12th Avenue Neighborhood & Business District

Back in May the 12th Avenue Stewardship Committee met with the Parks Department and members of the design team at Hewitt to discuss ideas for the James Court Park. Below are some images from an exercise at that meeting. Community members were given green dots to place on elements that they would like to see in the new park. Red dots indicate elements that people did not want to see in the park.

Hewitt’s presentation from the meeting with more pictures and inspiration for the park can be found below. The next meeting will be Tuesday, July 13th at 5:30pm at the Seattle University Alumni and Admissions building at 12th and Marion. Please join us and share your ideas for the James Court Park!
James Court Park Presentation

The Seattle Parks Department held a meeting last week to discuss plans for the James Court Park on 12th Avenue. Landscape design work will be done by Hewitt and Ellen Sollod, local artist and resident of the 12th Avenue neighborhood.

The 12th Avenue Stewardship Committee sent a letter to the Parks Department last year with a set of recommendations for the park design and these ideas were the basis for discussions at the meeting.

Neighbors at the meeting continued the discussion with these major themes emerging:
- Need to activate the park to keep it lively
- The park should celebrate and be a product of the community
- Despite its small size, the park needs to create a presence on 12th Avenue
- Possible use of play surfacing (the spongy stuff found in playgrounds) in molded sculptural shapes that could provide seating as well as a neat place to play on for kids
- There should be an interactive element at the park — something to get the community engaged with one another (tables for games, stage for performances, regular events, etc.)
- No room for a traditional swingset or other kid-only function
- This is also a chance to create a gathering space for the community and Seattle University students to come together
- The park should be bold and claim the neighborhood
- There should be some landscaping in the park but we are limited in the size so these elements need to be mixed with hard surfaces
- There should be some art element at the park (something interactive, a rotating exhibit, etc.)
- Some sort of artistic lighting feature at night to activate the park (although safety was not a huge concern from the neighborhood)
- The park will be directly across James Court from the new Seattle University student housing project with first floor retail uses. On the other side is WaterTown so there will be lots of people in the area and lots of "eyes on the park".

We are still seeking input and ideas for the park. The next meeting will be Tuesday, July 13th at 5:30pm at the Seattle University Alumni and Admissions building.

If you have comments or ideas in the meantime, please contact Susanne Friedman at the Parks Department at 206-684-0902.

Representatives from King County met with neighbors at the 12th Avenue Stewardship Committee meeting last week to discuss redevelopment plans for the King County Youth Detention Facility at 12th and Alder. Current plans for the site include demolishing and building a new, larger court room facility with structured parking for up to 600 cars. The existing detention facility along Spruce Street will remain. The design team presented three options, which are shown below. These were not intended to be concrete design plans but rather three concepts to show general themes and to generate conversation about what is needed and wanted at the site.

Please see the attached word document below to review the minutes of the meeting and find out more about the plans for the site. Also attached is a document from King County outlining why the current court room facility is being rebuilt. King County welcomes your comments and questions. For more information, please contact their outreach coordinator, Shanon Kearney, at 206-269-0229 ext 112.

Option A

Option B

Option C

May 2010 Meeting Minutes

limitations-of-current-court-facility

There are two important community meetings coming up soon to discuss redevelopment of the Youth Detention Center and planning for a new park on 12th Avenue. Refreshments will be provided.

Tuesday May 11
7:00-9:00pm
Seattle University Alumni & Admissions Building (corner of 12th and Marion)
Representatives from King County and their design team will be holding a meeting to discuss their redevelopment plans for the site near 12th and Alder. This includes demolition of the existing building and constructing a new courtroom facility, adding up to five stories of structured parking, leaving some land for later development, and possible impacts to the open space on the northwest corner of the site.

There will be time at this meeting for questions and small group discussions with King County. We encourage you to attend and share your thoughts.

Tuesday, May 18
5:30pm
Seattle University Alumni & Admissions Building
Parks staff will be hosting a planning meeting for the new park at the corner of 12th Avenue and E James Court. The Parks Department will share information on the project scope and schedule. Please join us and tell us what you want to see in the new park!

One of King County's early design schemes for the redevelopment at the Youth Detention Facility on 12th Avenue

King County is moving forward (again) with redevelopment plans for the Juvenile Detention Facility at 12th and Alder. Basically, the detention facility itself (along Alder) will remain. The existing courtroom and office building near the center of the site needs to be replaced and will be demolished. In its place will be a bigger and better courtroom facility. King County is proposing to move all family court activities to this site which will double the number of courtrooms needed. Their plans also include an elevated parking structure for some 500 cars. The rest of the site will be redeveloped at a later date, probably by a private developer to be mixed-use housing and retail. These plans have not been developed so no partners have been identified.  King County is considering saving the open space on the site, currently located on the northeast corner where the Whale Fin sculpture is currently located.

