Blocks around the neighborhood closed their streets to traffic yesterday evening for to throw block parties for National Night Out. Here are a few photos from around the neighborhood. If you took some, add your own photos in the comments below (and be sure to add them to the Central District Flickr pool, too).

The Pink Pajamas rocked the 900 block of 20th Ave (near CDN headquarters).

SFD was making the rounds, letting people climb around on a fire engine and check out an ambulance.

@burstdown shared the following photo from 18th and Weller via Twitter. That’s a lot of marimba:

Then there’s this unlucky guy at 21st and Jefferson, via b0ysk0ut:

After moving to 10th and Union less than a year ago, Summit Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is moving again. This time, the club is moving to historic Washington Hall at 14th and Fir.

From an email to members in July:

Unfortunately we were given notice to leave the current Jiu-Jitsu location by the end of the month. On the upside, we have negotiated a screaming deal with Washington Hall ( http://www.washingtonhall.org). The new spot is located only a short distance from the current club at 14th and Fir. Among the highlights of Washington Hall are ample space, cleaner interior and exterior facilities, and better parking to name a few.

Washington Hall has been undergoing renovations in recent years after being selected as a historic landmark by the city’s Landmarks and Preservation Board. The space is on its way back to life, hosting performance art pieces and other events in recent months. Hidmo will also be an anchor tenant of the building.

The mission of SBJJ is centered around personal empowerment, according to their website:

SBJJ’s mission is to create Brotherhood/Sisterhood dedicated to training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and the grappling arts for the purposes of physical fitness, mental perseverance, self defense, and competition.  SBJJ is dedicated to helping each and every member attain their personal goals, whatever those may be.

Please join us for the next 12th Avenue Stewardship Meeting on Tuesday, August 9th from 5:30-7:30pm at the Seattle University Admissions and Alumni Building (corner of 12th Avenue and Marion).

The agenda for this meeting will include:

• Update on King County Youth Services Center Redevelopment Plans
• Update on 12th Avenue Neighborhood Festival
• Update on First hill Streetcar
• Update on Seattle University Major Institution Master Plan process
• Update on James Court Park/Woonerf 

If you have any questions please contact Bill Zosel at [email protected] or 206-329-3986.

Notes from the June Meeting

Mixed-Use building at James and Broadway, Michael Willis, Ankrom Moisan Architects

• New building starting construction next year, will demolish building that currently houses El Mestizo restaurant and the teriyaki restaurant (both will have to move).
• Near future Jefferson Streetcar stop.
• Will consist of 140 units of very small studios (350-400 square feet) and 5,000 sq feet of retail.
• Will be going through design review soon, please attend these meetings.

Mixed-Use building at Jefferson and Broadway, Joe Nydahl, Gerding Edlen Development (formerly presented to us by another firm that took it through design review and rezone)

• GE is a large green development firm (41 LEED projects)
• Starting construction on this project in six weeks, 13 month construction schedule
• 118 apartments, 450-850 sq feet, up to 2-bedrooms available.
• Retail on the first floor and amenities like green roof, gym and parking off alley.
• Entrance will be on Jefferson.
• Wright is the GC.
• Looking for a restaurant for two-story corner restaurant space.

King County Youth Services Center Update, Jim Burt, King County

• County is again in the midst of a procurement process to find a development partner to help develop their new courtroom and admin building (When Prop 1 failed last year, they lost their source of funding to do this and are seeking creative partnerships to make this happen).
• They have received 6 proposals – 4 on site and 2 off site
• Still in review process so cannot say much more.
• When review completed KC will reach out to the neighborhood for involvement again.
• KC expects to select by July one of two options 1) on site redevelopment or 2) off site – would issue RFP for off-site portions and would sell current property in new RFP
• In all of these options the community will be re-engaged to refine requirements for property disposition in 2012.
• The priority is still to keep courts and detention together
• Question: Would SU want it? SU answered “no” outside their Major Institution Overlay.

