Seattle, WA — November 10-Seattle Parks and Recreation and Associated Recreation Council are excited to receive a $13,469 grant from Safeway Foundation from their Nourishing Neighbors Breakfast for Kids initiative to eradicate childhood hunger. The funds will be used to provide essential food to children in our childcare programs.

“We’re excited that Safeway Foundation is supporting the work we do each day to help kids start their day with a good, nutritious meal,” said Jesús Aguirre, Seattle Parks and Recreation Superintendent. “We know that Safeway Foundation sets a high standard for its Nourishing Neighbors Breakfast for Kids grant recipients because the grants go only to organizations that have the greatest impact on fighting childhood hunger. We’re proud to be part of that recipient group and thank Safeway and their customers for helping us continue to make a difference in the lives of children in Seattle.”

Seattle Parks and Recreation’s mission is to provide welcoming and safe opportunities to play, learn, contemplate, and build community, and promote responsible stewardship of the land. It promotes healthy people, a healthy environment, and strong communities. Associated Recreation Council is the nonprofit partner of Seattle Parks and Recreation. It’s mission is to inspire engagement and participation in equitable, dynamic, culturally relevant, and responsive recreation, childcare, and lifelong learning programs. Together, they are providing essential full-day childcare for 250 children of working families at 19 sites across the city.

Nourishing Neighbors, a charitable program of Safeway Foundation, is designed to build awareness and raise funds in an effort to eradicate childhood hunger in America. Funds raised through Nourishing Neighbors’ Breakfast for Kids Campaign focus on adding breakfasts in and out of school through federal nutrition programs and other means to combat childhood hunger and improving other health-related outcomes. Each Safeway location selects a local organization or food bank to receive the donations. Funds for our $13,469 grant were collected by the stores at Ballard and Crown Hill.

“We know that Seattle Parks and Recreation and Associated Recreation Council are doing great things,” said Karl Schroeder, Safeway and Albertsons Seattle Division President.  “It’s our pleasure to support their innovative programs and tireless commitment to the health and futures of our community’s youngest citizens.”

Seattle Parks and Recreation (SPR) invites the community to review the conceptual design for the new Green Lake Community Center and Pool. Please join the Online Open House between November 16 and December 4, 2020 at glcc.infocommunity.org.  Guided by community input on location and site concepts we finalized the conceptual design and encourage all to provide feedback by visiting the Online Open House.

The Open House provides an opportunity for the community to review the overall site plan, the building layout, and conceptual renderings of what the building and activity spaces could look like in the facility. By visiting the Online Open House, you can provide feedback to the design team from Miller Hull and the Berger Partnership and share what activities/amenities you would like to see in the center and pool.

After this Online Open House closes, SPR and the design team will be back to dive deeper into the building design and materials with public in 2021. SPR is working to secure funding for the facility and anticipates the new Green Lake Community Center and Evans Pool could start construction in 2025.

The community center (built in 1928) and pool (built in 1955) structures are at the end of their usable life and SPR is working with the Green Lake Advisory Council and the greater north Seattle community on the replacement of the facility located at 7301 E. Green Lake Dr. N. 

For additional questions about project please contact David Graves, Strategic Advisor, at 206-684-7048 or David.Graves@seattle.gov.

As SPR plans for the new center and pool, we will continue with the facility stabilization work in 2020 to ensure the building is functional and usable for the public until the new center can be constructed. Stabilization work involves replacing the boilers and the air handling system at the facility. For more information please contact Garrett Farrell at garrett.farrell@seattle.gov or 206-233-7921.

More information for both projects can be found here http://www.seattle.gov/parks/about-us/current-projects/green-lake-community-center-projects.

Medgar Evers pool will reopen for lap swim and independent water fitness

December 9, 2020 Update:
Due to rapidly climbing COVID-19 cases in the county and state, the pool’s plans for re-opening are on hold indefinitely. We will continue to monitor and evaluate conditions, and will keep you posted when the situation changes.

Medgar Evers pool, 500 23^rd Ave, will reopen to the public on November 16. Seattle Parks and Recreation will reopen one pool to the public for lap swimming and independent water fitness. The pool will be open 11:30 AM to 6:30 PM on weekdays, and 9 AM to 4 PM on weekends. Pool admission must be reserved in advance online or via phone 206-684-4766. The first reservations can be made on November 9.

The Governor’s guidance for counties in Phase 2 does allow for pools to reopen if they are at a reduced capacity and follow public health guidelines. For pool visitors that will look like limited access to common areas and lockers, mask wearing when not in the pool, and temperature checks upon entry. Additional safety measures for staff and the facility will include increased cleaning, temperature checks for staff and pool users, masks required when not in the pool, and two or fewer users per lane (with designated rest spots. (link to any ‘know before you go’ content on website). For more information about the WA State Department’s guidance on pool operations under Phase 2, please see here.

Compliance with safety guidance is critical to keeping this facility open and safe for all.