For more detail on early site layouts, please check out the good pictures over at the CD News . I believe these were taken at the most recent Squire Park Community Council meeting and provide a good background of the potential site layouts.

If you want more information or have feedback, King County will be attending the 12th Avenue Stewardship Committee Meeting at 7pm on May 11th .  The meeting will be held at the Seattle University Alumni & Admissions building at 12th and Marion and all are welcome to attend.

future location of james court gathering place park

There are a couple of great meetings coming up soon in the 12th Avenue and Squire Park neighborhoods. Please come out and get engaged in what is happening in your community…

The monthly meeting of the 12th Ave Stewardship Committee is next Tuesday, April 13 at 5:30 P.M. at 824 12th Avenue (Seattle U. A. and A. bldg.) All who have a stake in or who are interested in the neighborhood are encouraged to attend. Refreshments will be served. Agenda will include:

• Seattle Parks Dept. regarding planning for new park (12th Avenue Gathering Place, pic above) at 12th and James Ct. and search for new additional new park space.

• Seattle Housing Authority on plans to expand Yesler Terrace, including possibility of expanding to 14th Avenue.

• Lorig Associates which is requesting a contract rezone for a new mixed-use development at Jefferson and Broadway.

• Transportation issues update: SDOT and the Mayor have recommended the two-way Broadway alignment for the First Hill streetcar. Interest in extending route on Broadway to Aloha? What are next steps for 12th Avenue?

We also want to advertise the upcoming Squire Park Community Council meeting ,  Saturday, April 10th 10am-Noon at 722 18th Ave (CAMP) . The agenda includes great topics and live music!

• Welcome, refreshments, and one Honkfest band: Bakra Bata (Caribbean).

• Kay Smith-Blum Seattle School Board Director: a conversation about community concerns and ideas regarding our neighborhood schools.

• King County Youth Detention Center development: Update on current status and next steps by representatives of King County and the development team.

• The Brass Messengers will lead the crowd at the end of the meeting to Honkfest! at Washington Hall.

Where do you think a new park should be located? Plans are still moving forward for the 12th Avenue Gathering Place at 12th and E James Court. However, the Parks Department has money for new park acquisition so the neighborhood is trying to identify possible sites. Please check out the links below for pictures of sites we have in mind and where they are on a map. If you have other ideas, please leave a comment!

Pictures of Potential Park Locations

Map of Potential Park Locations

With SDOT starting their meetings about the incoming streetcar project this week there is a bunch of GREAT information and debate going on about the alignments being considered. Below we have consolidated these discussions into a list, for quick review. Check them out!

The most recent Stranger article on the "Streetcar Smackdown".

An examination of of bus service around and near the alignments on CD News .

A case against the Broadway-12th Couplet on the Seattle Transit Blog .

A post on CD News that references the lost First Hill Link Light Rail Station and its Overlay Boundaries. Original overlay map here .

A discussion of the 11th Avenue Couplet (on the north end of all three alignments) on the Seattle Transit Blog .

A poll to vote on which alignment you prefer and coverage of the first forum on Capitol Hill Seattle .

A wonderful set of maps created by the Stranger .

A less wonderful set of maps created by SDOT !

SDOT has finally announced the public forums on the First Hill Streetcar line, due to complete construction and start running by 2013. There will be three meetings this week and at each SDOT will present the alignments being considered and general information about the project. Alignment alternatives can be found here.

There is an alignment on the table that includes 12th Avenue, commonly referred to as the Broadway-12th Ave Couplet.  This alignment is compelling for a variety of reasons, including speed of service, ability to catalyze neighborhood commercial development on 12th and consistency with the intent of the lost light rail station, which was planned for Madison, just west of Broadway.

Regardless of which alignment you support, please come out to learn about this project and how it might impact your community!

First Hill Streetcar Forums

Tuesday, December 15th 6-8pm - Seattle Central Community College

Wednesday, December 16th 6-8pm - Yesler Terrace Community Center

Thursday, December 17th 6-8pm - Union Station

Spirit of Our Youth sculpture on the KC Youth Services Center Site (corner of 14th & Remington)

Please join us next Tuesday night for the 12th Avenue Neighborhood Meeting. The meeting will be at the Seattle University Admissions and Alumni Building at the corner of 12th and Marion.  Drinks and snacks will be provided.  Here is the agenda: