Parkways Seattle Parks and Recreation

Parkways

Seattle Parks and Recreation news and events

2012 Low Cost Life Jacket Sales at Evans Pool

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Seattle Parks and Recreation will hold sales of low cost life jackets one Saturday a month from May through September at Evans Pool, 7201 E. Green Lake Dr. N. 

Drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury and death among children ages 1 – 14.  Wearing a life jacket saves lives. Washington State law requires children ages 12 and under to wear a Coast Guard approved life jacket or life vest on vessels fewer than 19 feet long. In addition, there must be a life jacket on board for each person older than 12 years.

The cost for life jackets, sizes infant to youth large, is $20, and for teens to adult size XXL, is $30. The life jackets are comfortable, high-quality vests in fashion colors. All sales are final.  No refunds, no returns.

Purchasers under age 18 must be accompanied by a parent/guardian. Fitters will be on site to help purchaser choose the correct size. The person for whom the jacket is being purchased must be present for proper fitting.

Life jacket sales will be held from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. on the following Saturdays:

  • May 19
  • June 16
  • July 21
  • August 18
  • September 15

This program is in partnership with Seattle Children’s Hospital, Mustang Survival, and the Coast Guard Auxiliary.

Don’t miss this opportunity to purchase a stylish, Coast Guard approved life jacket!  For more information please call Diane Jones at 206-684-7440, or email at diane.jones@seattle.gov.

 

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Seattle Parks and Recreation Honoring Seattle’s Maritime Tradition at North Passage Point Park

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Seattle Parks and Recreation invites the community to the unveiling of an Alaskan tugboat propeller industrial sculpture.  This artwork is in tribute to the city’s maritime tradition and recently installed at North Passage Point Park. The dedication celebration for the new landmark, visible from the ship canal, is located at 600 NE Northlake Way.  The event takes place Sunday, May 20, 2012 from 11 a.m. – noon.   

The propeller was originally from a tug called the Arctic Bear that saw service in the shallow rivers of Alaska waterways. Bering Marine, of Seattle, donated the propeller in response to a request from Philip Thiel, professor emeritus from the University Of Washington College Of Architecture. Professor Thiel is a civil and naval architect. 

Professor Thiel, with the support of the University District neighborhood groups and Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, proposed this industrial art installation at a park abutting Lake Union. The purpose is to honor the tradition of working watercraft that served Seattle and Alaska for decades. 

”North Passage Point Park offers great views of Lake Union and now honors Seattle maritime heritage,” said Christopher Williams, Seattle Parks and Recreation, Acting Superintendent.

 For additional information about the project, contact Project Manager Linda Hubert, Seattle Parks and Recreation, 206-386-1959 or  linda.hubert@seattle.gov.

Seattle summer arrives with a sunny opening for Lowery C. “Pop” Mounger Pool

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Seattle Parks and Recreation opens Lowery C. “Pop” Mounger Pool, one of its two outdoor pools, this weekend on Saturday, May 12, 2012 at 1 p.m. for the summer season.  Mounger Pool is located in Magnolia, at 2535 32nd Ave. W, and is open daily until September 9, 2012.

Mounger Pool is two pools in one place. The “big pool” has a 50-foot corkscrew slide and the warmer, shallower “little pool” is great for relaxing and for teaching little ones. Throughout the summer, Parks will host Friday Family Fun nights from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. We will feature themed events such as Rock and Roll Party, Outrageous Animal Safari, Art on Deck, and Pirate Pool Party.

 For more information contact the pool at 206-684-4708 or “like” Lowery C. “Pop” Mounger Pool on Facebook.

Seattle Parks’ other outdoor pool is Colman Pool, located in West Seattle. This pool is a heated saltwater pool that features a giant tube slide. The pool opens on Saturday June 30, 2012. Parks is currently working on the pool to provide much needed repairs that will extend the life expectancy of this great facility. We are upgrading the pool deck, pool gutters, and upper section of the pool shell and will install a new plaster lining. Colman pool is located at 8603 Fauntleroy Way SW for more information please contact 206-684-7494.

