January / February 2006
Public Events
William Boeing, Eastlake Flyer
From Dog Owner to Dog Owner
Eastlake Community Land Trust
Volunteers Needed for Eastlake's Parks
An Eastlake Original - Jack Lemons 1938-2005
Entering Eastlake - What Should the Signs Look Like?
Jan. 10 Meeting about Design Guidelines and Traffic/Parking
Most Popular Place in Town
Mar 14 Meeting Focuses on Transit & Emergency Preparedness
20% Placement Option at T.O.P.S.
Help Plan Our Future Open Space
Election Candidates In Eastlake
Permeable Surfaces Clean Runoff
Feb 13 Meeting about Impending Land Use Projects
ECC Needs Volunteers & Donations
Membership Information
Advertisers
PUBLIC EVENTS
Tues. Jan. 10,
ECC public meeting 7-9 p.m., TOPS-Seward School, 2500 Franklin Ave. Topics: (1) Neighborhood design review guidelines; and (2) Improving traffic and parking, especially near Seward School. (See article)
Fri. Feb. 3 and Sat. Feb. 4
Open Space Seattle 2100 Charrette, South Lake Union Armory (see article).
Mon., Feb. 13
ECC public meeting on Land Use Projects and Issues. 7-9 p.m., TOPS-Seward School, 2500 Franklin Ave. (See article)
Tues., March 14
ECC public meeting 7-9 p.m., TOPS-Seward School, 2500 Franklin Ave.
Topics: (1) Emergency preparedness; and (2) an Eastlake Avenue Streetcar and possible bus schedule improvements. (See article)
William Boeing, Eastlake Flyer
By Paul G. Spitzer
Many in Eastlake and Seattle say that Boeing began building airplanes on the shores of Lake Union. There is a lot to sort out in this, much of it true.
William Boeing bought the property at the foot of Roanoke Street and there his air operations began. What those were to be in 1915 was quite uncertain even to him. Boeing was a bachelor and extremely wealthy from timber interests he owned. In 1908, the Wright brothers revealed widely that they had built a successful airplane. Aviation was, therefore, still extremely young when in 1910 the American public and Boeing had their first chance to observe flight.
William Boeing’s interest hibernated until he arranged for a joy ride with a local flyer in the summer of 1915. A burst of activity followed in which he took lessons near Los Angeles and brought home a biplane that had pontoons. Lake Union now entered the scene. Within just months Boeing began building a hangar, or “seaplane station” as he sometimes called it, out over the water on the eastern shore at Roanoke Street.
He was involved at the same time in encouraging research by funding a wind tunnel at the University of Washington, pushing for an aviation curriculum there, considering the founding of an airplane company, and organizing what would be the stated beneficiary of the hangar, a flying society called the Aero Club of Northwest. This was a small group of men and women supporting the military development of aviation and hobby flying. Their lakeside facility was to seaplanes what a club house was for yachts.
The Lake Union building’s plans show a big open space for three planes, a machine shop and a changing room for the flyers. On the outside there was almost nothing to indicate its purpose except for the unusually tall and broad doors. Tall, broad doors are what today still reveal the true purpose of the so-called “crew house” on the ship canal near the University of Washington stadium. It too is a hangar and Boeing undoubtedly had a role its construction two years later.
The Lake Union building did not include business offices, engineering bays, or a manufacturing floor. It was not the home of the Boeing Company, but it was the first building he built for aviation purposes. The company offices, in the very earliest days, occupied desks in a downtown building alongside those of the timber business. Boeing also owned a shipyard on the Duwamish River that he did not use. That building, since moved, is now located next to Boeing Field as part of the Museum of Flight which insists the building is the original home of the airplane company.
Nonetheless the Lake Union hangar had an extremely important role in the construction of the first two airplanes, what were called the B&Ws (for Boeing and Westervelt, Boeing’s associate at that time).