Seattle Housing Authority Update, Anne Fiske Zuniga

• Anne presented a very thorough and detailed update on the redevelopment of Yesler Terrace and the SHA application for Choice Neighborhoods Grant Funds from the federal government.
• She discussed at length that the plan will be for a more dense mixed-income community, but that SHA remains focused on bringing low-income families back to the neighborhood to live in close proximity to downtown and amenities.
• Question: Will daycare be built into the development. Answer: Yes, lots of planning for daycare operators currently living there.
• SHA is looking at replacement housing in 12^th Ave Urban Village. She mentioned KC Records Building on Yesler, Urban League building and the King County Youth Services Site as possibilities. They want to relocate people as close as possible to original Yesler.
• Question: how will people cross Boren, right now it is very dangerous? Answer: Right now there is no plan to create a new crossing over Boren even though it is an ideal location for it. There are conversations about enhancing the Yesler crossing to Bailey Gatzert Elementary though, when the streetcar is constructed. This work will focus on bike and pedestrian safety.
• SHA is looking at creating much better connections to and through the new Yesler neighborhood.
• Question: Will 8^th Ave intersection at Harborview be improved. Answer: Yes, signal will be added there.
• Question: Will the stairway to Little Saigon be improved? Answer: Yes, the current one will be removed and a new connection will be built that will be much safer.
• Question: What about parking? Answer: It depends on the use, residential or retail, but the new Yesler will use smaller parking ratios due to new codes and it will be on the new Streetcar line, which will hopefully enhance transit opportunities here.
• Choice Neighborhoods is a $27m application and includes more than just Yesler footprint. It wraps up into the 12^th Ave Urban Village, Remington to the North and 14^th to the east.
• It includes money for housing, community improvements ($4m) and supportive services ($4m). Sommunity improvements include Washington Hall funding, staircase to Little Saigon and new sidewalks and street trees for south end of 12^th!
• If funded, work would start ASAP on 12^th ad Yesler, the vacant lot that SHA currently owns. This would be a mixed-use building with affordable retail on the first floor.
• SHA recently committed to replacing current 561 low-income housing units with 661 units.

Capitol Hill Housing Update, Kate Gill de la Garza

• 12^th and Jefferson Workforce Housing is in development (finally!)
• Things are going well, Marpac is GC and site has been fully remediated of contamination.
• We should be done by next summer (2012) and are actively looking for great local retail and restaurant tenants.
• All apartments will be affordable workforce housing (40 units all together)
• 12^th Ave Festival date has been set for Sunday August 14^th on 12^th between Madison and Pike. Will be 20 great retail and restaurant booths again this year.

Seattle University Update, Joy Jacobson

• Steve Shepherd at the City is actively working with SU to fill some seats on their Community Advisory Committee (CAC)
• The CAC helps guide SU’s master planning on campus.
• If anyone is interested please contact the City or SU (Contact info???)

Announcements:

• Come to the next Woonerf Meeting on June 29^th.
• Come to the next SU CAC meeting on June 30^th! Citizens Advisory Committee meetings to consider the new Major Institution Master Plan proposed by Seattle U are ongoing.  To see the proposed plan and schedule of meetings see https://www.seattleu.edu/facilities/inner.aspx?id=35484

The city announced the recipients of the 2011 large matching fund grant recipients, and the Multimedia Research and Training Institute (MMRTI) at 23rd and Jackson is one of 12 recipients approved by the City Council. Awarded a grant of $74,310 (with a $60,500 volunteer match), MMRTI hopes to expand free access to its media production facilities.

Here’s how the project was described in the recipient document from the Department of Neighborhoods:

Augment Seattle’s public access television capabilities by providing free access to a state-of-the-art video studio, production classes, and Web distribution. Project will give a voice to underrepresented populations through high quality videos created by and for their communities.

The MMRTI offers classes, including video editing, photography and broadcasting. The organization was founded to serve immigrant communities in and around Seattle, according to the organization website:

Multimedia Resources and Training Institute is a non-profit organization serving immigrant communities around Seattle and its vicinity. In the past, some of its projects were sponsored by Ethiopian Community Mutual Association; Ethiopian Educational, Cultural, and Sport Center; Yesler Community Technology Learning Center; Ethio Digital & IT Services (EDITS), Rainer Vista Technology Center; Seattle Park & Recreation; East African Arts & Cultural Association; and Seattle Community Access Network (SCAN). Currently, the City of Seattle Technology Matching Fund program funds the project.

In other Department of Neighborhoods news, Bernie Matsuno has been confirmed as the department’s new Director.

SPD posted a couple items from around the neighborhood, including this tale of a carjacking near 24rd and Cherry July 28. No suspects were located, but the stolen truck was found and returned to the victim.

On July 28th, at approximately 11:40 PM, East Precinct officers responded to a reported carjacking near 23rd Avenue and Cherry Street.  The officers contacted the victim, who was bleeding from the head.  He explained that he had been parked near 24th and Cherry when he was approached by a group of young black males who asked him if he had some change.  The vicitm told them he did not.  He stated that he got out of his truck  to talk to the youth who had approached him, but another suspect came up from behind and put something up against his head, implying that it was a gun.  The victim ran, but one of the suspects threw a rock at him, striking him in the head.  At that point, the suspects got into the truck, which still had the keys in the ignition, and drove off.

While the officers were speaking with the victim, his friend came to the scene to report that he too had been robbed by the same suspects.  The friend stated that he had recovered the victim’s truck  from 12th and  East Jefferson, where he found it parked with the keys still in it.  He decided to bring it back to the owner.  The friend stated that he believed the suspects were still in a bar near where he located the truck. 

Officers responded to 12th and Jefferson and conducted an area search but did not locate the suspects.  The suspects were described as two black males, in their twenties, both approximately 6 feet tall, 180 pounds, and light skin complexion.  One suspect was described as wearing a gray shirt, the other a white shirt.   The victim’s truck  was impounded with an investigative hold for Robbery detectives.  The victim declined any medical attention.

Also noted in the SPD Blotter: Four people were robbed near Seattle U July 29.

On July 29th, at approximately 12:20 AM, East Precinct officers responded to the 1100 Block of 11th Avenue to investigate an armed robbery.  The four victims, three men and one woman,  explained to officers that they were walking through the campus when they were surrounded by four black male suspects.  One of the suspects reached towards his waistband, indicating that he had a gun, although no gun was actually displayed during the incident.

The suspects assaulted the male victims in the group and took the female’s purse.  The suspects fled on foot, running northbound through the campus.  The victim’s ID and debit card were later located on the sidewalk nearby.  Two of the victims suffered minor injuries during the assault, but none of them required medical attention.

Whether you are looking to weld, sew, make jewelry or construct the world’s largest functioning Rubik’s cube, ALTSpace will do what it can to provide the space and tools you need to make it happen. As a co-op maker space in the Central Space building on Cherry St just east of 23rd, ALTSpace (short for Air Light Time & Space) is a membership-based working space for sharing tools and companionship so you can get your project finished, whatever it is.

“It’s like a gym,” said Mars Saxman, one of the space’s founders. “You get a gym membership, then you can come in whenever you want.” Memberships cost $200 per month, or you can drop-in for a $20 day pass (though you will have to go by when others will be there, since you won’t have a key).

Founders Mars Saxman and Mike Tyka

Once you are a member of ALTSpace, you get a key, storage space and have the ability to stop in whenever you want to work. Tools are brought in by members for anyone to use. Some tools require training and/or permission to use, and the shop will pay for any damage done to them due to sharing.

So far, tools available range from instruments for jewelry-making to metal working to working with electronics. The space also has several sewing machines, including a serger. Soon, the space will have more carpentry tools, as well.

A few of the space’s nine members use the space regularly, making things to sell for a living. Others use it a hobby space, stopping in whenever they have free time to work on a project.

Photo by Michael Holden, via the Groovik’s Cube website

One of those projects is a 35-foot tall functioning Rubik’s Cube, called Groovik’s Cube. The towering cube is illuminated with LED lights, and it is moved using controllers on the ground. ALTSpace co-founder Mike Tyka originally worked on the project for Burning Man in 2009. He is now using ALTSpace to rehab the project and get it ready to be installed at the Pacific Science Center. The exhibit is set to have its grand opening October 1.

