations, we are open for dinner hours as well, serving fresh roasted turkey dinners and soup made-from-scratch.

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Headed into some of the new restaurant space in the new south building at University Village is a new restaurant by Beecher’s Cheese Head, Kurt Dammeier: Liam’s.

Via Eater Seattle, Dammeier says:

We’ll serve all Northwest wine and our basic food I describe as ‘upscale homestyle’ — mostly dishes that are familiar or reasonably familiar to a suburban crowd, but made better.

Dammeier is also the guy behind Pasta & Co., which already has a home at University Village.

That same Eater piece claims that “a Joey’s and a Din Tai Fung will also be moving in.” That’s a lot of restaurants. But with 24,626 sq. ft. of restaurant space available in that new building, anything is possible.

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Over in the Laurelhurst direction, Bill the Butcher is getting a new, unlikely neighbor:

Vegan bakery next to butcher. Keeping the 98105 weird – twitter.com/floraandflying…
— Nazila Merati (@floraandflying) April
11, 2013

Violet Sweet Shoppe, a vegan bakery and cafe, plans to open along NE 45th Street in May. If you’d like to help them along, financially, they’ve got a Kickstarter going.

I can’t believe it’s not butter.
(Cake picture courtesy Violet Sweet Shoppe.)

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The old Casa D’Italia location (2615 NE 65th St) has been leased again, to a business under the name “Conception Hermosillo” (according to records with the Washington State Liquor Control Board).

But this is about all we know so far. TO BE CONTINUED.

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The overlap section of a hypothetical Northeast Seattle Venn diagram of “Cloud City Coffee” and “Magnuson Park” will be excited about this last one.

Another find from the Washington State Liquor Control Board’s list of new liquor license applicants: CLOUD CITY SAND POINT.

O RLY? What’s the address? “6327 NE 74TH ST?”

View Cloud City Sand Point location? in a larger map

Hey, that’s inside Magnuson Park! What’s that address look like right now?

Oh my.

Let’s zoom out.

I don’t think it’s ready yet, do you?

Another one for the TO BE CONTINUED pile. We’ll contact Cloud City and Seattle Parks and Recreation on this one and report back.

UPDATE (5:35 PM): We’ve heard back from one of the Sand Point Tennis Center managers, Scott Marshall, who said, “Cloud City will be the cafe operator inside of our 6-court building. We are extremely excited about this partnership.”

Learn more about the Sand Point Tennis Center being built at Magnuson Park here.

Filed Under: Construction, Food, Laurelhurst, Magnuson Park, Maple Leaf, Northeast Seattle, Photos, Ravenna, Restaurants, Sand Point, University Village, Updates

Roosevelt “lake” views headed down the drain as reservoir empties (UPDATE)

April 9, 2013 by Rebecca 10 Comments

Ravenna and Roosevelt neighbors near the Roosevelt Reservoir were told (via mail, around Saturday, April 6), that not only was the reservoir disconnected from the city’s water system on Monday, April 1, it will soon be drained…and stay that way, for two years.

Roosevelt Reservoir, by neighbor Jenifer Gonzales.

The clock started ticking for all of the city’s open reservoirs back in the mid-1990s with the passage of an amendment to the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). This amendment “added new requirements related to annual water quality reports, operator certification requirements, system capacity, and source water assessment and protection.”

In 2004, the Seattle City Council approved a plan to fund the covering of four of the city’s reservoirs at a cost of $150 million.

Then, in 2006, a federal law “required all uncovered drinking water distribution reservoirs to either be covered or treated to a high standard.”

Of the city’s open reservoirs, six have now been replaced with underground structures: Magnolia in 1995, Lincoln in 2004, Myrtle in 2008, Beacon in 2009, West Seattle in 2010, and Maple Leaf in 2012. All but the Magnolia site were transformed into parks by various Seattle Parks and Recreation levy funds.

There are four above-ground reservoirs remaining: The Bitter Lake, Lake Forest Park, Volunteer, and Roosevelt Reservoirs.

Volunteer Park Reservoir in 2008, by Flickr user stevevoght.

Floating covers have been installed at the Bitter Lake and Lake Forest Park facilities, and will remain through the operational life of these two reservoirs.

As for the Volunteer and Roosevelt Reservoirs, Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) has started testing them for potential decommissioning:

To perform the tests, the reservoirs were taken out of service on April 1, 2013. While out of service, Roosevelt Reservoir will be kept drained, while Volunteer Reservoir will remain full with water and continue to be a water feature at the park.

The reservoirs will remain disconnected from the City’s drinking water system throughout the two-year test. During this time, SPU will study the impact the out-of-service facilities have on Seattle’s overall drinking water system, make evaluations and determine whether the reservoirs can be permanently taken out of service.

If SPU finds that the reservoirs are no longer needed, the costs saved by not having to replace them with covered storage facilities would run between $10 and $50 million dollars. Each.

If and when SPU decides the Roosevelt and/or Volunteer Reservoirs ares no longer needed, public process would then kick in, and neighbors would have a say in their futures.

Until then, enjoy a nice, tall glass of (c0vered) Maple Leaf Reservoir water, now flowing out of our taps.

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For more information on the Roosevelt Reservoir decommissioning test, visit the Reservoir Covering Project page on the Seattle Public Utilities website.

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UPDATE (Thursday, April 18): At least one neighbor of the Roosevelt Reservior has asked SPU “Why us?” And here is the reply by Bill Wells, Senior Engineer of the Drinking Water Division:

We had to make a difficult decision in weighing the benefits of keeping Roosevelt Reservoir full versus the additional costs to the customers of Seattle. We estimated that it would cost an additional $100,000 each year (about $200,000 in total) to keep the reservoir full during the two-year decommissioning test.

The costs to keep Roosevelt filled and maintained are significantly more than that of Volunteer. This is because Roosevelt Reservoir is a 50-million-gallon reservoir – more than twice the size of the 20-million-gallon Volunteer Reservoir.

Another key factor in the decision to refill Volunteer Reservoir is the park’s historical landmark status, of which the reservoir is a contributing feature.

We wish we could maintain water in both reservoirs throughout the two-year test period, but in the end we decided it was in the best interest of the city as a whole to keep Roosevelt Reservoir empty throughout the testing period.

Filed Under: Government, Maple Leaf, Northeast Seattle, Ravenna, Roosevelt, Seattle Parks and Recreation, Seattle Public Utilities, Updates

Family Movie Matinees at the Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center

April 8, 2013 by Rebecca Leave a Comment

The Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center (6535 Ravenna Avenue NE) has added a few movie matinees to their schedule that may be of interest to you and your toddler/preschooler.

RECC_movie_matinee

All movie dates are Fridays, with a start time of 2:30 PM, and include popcorn and coloring sheets.

April 12: Brave (PG), 93 minutes

April 26: Ice Age: Continental Drift (PG), 88 minutes

May 17: Born to be Wild (G), 40 minutes

The event is free (with donations accepted for refreshments).

Filed Under: Events, Families, Food, Kids, Northeast Seattle, Ravenna, Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center

New collaborative play equipment debuts at Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center

April 4, 2013 by Rebecca 2 Comments

There’s some brand new fun to be had at the Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center (6535 Ravenna Ave NE), and it’s called Imagination Playground.

New-to-the-RECC coordinator Tim Ewings puts together a sample structure while a Ravenna Blog staffer looks on.

Perhaps, as a younger person, you enjoyed playing with Tinkertoys. Now imagine how much fun it would be if those Tinkertoys were HUGE and made of lightweight foam.

That’s what this stuff is like.

Pieces come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, some pock-marked with holes for adding foam tubes and connecting with other pieces.

The community center debuted the new play set, a purchase by previous coordinator Terri Burns (who is now at the Yesler Community Center), on Thursday, with cupcakes, juice, and coffee (for the grown-ups).

The pieces all fit *just so* inside one of two wheeled carts (both with diagrams like that above taped to their sides).

The playtime was free for the inaugural construction session, but will cost the usual drop-in fee of $3 per child in the future.

A separate “pint-sized” engineer area was set up with more basic pieces on a foam mat.

If you and your tiny engineers would like a turn at some constructive playtime, Imagination Playground will be waiting for you in the gym on the following days:

Thursdays, April 4 through June 13, 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM for kids ages 1-5
Saturdays, April 6 through June 8, 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM for ALL AGES

This was a “gas station” that a boy had put together…

…and here it is, back to its component parts, ready for its next pint-sized engineer.

Filed Under: Families, Kids, Northeast Seattle, Photos, Ravenna, Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center

RBCA community meeting on crime/NE 75th Street (LIVE COVERAGE)

April 2, 2013 by Rebecca 7 Comments

Our live coverage of the Ravenna-Bryant Community Association Spring Community Meeting will be posted below starting around 6:30 PM on Tuesday, April 2.

You may download the agenda here (62 KB Microsoft Word document). Or refer to the abridged version posted below:

7:00 PM: Moment of silence (Lead by Virginia Gunby, RBCA Board Member, Transportation Committee Chair)

7:05: Welcome (Sarah Swanberg, Outgoing RBCA President)

March 25 vehicle/pedestrian double fatality collision on NE 75^th Street

7:10: Traffic & pedestrian safety, DUI enforcement & prosecution

Seattle Police Department

Captain Robin Clark, North Precinct

Sergeant Don Smith and Officer Eric Michl

Seattle City Attorney’s Office

John Schochet, Deputy Chief of Staff

Rachel Cormier Anderson, Criminal Division Attorney

Jana Jorgensen, North Precinct Liaison

7:30: Report from Harborview

Eileen Whalen, Executive Director, Harborview Medical Center

Dr. Beth Ebel, Director, Harborview Injury Prevention & Research Center

7:50: NE 75^th Street improvements

Dongho Chang, Chief Traffic Engineer, Seattle Department of Transportation

Peter Hahn, Director of Transportation

8:20: RBCA business

Sub-committees to address traffic, safety, DUI issues in Ravenna-Bryant

Election of RBCA officers

8:40: Q and A with local leaders

City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen
Rebecca Deehr, Mayor’s Office
Senator David Frockt