At this time, only lap swim and independent water fitness (independent water jogging or exercise) will be offered at the pool. We are not currently offering swim lessons, recreational swim, or family swim. We are hopeful that we may be able to add other swim sessions soon. For info about the pool schedule and offerings, see here.  An FAQ can be found here.

Seattle Parks and Recreation continues to keep most pools closed. With public health restrictions, limited staffing, and a reduced budget reopening all pools is not currently feasible. As Medgar Evers operates more regularly and safely, we are hopeful that we can open additional pools and aquatics program as staffing and health guidance allows.

While we cannot meet in person right now, your input is important to us! Seattle Parks and Recreation (SPR) is beginning the renovation of the Soundview Terrace Park, a neighborhood park in Queen Anne at 2500 11th Ave. W, Seattle, WA 98119. Please participate in this short survey https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/YGJ9R9H and provide your input on two proposed play area options. As part of the project and to improve accessibility, the rubberized surface slope and engineer wood fibers will be replaced with new playground grass. The new play equipment will be installed in early spring of 2021.

Funding for this play area project is provided by the Seattle Park District. The Seattle Park District provides more than $47 million a year in long-term funding to tackle the $267 million major maintenance backlog for Seattle Parks and Recreation as well as other facilities including the Aquarium and Zoo. The Seattle Park District helps improve and rehabilitate community centers, preserves the urban forest, performs day-to-day maintenance of parks and facilities, provides more recreation opportunities for people from underserved communities, supports programs for people of all ages and abilities, and acquires and develops new park land.

For more information please visit https://www.seattle.gov/parks/about-us/current-projects/soundview-terrace-play-area-renovation or contact Janice Liang at janice.liang@seattle.gov or 206-507-3058.

Work postponed to Monday, November 2 due to weather.

Seattle Parks and Recreation(SPR) has contracted with Statewide Parking Lot Services to repair sections of the Burke-Gilman Trail in 2020. On Monday, November 2, weather permitting, the trail will be closed between N.E. 125^th Street and 42^nd Place N.E. as they make trail improvements.  

Cyclists and pedestrians will be detoured around the construction area onto side streets. SPR and SDOT worked together on detour routes and we recommend trail users visit www.seattle.gov/parks/about-us/current-projects/burke-gilman-trail-repairs for detailed detour routes. Thank you in advance for your cooperation and patience during construction.

The Seattle Park District provides $250,000 in funding each year  for this Burke-Gilman Trail improvements. Trial sections were determined by 2015 condition-assessment work done in collaboration with SDOT and reconfirmed each spring. Approved by voters in 2014, the Seattle Park District provides more than $47 million a year in long-term funding for Seattle Parks and Recreation including maintenance of parklands and facilities, operation of community centers and recreation programs, and development of new neighborhood parks on previously acquired sites.

For more information, please visit www.seattle.gov/parks/about-us/current-projects/burke-gilman-trail-repairs or contact Sandi Albertsen, Project Manager, at sandra.albertsen@seattle.gov or 206-684-8938.

Seattle Parks and Recreation(SPR) is happy to announce the completion of the final concept design for the new play area at Hiawatha Playfield. To review the design visit https://www.seattle.gov/parks/about-us/current-projects/hiawatha-play-area-relocation or view a large concept design board at the park near the adult fitness equipment. Karen Kiest Landscape Architects worked with SPR and input from the community to develop the final design concept. Thank you to the community for their participation in this design. Hiawatha Playfield is in West Seattle at 2700 California Ave. SW.

The goal of this project is to transfer the location of the play area from the north end of the park to the grass area just south of the wading pool. The project includes new play equipment for children 2 to 5 and 5 to 12 years, swings, a small plaza, and restoration of the old play area site. The new location will improve visibility and access for all.

Play area construction is planned to start in the summer of 2021 and end in December 2021, along with restoration of the old play site. Other areas of Hiawatha Playfield will remain open during construction. However, there are other projects in the planning stages for this area (community center renovation and athletic field turf replacement).

Funding for this play area project is provided by the Seattle Park District. The Seattle Park District provides more than $47 million a year in long-term funding to tackle the $267 million major maintenance backlog for Seattle Parks and Recreation as well as other facilities including the Aquarium and Zoo. The Seattle Park District helps improve and rehabilitate community centers, preserves the urban forest, performs day-to-day maintenance of parks and facilities, provides more recreation opportunities for people from underserved communities, supports programs for people of all ages and abilities, and acquires and develops new park land.

For more information or for meeting notification translations, please visit https://www.seattle.gov/parks/about-us/current-projects/hiawatha-play-area-relocation.

For questions about the project or if you need an interpreter or accommodations, please contact Shannon Glass at shannon.glass@seattle.gov or 206-733-9319.

Thank you to the Hiawatha Community Center and the Associated Recreation Council (ARC) for their partnership with the community engagement for this project.