For those who’ve been following the progress of the Madrona Woods project – check out the Madrona Woods website for a peek, or better yet, take an in-person stroll through the trails – this weekend offers an opportunity to pitch in and help out.

From the Madrona Woods crew:

We’ll be tackling two jobs on Saturday in Madrona Woods – planting a partial order of new plants and repairing leaks that have developed in our independent-minded creek. Our hard-working visionary, Peggy Gaynor, plans to bring her expertise to both jobs. Planting will likely be mucky and stream repair will be even more so, but we have rubber boots and waterproof gloves. All are welcome between 10 and 1 on Saturday. Meet at the Spring/Grand entrance.

As some readers may recall, Madrona Woods was one of the beneficiaries of the Kraus fund money, receiving $25,300 toward ongoing restoration and debt relief for existing loans stemming from the extensive work on the land over the last decade. This week’s community council meeting also raised the question of building a sidewalk on Lake Washington Boulevard near the daylighted stream.

Those interested in helping this weekend can simply show up, or contact Deirdre McCrary at

Local nonprofit Flash Volunteer, which counts CD residents among its board members, was recently awarded a grant from the City of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods to put on a service initiative in the Central District.

What does Flash Volunteer do? It’s a nonprofit that works to help connect organizations with volunteers and neighbors with neighbors. You can use www.flashvolunteer.org to find volunteer opportunities in the neighborhood — or post a project yourself.

What does this mean for residents?

• A volunteer hub at the Douglass-Truth branch of the library, where residents can use computers to find volunteer opportunities or post opportunities.
• Technology residents can use, including translated materials, to help them get more engaged in the community.
• Volunteer projects organized by, for and with residents.
• Partnerships with Central District organizations to help enact lasting community involvement.

What do I do now? Flash Volunteer is busy planning this initiative right now, and all CD residents are welcome to join. Regular planning meetings start in January, and the initiative will take place in the spring/summer. Email [email protected] to get involved.

With King County Metro still studying its options for replacing the aging fleet of electric trolleys that ply the streets of Capitol Hill, the Central District and other lucky Seattle neighborhoods, a special guest was invited to town this week to give the transit agency’s engineers and staff an opportunity for a real world examination of a state of the art electric coach. Of course, the bus is from Canada, eh.

Metro borrowed the trolley coach from Vancouver, BC for a one-day trial in Pioneer Square on Wednesday. Among other magic things like kneeling capability and lots of standing room in the interior configuration, the coach also is capable of traveling short distances off wire. On Wednesday, the driver was showing off by completing an entire city block on off-wire power. The current ancient fleet of King County bus trolleys require a tow for any off-wire activities. And, no, skeptics, we didn’t ask whether these magic buses were any better at keeping their hooks on the overhead wires. We kind of like those zen pauses in our travels.

Metro says it must find an alternative as the lifespan of its current electric fleet is coming to an end. Representatives say there is no room for working to extend the life of the existing trolley fleet because key systems are facing parts shortages and other maintenance issues on both types of trolley buses currently operated by Metro. Without having access to spare parts from the bus manufacturers, keeping the existing vehicles would force Metro to do their own engineering and fabrication of replacement parts, something that has been deemed to difficult and costly to pursue any further. Metro faces the replacement dilemma as it also struggles with necessary budget cuts to continue offering its service as revenues show no signs of near-term recovery.

You can read more about Vancouver’s electric trolleys in this Wikipedia entry on BC’s TransLink system.

This Friday, December 10

^th is the Annual Holiday party at Garfield Community Center, 6:30-8pm. This is one of many parties held around the city at Seattle Parks and Recreation Community Centers. 

Over 200 families have pre-registered to receive gifts at Garfield Community Center alone, a sure sign of the bad economic times.  Seattle Parks and Recreation are holding a Toy Drive to help get enough gifts for the kids. This is the 3

^rd year in a row they have done their own drive, a result of Toys for Tots running out of gifts back in 2008.

Want to help? It’s not too late to donate toys! Remember to support your local toy stores, central district has one on 12

^th and Union; Izzilla. Toy and monetary donations are being accepted at all Parks and Recreation Community Centers.  You can also still sign up to volunteer. Call 684-4559 or email [email protected]. Please register to volunteer by this Thursday at 9pm.

A Holiday Village:

The students will learn how people around the world celebrate during the winter season and then design and create their own winter holiday village. All materials will be edible gingerbread and other sweets and confections.

An Amusement Park:

We will look at amusement parks around the world and discuss what makes an amusement park successful and what happens behind the scenes of these parks to keep them functioning and running smoothly. Just for fun we will also learn more about forces in nature that cause you to stay in a roller coaster when it is going at certain speeds.

Then each student will select a theme and location, design an amusement park and build a sketch model of it.

Backyard Cottages:

The first annual international MY KID COULD DESIGN THAT! backyard cottage design challenge will be this winter. A backyard cottage is a small house that shares a site with a larger primary residence.

The challenge will be to design a backyard cottage that you would like to live in. The cottage will accommodate the functions of a house, including living, sleeping, eating, and cooking, and fit within a 20 ft. x 20 ft. x 20 ft. space.

Bruce Parker, the architect who is the founder of Microhouse Northwest, will be joining us to show us some of his designs during this session.

All entrants will be featured on the Seattle Backyard Cottage blog.  In conjunction with the competition, Architecture 101 will host the awards ceremony in February 2011 during mid-winter break week.

This is a design competition where everyone wins.

For additional information on these classes, see: Architecture 101.

Image: jseattle

The corner of 23rd & East Union here in the Central District has been getting a lot of attention lately.  With the sudden closure of a gas station, the long vacant restaurant space that used to be home to the best cheesesteak sandwich in Seattle, and an empty lot waiting impatiently for stalled development to start, three of the “Four Corners” are barren. As one long time Central District resident put it, “Sometimes it seems like a vortex, and you worry that it’s sucking the rest of the neighborhood with it.”

But thankfully there is a group of local business and land-owners who are committed to long term development and are making plans to see the area thrive.  Although the patience of many neighbors is wearing thin, the determination and enthusiasm being shown by The Union Street Business Group’s members is bringing hope to the neighborhood.

The Union Street Business Group (USBG) was started in 2004, and its original members included, among others, Central Cinema, Katy’s Corner, 20/20 Cycle, Mind & Body Pilates/Yoga Studio, and Tinnea & Associates. **

Kevin Spitzer, who operates Central Cinema at 21st & Union, explained that when the group formed over six years ago the intention was to create something more established and formal, with a president, vice-president, treasurer, etc.  The group started out strong, but after a few years things started to wane, and understandably so.  “We’re all so busy trying to run our small businesses that it’s hard to find time to organize a committee too,” Spitzer said.

Thankfully there is strength in numbers, and the Union Street Business Group is growing.  In 2009 Cortona Cafe opened at 25th & Union, and others have purchased local properties that were neglected or ignored in the fallout of the recession these last few years.  

Spitzer explained that recently the USBG decided to “decentralize” some and started a Facebook page to replace their website, which was more cumbersome to update and maintain.  He said that currently there is no official board for the group, but there are a lot of people showing involvement.  With this momentum the group is working with the Central Area Development Association, or CADA, to apply for a grant to improve the neighborhood.  CADA is the organization behind the the revitalization of 23rd & Jackson a few years back.  

Will Little and Jason Davison own and manage Cortona Cafe and they are excited by the “synergy” they are experiencing as they meet with other local business owners to discuss what they can do to support the neighborhood and create an environment that is “economically beneficial and diverse.”  When we spoke on Sunday, Little was looking forward to Tuesday morning’s meeting to discuss the grant they are partnering with CADA to apply for. 

Ian Eisenberg is also excited to be involved in the USBG and said that in the future he would like to see the group become more of a formal entity with membership dues, advertising and marketing.  Besides owning and operating the car wash near the intersection, Eisenberg also is working to lease the long-vacant restaurant space at the corner of 23rd & Union.  He had six serious inquiries into the property, but he said five of the six proposals were from large, national chains that wanted 10-20 year leases.  Eisenberg didn’t want to tether the property to one corporate entity when the neighborhood is in transition and there may be opportunities for redevelopment that would better serve the community in the next few years.  So instead he is working with a friend to open a coffee shop and bakery in the space in about two months, which will likely be a welcome addition to the corner. 

Eisenberg also said that he is under the impression that Jim Mueller is committed to getting his mixed use development at 23rd & Union underway in 2011, and that Merle Richlen, the owner of the recently vacated gas station, has repairs and improvements planned and a tenant lined up to move in. We’ll have more from Mueller soon.

Tom Bangasser, who owns MidTown Center, said some of his tenants are planning holiday promotions and he would have more to share about that soon.

While the Central District is fortunate to have some established, successful businesses along Union Street, there is still a lot of work to be done to make it a thriving business district.  In the meantime, some of these local business owners have pulled together to bring a little holiday cheer to the downtrodden intersection with hundreds of LED lights strung on the four corner properties.  And Little says a holiday event is planned for the evening of December 18th, likely on the plaza at MidTown Center – stay tuned for more details on that. 