Filed Under: City Council, Crime, Live Coverage, Mayor's Office, Meeting, Ravenna, Ravenna-Bryant Community Association, Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center, Seattle Department of Transportation, Seattle Police Department, Wedgwood, Wedgwood Community Council

Community meeting on Tuesday to address crime, NE 75th Street safety issues (UPDATES)

March 31, 2013 by Rebecca 1 Comment

The spring community meetings of the Ravenna-Bryant Community Association (RBCA) are used to elect new board members, inform the community about any local, recent concerns, and perhaps have a guest speaker from the City Government.

The RBCA Spring Community Meeting this Tuesday, April 2, will feature officials from at least six City departments, including the Seattle Police Department, the City Attorney’s office, and Harborview Medical Center. The meeting will take place in the gymnasium of the Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center (6535 Ravenna Avenue NE) from 7-9 PM.

Our LIVE COVERAGE of this event will be HERE (page will go live on the afternoon of April 2 prior to the meeting.)

RECC3

The list of confirmed attendees includes (via the RBCA homepage):

Council Member Tom Rasmussen will be coming with Eileen Whalen, Executive Director of Harborview Medical Center and Dr. Beth Ebel, Director of the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center.

From the Seattle Police Department, North Precinct Captain Robin Clark will be there to introduce Captain Mike Nolan from the SPD Traffic Section. DUI enforcement experts will also be on hand to answer any questions/concerns the community may have.

Dongho Chang, Chief Traffic Engineer from the Seattle Department of Transportation will be there to address improvements that can be made to NE 75^th. The Director of Transportation Peter Hahn will also be in attendance.

Members of the law department from the City Attorney’s Office will attend to discuss the prosecutorial side of DUIs.

The Mayor’s office will also be on hand, should you have questions for him.

Gina Iandola, Homestreet Bank’s Wedgwood Branch Manager will also be there should you want to donate funds. You can read more about ways to donate on Wedgwood Community Council’s website.

The Mayor’s office staff members attending include:

Beth Goldberg, City Budget Director
Beth Hester, Director of Public Affairs and Management
Rebecca Deehr, Mayor’s Office lead on their Road Safety campaign and on the new school road safety initiative

Everyone is welcome to attend. We also expect a large number of Wedgwood Community Council board members and neighbors to attend.

We have spoken with the staff at the Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center about the meeting, and have been told that the gymnasium will be in use up until the 7 PM meeting start time. Neighbors: Please come prepared to be patient and/or help set up some of the approximately 200 chairs available for seating.

UPDATE (Monday, April 1): Senator David Frockt (D) representing the 46th District is also scheduled to attend.

The agenda order appears to be: SPD and the City Attorney’s Office, then CM Rasmussen, Senator Frockt, and Harborview, and then the Department of Transportation at the end.

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Also, to further inform the officials attending Tuesday’s meeting, you may want to contact them in advance with your questions and concerns (or later, if you still have questions/concerns):

[NEW] Senator David Frockt (D), 46th District: (206) 729-3225 and email form

Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, Transportation Committee Chair: (206) 684-8808 and tom.rasmussen@seattle.gov

Eileen Whalen, Executive Director of Harborview Medical Center: (206) 744-3036

Dr. Beth Ebel, Director of of the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center: (206) 744-9430 and bebel@uw.edu

North Precinct Captain Robin Clark: (206) 684-0850 (N. Precinct front desk) and Public Information Officers (206-684-5520)

[NEW] Sergeant Dianne Newsom, North Precinct Community Police Team supervisor: (206) 684-0794 and dianne.newsom@seattle.gov

[NEW] Sergeant Don Smith, Traffic Section supervisor, Seattle Police Department

[NEW] Officer Eric Michl, Traffic Section/DUI Squad

Dongho Chang, Chief Traffic Engineer from the Seattle Department of Transportation: 206-684-5106 and dongho.chang@seattle.gov

Peter Hahn, Director of the Seattle Department of Transportation: 206-684-5000 and peter.hahn@seattle.gov

City Attorney’s Office: 206-684-8200 (Civil main phone number), 206-684-7757 (Criminal main phone number), kimberly.mills@seattle.gov (Communications Director)

Beth Goldberg, City Budget Director: (206) 233-7115 and beth.goldberg@seattle.gov

Beth Hester, Director of Public Affairs and Management, Mayor’s Office: (206) 684-3493 and beth.hester@seattle.gov

Rebecca Deehr, Mayor’s Office lead on the Road Safety Initiative: (206) 233-2662 and rebecca.deehr@seattle.gov