Groovik’s Cube was one of the inspirations for ALTSpace, said Tyka. The co-op idea also grew out of Rocket Factory, a space in Ballard Saxman and a couple other people used for projects (see Saxman’s blog to see some of his projects). The Rocket Factory space was not large enough to house a co-op and was too far away from his home in the Central District. So when saw the unit at Central Space, he, Tyka and some other friends got together and started ALTSpace.

Saxman behind two of the shop’s sewing machines

The company is not in it to make money, Saxman said, and any profits from memberships will be used to improve the space. In fact, one of the company’s rules is: “The investors are forbidden to make money off it,” he said. The co-op is currently breaking about even and has capacity for a handful more members. To register or learn more, check out the ALTSpace website.

Heavier work, like using power tools and welding, happen in the ALTSpace garage

Summer is here, and Reggie Bardach’s central district garden is bursting at its seams. This year Reggie and Richard are excited to be hosting their seventh season of Teahouse Concerts.  

There will be two fantastic groups this year…one new to the series, the other a long time Seattle favorite.  You won’t want to miss either!

Teahouse Concerts 2011

Sunday, August 7th, 5-7 pm….SONANDO, dynamic afro-cuban jazz

Sunday, August 14th, 5-7 pm…PEARL DJANGO, swinging gypsy jazz

Concerts are held in the garden of their central Seattle home:  939 25th Avenue South,  98144

Please bring a lawn chair for seating.

Tickets:  $15.00.  Reservations highly recommended:  [email protected] or 206-920-0286

Teahouse Concerts are produced with continued and generous support from the City of Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs.

Are you considering high school options for your kids? Join Lake Washington Girls Middle School as we welcome representatives from 30 Seattle-area independent day and national boarding schools, eager to tell you about their exciting programs, at our 2nd annual High School Fair – the only one of its kind in Seattle. Come learn the application process, financial aid and scholarships options, academics, arts, clubs and activities, community service, athletics, the boarding school experience, and much, much more! Attendance and parking are free! We hope to see you there.

Schools that attended last year…

The Bush School

Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart

Lakeside School

Archbishop Murphy High School

Eastside Catholic School

Seattle Preparatory Academy

Seattle Lutheran

Holy Names Academy

Kennedy Catholic High School

Bishop Blanchet High School

O’Dea High School

Emma Willard School, Troy, NY

Westover School, Middlebury, CT

Miss Halls School, Pittsfield, MA

Middlesex School, Concord, MA

Miss Porter’s School, Farmington, CT

The Taft School, Watertown, CT

Pomfret School, Pomfret, CT

Cushing Academy, Ashburnham, MA

Gould Academy, Bethel, ME

Cate School, Carpinteria, CA

Annie Wright School, Tacoma, WA

Northfield Mount Hermon School, Mount Hermon, MA

The Hotchkiss School, Lakeville, CT

Dana Hall School, Wellesley, MA

Blair Academy, Blairstown, NJ

Holderness School, Plymouth, NH

Vermont Academy, Saxtons River, VT

Choate Rosemary Hall, Wallingford, CT

The Webb Schools, Claremont, CA

More information and a real-time list of the attending schools visit http://www.lwgms.org/high-school-fair/

The city is waiving the fee to close your non-arterial street in Seattle next Tuesday night, August 2 as part of the National Night Out community safety initiative. According to the city’s map, exactly ZERO streets have been registered to be part of the night. But we’ve found out that’s not accurate — so we touched base with the East Precinct to get the complete roster for central Seattle. You can see the map below. And, good news: There’s still time to organize a party for your block.

You should throw a block party on Tuesday.

1. Decide to be a neighborhood leader for your non-arterial street. You may not close Broadway. You may close E Ward St.
2. Register the event on the Seattle Night Out calendar
3. Print up goofy signs so you can feel the power of street closure
4. Invite your neighbors (and make sure CDN knows about your fun, too — [email protected])

Map with registered parties as of Thursday night is below.

View East Precinct Night Out Street Parties in a full screen map