**EDIT & CORRECTION** Jean Tinnea has notified us that Tinnea & Associates is a tenant in the building near 21st & Union, which is owned by 21 Union, LLC.  The building also houses 20/20 Cycle, Mind & Body, Central Cinema, Reel Grrls and Hollow Earth Radio.  Tinnea & Associates is a corrosion engineering firm.  21 Union, LLC owns one (1) building at 21st & Union that houses the above-referenced tenants.  Thanks for the clarification, Jean!  Sorry for the oversight.

It’s been awhile since we had an update on East Precinct crime as holidays and busy neighborhood blog schedules have conspired to keep this reporter and the precinct brass apart. No longer. Sweet reunion. Thursday night, we’ll be in attendance along with community members for an opportunity to learn about the latest updates in crime prevention in our neighborhoods and to hear what other community members have on their minds in regards to keeping the streets safe. Also on the agenda, a rep from Rebuilding Seattle Together will be on hand to talk about their services helping homeowners do important repairs to improve efficiency and safety. You can learn more on http://www.rtseattle.org/

If you can’t make the meeting, let us know in comments if you have anything on your mind and we’ll try to ask about it at the meeting.

East Precinct Crime Prevention Coalition

Thursday, December 9th, 2010
6:00 PM – 7:30 PM
Seattle Vocational Institute, Room 401

Agenda:
Margie Thirlby, Rebuilding Together Seattle
Community Concerns
Precinct Updates

The Madrona Community Council continued to move forward with a strategic plan for improving its role in and communication with the larger community, starting with appointing three new board members to support the existing council members.

Susan Minogue, Karin Richard and Barney Mansavage accepted nominations to be at-large board members. Mansavage, the VP of Outreach for Madrona K-8, said his position on the board is part of the school’s larger effort to become more integrated into the community.

One of the primary tasks for board members will be outreach and recruitment. Minogue will be heading a communications and technology effort to research improving the existing MCC website and finding the best place and/or for the council to communicate information about events, meetings and agenda items. A longer term goal is finding a community member to be the equivalent of the webmaster for the site.

The council is still without a president, as former president Cynthia Stross stepped down and three vice presidents are running the council on an interim basis until elections in February.

Also discussed was the new programming at the Shelterhouse, which we’ll cover in more detail in a separate post.

The next meeting of the council will be Jan. 4 at 7:15pm.

Today while my truck was parked at the Garfield School someone attempted to steel the spare wheel off the back of the truck. I have Gorilla locks – do not keep the key in the car. They took three bolts off and then realized it was not able to be stolen.

There will be more attention on improving Madrona Elementary and other central Seattle public schools Tuesday night as Parents and school officials will meet Tuesday night to discuss the scores and action plans for improving schools in central Seattle.

Seattle Public Schools recently released individual school report cards to the public for the first time. Tuesday night’s meeting will bring together parents, community members and school officials to talk solutions. Organizers say Nancy Coogan, Seattle school’s central region executive director and local school principals will be in attendance with an agenda including an overview of the region’s School Reports and breakout discussion sessions centered on improvement plans and next steps. Here are the details from the Seattle Council of Parent Teacher Associations:

Seattle Public Schools recently released its annual District Scorecard as well as individual School Reports. These are designed to show the community where Seattle schools are meeting state standards as well as district goals. There are some great successes; there is also a pervasive achievement gap in nearly every school in the district. 

The Seattle Council PTSA is co-sponsoring these meetings to help the greater community understand the challenge and to give community members an opportunity to speak directly to the administrators in charge.

We need your voices there. The first meetings are this Monday, Nov. 29, (NE) and Tuesday, Nov. 30 (SE). Following are a schedule and links to the reports. Each school has an improvement plan, those can be found on page 2 of the School Reports.

Central: Dec. 7, 7-8:30 p.m. at Washington Middle School, 2101 S. Jackson St., Seattle 98144

Central schools include:
Franklin HS, Garfield HS, Nova HS
Secondary Bilingual Orientation Center
McClure MS, Washington MS
Blaine K-8, Madrona K-8
Coe, Gatzert, Hay, Jophn Muir, Lawton, Leschi, Lowell, McGilvra, Montlake, Queen Anne, Stevens, and Thurgood Marshall elementary schools

You can find specific school reports and improvement plans here.

Seattle Schools overview on the reports and these plots of school performance