While their wooden parts, big and small, were cut out, glued together and covered with fabric at the shipyard, they were not assembled there. The wings, fuselages, tails, pontoons, etc., went by truck to the Aero Club hangar at Lake Union where they were put together. Mechanics also installed the engines and wire rigging holding the biplanes together.
Boeing assembled and flew only the two B&Ws and a very few other planes on Lake Union. The first airplane at the hangar, however, was the airplane he purchased in California. The pilot, Herb Munter, had wrecked it while flying near Madison Park where Boeing had a temporary canvas hangar. When the Lake Union facility became available, Boeing reassembled the plane there. In the winter of 1916 Munter took it out, stalled it again, this time crashing into Lake Union. Forty years afterwards, he proudly assured an interviewer that the hull was still there in the lake. Boeing scrapped the plane and by the summer his B&W design was ready to fly.
The great doors opened and the first B&W rolled down a ramp on a trolley into the water. Because early seaplanes were very unmaneuverable, a crew probably towed it to the south end of the lake. Munter was to make the first flight, but when he didn’t arrive Boeing flew it himself. It was a short, low hop that probably paralleled the east shore. There was almost no one about to witness the event besides the mechanics. Munter arrived at last to make the second and further tests. Within a month the airplane company we today know officially existed and took legal possession of the planes, the shipyard and the Lake Union hangar.
The hangar could not be used for serious manufacturing. It was located about where the gated Roanoke Reef houseboat community is today, but instead of floating, it stood on long pilings. Light construction and limber supports made the building unsuitable for manufacturing. Besides it was small and expansion impossible. Another limitation was that access to it by truck involved backing over a narrow trestle. Even assembling airplanes would be limited to half a dozen per year and all of them had to be seaplanes.
Boeing, therefore, tried to use the place for flying instruction, but students were few. So too were tourists wanting to make sightseeing tours. Although test flights continued, before long the obvious problems of the site caused Boeing to think of expanding elsewhere and even at this early date, ideas were not limited to Seattle. In 1917 America went to war and a large Navy order for fifty training planes brought immediate construction of a plant at the shipyard property on the Duwamish River. At most, the company only assembled a couple of the trainers at Lake Union. It was not long after that the firm decided to lease the Lake Union hangar to others who used it successfully as the terminal for the airmail route to Victoria and, later still, as a facility that serviced small airplanes.
Yes, it is safe to say that the Boeing Airplane Company started in Eastlake on Lake Union—if you remember it’s a claim that needs footnotes.
Paul G. Spitzer, a retired history professor, also formerly was Corporate Historian at Boeing and Curator at the Museum of History and Industry.
From Dog Owner to Dog Owner
by Usch Engelmann
I am sure you can identify what the little artist from T.O.P.S. painted in this piece of art, this motif was on most of the drawings that kids created about the fire drill that day at the school. How did the artist come up with the dog poop theme when the purpose of the drill was learning about fire, safety, and the right thing to do?
Well, the kids did what they were supposed to in a case of emergency, left the building quickly and ran down to the Rogers playfield. But what happended then unfortunately was much more memorable to them than the important fire drill they just practiced. Most of them had stepped in the small and not so small, smelly piles left behind by human’s best friend. It’s not easy to provide a dog with enough exercising opportunity here in the city, so many of us sneak our dogs onto the playfield when there are no kids around and let them run a bit. I admit I am one of them.
I also admit that it’s not always easy to find the “tell-tail” evidence in the dark of night, but you can have your dog go about its business before you take it to the playfield.
Those of you who know me suffer from my constant complaints about the leash law and what a doggie paradise Germany is compared to here. But - one the other hand - sadly we don’t have a poop-the-scoop law over there. The result is called walking over land mines...
The sign says “Dogs are not allowed at play areas or organized athletic fields in Seattle Parks,” and that unfortunately applies whether they are leashed or unleashed. The reasons are public health, and damage to the grass.
Not cleaning up after our dogs is not only extremely inconsiderate, it’s very short-sighted. Non dog-owners in the neighborhood haven’t harrassed us much about our “illegal activities”, but trust me they will if this continues, not only on the playfield but our neighborhood parks also.