For additional information on other pool facilities, hours, rentals or super deluxe birthday parties please visit http://seattle.gov/parks/pools.asp or contact 206-684-4075.

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Queen Anne Community Center closes for one day, May 11, 2012

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Queen Anne Community Center will be closed on Friday, May 11, 2012 for maintenance upgrades related to the heating and electrical systems. The community center will open with the regular operating hours on Saturday, May 12 at 10 a.m.

These upgrades replace the existing 60-year- old boiler with a new energy efficient system. A back-up system will provide heat to the most used areas of the building during the upgrade. Electrical system upgrades are also part of this project, and include replacing the old fuse panels throughout the building with new circuit breaker panels. The building will receive new wiring throughout, and the emergency generator system will be automated. Temporary isolated power outages over the course of the project are expected. Two full building outages will occur during off hours.

Parks awarded the contract to the Holmberg Company of Kirkland. Project funding is provided by the 2010 Boiler Replacement Program, and the 2010 and 2011 Electrical Programs.

For additional information about the project please visit http://seattle.gov/parks/maintenance/queen_anne_cc_boiler.htm or contact Gary Gibbons, Capitol Projects Coordinator at 206-386-1511 or gary.gibbons@seattle.gov

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New Park for First Hill Neighborhood Public Meeting

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Seattle Parks and Recreation host meeting on acquisition site option

Seattle Parks and Recreation invites the community to a public meeting on Monday, May 14, 2012 at Skyline at First Hill, 725 9th Ave.  Seattle Parks and Recreation will provide an update on its efforts to work with a real estate developer to acquire a site for development of a neighborhood park in the First Hill Urban Center Village.

The City has the opportunity to acquire a site through an easement at the corner of 8th Avenue and Columbia Street, to be provided by the developer of an adjacent multifamily project, subject to Parks and Recreation and community involvement in the design. The community is invited to learn more about this site at the public meeting and provide comments and suggestions.

Both the 2000 Pro Parks Levy and the 2008 Parks and Green Spaces Levy targeted this urban village to receive a new park to accommodate the growth in the neighborhood. In November 2008, the Parks and Green Spaces Levy passed by an impressive 59% vote. The Levy provides $146 million over six years, which includes neighborhood and green space acquisitions and over 50 named development projects.  The goal of the acquisition team is to acquire properties in areas that have been identified in the Parks and Recreation 2006 Development Plan and Gap Analysis as being deficient relative to the City’s comprehensive plan. The development projects provide improved playfields, reservoir lid parks, forest and stream restoration, community gardens and renovated playgrounds throughout Seattle.

For more information please see http://www.cityofseattle.net/parks/proparks/projects/FirstHillAcquisition.htm or contact Chip Nevins, Seattle Parks and Recreation, at 206-233-3879 or chip.nevins@seattle.gov.

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Seattle Parks and Recreation prepares Freeway Park fountains for summer season

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Seattle Parks and Recreation will modify the Jim Ellis Freeway Park fountains over the next month to comply with the Washington State Department of Ecology regulations. These fountains are currently winterized and after temporary modification each fountain will be turned on for the summer season.  Parks staff anticipates the work to be completed by early June.

Parks hired Mayfly Engineering of Seattle to do an engineering study and provide a cost analysis for a permanent solution to bring all four fountains into regulatory compliance for future operation. A permanent solution will be designed and implemented as funding is made available.

The three fountains in Jim Ellis Freeway Park are the Pigott Memorial Corridor Fountain, added to the Freeway Park’s eastern edge in 1984, the American League Fountain, the smallest fountain in Freeway Park and located near the park entrance closest to the Convention Center, and the Canyon / Cascade Fountains, located adjacent to the Jim Ellis Freeway Park Central Plaza at 700 Seneca Street.

Parks will update the website for the fountains and post signs in Freeway Park with the anticipated timing of the fountains being turned back on.

Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center presents Zapateo Workshop with Luis Sandoval

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The Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center (LHPAC) and its Artistic Director, Jacqueline Moscou, invite the community to attend a unique Zapateo (Afro-Peruvian stepping dance) workshop with master dancer and choreographer Luis Sandoval on May 10, 2012 at 7 p.m. at Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center.

This workshop is produced by eSe Teatro Seattle Latinos Take Stage, and the African ConeXions Project in partnership with LHPAC. Workshop tickets are $20.00 and may be purchased at  http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/244871   or $25.00 at the LHPAC box office. All participants must wear soft-sole shoes.

Luis Sandoval is a master dancer of zapateo peruano (“Afro-Peruvian Stepping), choreographer and expert in Afro-Peruvian rhythms, dances and masks.  He developed his own unique theatrical style “Tradicion y  Rhythm” (tradition and rhythm), applying traditional culture to modern theatre. He previously performed at LHPAC from 2007 to 2009 in the development of an original bilingual musical, Callejón. He is the founder and artistic director of Teatro Del Milenio of Peru. Zapateo dancing uses a street-shoe to create syncopated rhythms and phrases similar to the “soft-shoe” dance of the south. 

Hailing from Peru, Luis Sandoval is an LHPAC Artist in Residence at the newly renovated Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center. Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center (LHPAC) was established in 1969. It celebrates, nurtures, presents, and preserves African American and Diaspora performing arts, cultural wealth and iconic legacies. It is a place where community is created; powerful and authentic connections are developed; and dynamic, local, national, and global art is presented by artists for present and future generations.

Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center is located at 104 17th Ave S, Seattle WA 98144. For more information please contact Nilki Benitez at info@eseteatro.org.

eSe Teatro eSe Teatro is a collective of professionally trained theatre artists residing in the greater Seattle area, working to promote diversity in the Seattle art scene. Through our mission of “Empowering Latino artists to create, produce and present bilingual, Spanglish and Spanish-speaking theatre” we actively build partnerships with under-served populations in our community thru art, and provide a sense of home and place for other Latino theatre artists. eSe Teatro is an Associated Program of Shunpike. Learn more at www.eseteatro.org

The AFrican ConeXions Project This project works to unite Latino, African American and African communities through theatre, dance and music since 2001.” The AFrican ConeXion Project works in partnerships with community organizations. Our principle sustained partnership is with Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center. Learn more at http://theafricanconexionproject.blogspot.com/

Newly planted Arboretum trees vandalized

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 Parks and Recreation and University of Washington seek information

Vandals have destroyed three Chilean wine palms, two monkey puzzle trees, and three Gunnera Tinctoria in the Washington Park Arboretum’s Gateway Pacific Connections – Gateway to Chile project.

 The cost of restoring the site to its original condition is estimated to be about $43,000. The police incident report is 2012-134001; Seattle Parks and the University of Washington Botanic Gardens ask anyone with information about the crime to the Seattle Police Department’s (SPD) East Burglary Unit at 206-684-4300. To add information to the incident report, please call the SPD non-emergency number, 206-625-5011.

Details of the damage:

  • Three Chilean wine palms (Jubea chilensis), two monkey puzzle trees (Araucaria auracana) and three Gunnera tinctoria were vandalized. 
  • 19 large fronds were cut from 3 Chilean wine palms.
  • The top 10’ of one monkey puzzle was removed
  • One limb was cut from the other monkey puzzle tree.
  • 20 Gunnera stems were cut.
  • Several ferns were cut in the Pinetum, Rhododendron Glen and Lookout Gazebo area.
  • The damage appears to have been inflicted with a machete or hatchet.
  • The damage is very similar to vandalism that took place in the Aboretum about a year ago.

 The Gateway to Chile project is one element of Pacific Connections, a five-part project that carries out some of the direction in the 2001 Arboretum Master Plan: http://www.seattle.gov/parks/arboretum/arboplanindex.htm. Pacific Connections showcases the flora of five Pacific Rim regions: Chile, New Zealand, Australia, China, and southern Oregon/ northern California.

 The project included restoration the overgrown Holmdahl Rockery and created an eye-catching display of colorful Chilean plant species. Funding for the project, which was completed in June 2010, came from the 2008 Parks and Green Spaces Levy and fund raising efforts by the Arboretum Foundation.

Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center Creates More Opportunity for Community Film

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“Restless City” headlines African Film Festival Releasing Movement Seattle effort  

Seattle Parks and Recreation invites the community to the historic and newly renovated Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center (LHPAC) for the African Film Festival Releasing Movement (AAFRM) Independent Premier and theatrical run of the new film ‘Restless City.’ The film will show from May 4 -20, 2012 and tickets are available at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/.

The filmmaker, Andrew Dosunmu, will attend the opening screening on Saturday, May 5. Throughout the film run, special events showcasing the value of the African aesthetic will be scheduled before and after film screenings. This film is an official 2011 Sundance Film Festival selection.

‘Restless City’ is the story of a young man from Senegal, Africa surviving on the fringes of New York City, where music is his passion, life is a hustle, and falling in love is his greatest risk.  Variety calls the film “Extraordinarily beautiful . . . visually euphoric.”

This film is recommended for viewers 16 and older due to the intensity of the subject matter – a young man navigating the perils of a big city. Please go to AFFRM.COM or langstonarts.org for show times and ticket prices.

Our Seattle location is one of seven cities screening this film. The others are Los Angeles, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Chicago, New York and Washington, DC. Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center (LHPAC) is located at 104 17th Ave S. Seattle WA 98144.

LHPAC celebrates, nurtures, presents, and preserves African American and Diaspora performing arts, cultural wealth and iconic legacies. It is a place where community is created; powerful and authentic connections are developed; and dynamic local, national, and global art is presented by artists for present and future generations.

For more information please visit http://seattle.gov/parks/centers/langston.htm or for specific screening information please contact Jennifer Johns at nayomovement@gmail.com or Erwin Thomas at cia.erwin@gmail.com.

2012/2013 Parks and Green Spaces Levy – Opportunity Fund Allocation Process Begins!

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Seattle Parks and Recreation is pleased to announce the start of the 2012/2013 cycle of the Parks and Green Spaces Levy Opportunity Fund.  The 2008 Levy, allocates $15 million in funding for community initiated park development or property acquisition projects. In the first round, $7 million was allocated to projects throughout Seattle.  This next round will distribute $8 million.

Proposal Letters are required if applicants want to submit full project applications.  Project proposal letters are due by 4 p.m. on Monday, June 11, 2012.  Applications are due by 4 p.m. on Monday, September 17, 2012.

Parks is hosting a series of technical assistance workshops to help the public with the application process. The first round of technical assistance workshops will focus on project proposal letters and are scheduled for the following dates:

 Tuesday, May 1, 2012

  • 6–7:30 p.m.
  • Greenwood Library
  • 8016 Greenwood Ave. N
  • Seattle, WA 98103 

Thursday, May 3, 2012

  • 6 – 7:30 p.m.
  • Jefferson Community Center
  • 3801 Beacon Ave. S
  • Seattle, WA 98108

Parks held the first Technical Assistance Workshop on Monday, April 25, 2012 at West Seattle Golf Course.

For additional information about the project please visit the Opportunity Fund website at http://www.seattle.gov/parks/levy/opportunity.htm or contact Seattle Parks and Recreation Planners: Susanne Rockwell at 206.684.0902 or susanne.rockwell@seattle.gov, or Emily Lofstedt at 206.684.7047 or emily.lofstedt@seattle.gov 

 

 

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