My furry housemate Sadie would be devastated, so please scoop the poop!!
Eastlake Community Land Trust
Founded in 1990, ECLT exists to protect the interests of renters and to preserve and reclaim Eastlake’s historic economic diversity. The Land Trust is seeking an apartment property to be operated with permanently affordable rents. In Eastlake’s hot housing market, properties often sell soon after (or even before!) being listed. Thus the Land Trust appreciates the opportunity to make an offer before a property goes on the open market. As ECLT is tax-exempt, the donor of properties can realize significant tax advantages. If you have or know of a candidate property, please contact board member Paul Hanson, paul.kari@mac.com, 971-5610.
Volunteers Needed for Eastlake's Parks
Eastlakers enjoy a growing number of parks—large and small. All of these parks need our love to keep them clean and weeded, and to work with the City on needed improvements Please help out at work parties—or better yet, volunteer to coordinate one yourself. The Parks Department’s maintenance budget has been cut, so even the biggest parks need us. Plus, the City allowed us to build some of our shoreline parks only on the condition that the community maintains them. Parks that need a coordinator include Rogers Playfield (Eastlake’s oldest) and Colonnade Park (Eastlake’s and the City’s newest), Good Turn Park (on Fairview a block south of the University Bridge), and North Gateway Park (under I-5 where Harvard and Eastlake intersect), but all parks need more volunteers. To find out more, or volunteer: cleman@oo.net, (206) 322-5463.
An Eastlake Original: Jack Lemons, 1938-2005
Jack David Lemons succumbed to ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) on December 2, 2005 at Bailey-Boushay House. Born in Marion, Indiana on Feb 1, 1938 and raised as a Quaker, he graduated from Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana with a BA in Biology. He served in the Air Force in Aerospace Medicine during the Vietnam era. After moving to Seattle in the 1970s, he worked as a real estate broker and office manager. Jack also taught gifted students in the Seattle “Schools without Walls” program. Since 1988 he had been the resident manager at the Minor Tower Apartments at 2525 Minor Avenue East.
Jack had a lifelong love for the outdoors and nature. His brother and friends knew him to keep all manner of wild pets. Upon finding an eastern snapping turtle that someone had released in Seattle, he took it back east with him on the plane and he and his brother released it into its native Florida waters. He was an Audubon Society member and a volunteer at the Woodland Park Zoo.
The Eastlake neighborhood is fortunate that Jack’s most longstanding environmental efforts were here, where he was constantly planting native trees, shrubs and ground covers, and also kept them watered. He regularly pruned the quince and roses of the Louisa Arborway. And he fiercely defended the shoreline from overbuilding and pollution, and worked to ensure shoreline public access and fish habitat. In the accompanying photo, he is planting a tree as a part of an Eastlake Community Council work party. .
In the early 70s Jack served as Treasurer of the Seattle Pride Committee shortly after the group formed to sponsor Seattle’s annual Gay Pride Parade. He was a board member of the Seattle Mental Health Institute and volunteered at different times for the Seattle Counseling Service for Sexual Minorities (one of the country’s earliest and oldest such organizations). More recently he recognized his kinship with the Radical Faeries and even from his sickbed served as Chief Financial Officer for the Wolf Creek Land Sanctuary in southern Oregon. As a part of that group, he became strongly influenced by Native American traditions and the native healer Thunder Cloud officiated at his Dec. 10 memorial service.
Jack is survived by his sister Diane Lemons of Atlanta, GA, brother Jerry Lemons, sister-in-law Phyllis, niece Melissa Stafford, nephew Jeffrey Lemons and 3 grand nieces, all residing in Colorado. In addition to his family, Jack has many close friends who mourn his loss. Reminiscences can be found and added on his memorial web site, http://home.comcast.net/~jacksfriends. Jack will be missed by the many whose lives he touched. He asked that remembrances be made to Lambert House (www.lamberthouse.org, P.O. Box 23111, Seattle, WA 98102, 322-2515), which is a safe place for gay/Lesbian youth to develop leadership, social and life skills.
Entering Eastlake — What Should the Sign Say and Look Like?
Eastlake lacks a sign welcoming people to the neighborhood. The signs cost $300 each, and donations may be sent to ECC Sign Fund, 117 E. Louisa St. #1, Seattle 98102. David and Jennifer Versteeg, the donors of the first $5, write, “We suggest that you publish how much has been collected, and how much needs to be collected. Also, for example, if we only need $300 maybe say, ‘If 60 people donated $5, we will have our sign!” OK—the Sign Fund has received a grand total of $5 (and it’s about time that the rest of us start to match David and Jennifer’s donation!!)
Around the city, a lot of the signs are plain and lack illustrations. Can Eastlake’s sign be more distinctive in its words and look? Please write in your suggestions, to Susan Savelle at Bridge Blond Salon, 2373 Eastlake Ave., Seattle 98102 (329-1362) and by e-mail to cleman@oo.net... Paige Stockley writes: “’Welcome to the Lake” would be written on an old fashioned round life preserver. (Large, and wouldn’t have to be a real life preserver but an artistic rendition or sculpture of one). I saw that exact saying down on a houseboat dock. I thought it was so quaint. And really Eastlake is so oriented to the lake, all the views and all the parks and all the boats and houseboats.... It is really what gives us our identity, the lake:”
We’ve gotten some great designs already, and welcome more. But here let’s think about the words, and then we will put some of the possible designs in a future issue. Below are the phrases we have received since the list in the previous Eastlake News.
Welcome to the Lake
Eastlake, the Heart of Seattle
Don’t Honk. We Walk.
Welcome to Eastlake. Enjoy Your Stay.
Welcome to the Eastlake Neighborhood
Welcome Through Eastlake
Eastlake: Get Sidetracked
Eastlake Welcomes You
Eastlake—Where Boeing Began
Eastlake—Boeing ditched us too
Welcome to Eastlake: A Neighborhood Bridge
Welcome to Eastlake, Houseboat Haven
Welcome to Eastlake, Houseboat Heaven
Welcome to Eastlake, Floating Home Paradise
Welcome to Eastlake, Flotilla of Homes
Eastlake: A Lot of Floaters
Eastlake: Stay and Stroll
Stop in and see Eastlake
Eastlake: Neighborhood by the Lake
Head off the Beaten Path to the Eastlake Neighborhood
Eastlake: Neighborhood under and beside I-5
Eastlake Neighborhood: Urban Oasis
Eastlake: Stroll a Neighborhood Oasis!
Eastlake: Stroll and Smile
Eastlake: Make Way for Ducklings (sign in shape of duck)
Jan. 10 Meeting about Design Guidelines and Traffic/Parking
This two-part meeting is Tuesday, Jan. 10, 7-9 p.m. at the TOPS-Seward School library, 2500 Franklin Avenue E. First, discussion of the design guidelines that have emerged from the 1998 Eastlake Neighborhood Plan. Speakers include neighborhood volunteers and the City’s Department of Planning and Development, and topics are protecting views with roof sightlines and roofscapes; encouraging reuse and preservation of existing structures; keeping residential façades to the width and scale of nearby buildings; keeping residential and commercial storefronts in context with the existing scale and character, and ensuring a “country road” feel on Fairview Avenue East between Newton and Fuhrman with “green street” guidelines for street design, pedestrian conditions, and landscaping. Please view the drafts at eastlake.oo.net
The second half of the meeting focuses on opportunities to improve traffic and parking conditions, with a particular focus this time on the area around Seward School. Neighborhood volunteers are needed to work with the TOPS-Seward parents and staff for safer and more sustainable conditions, and to work on other neighborhood traffic and parking issues. To volunteer or make suggestions: Traffic/Parking, c/o ECC, 117 E. Louisa St. #1, Seattle 98102, cleman@oo.net, 322-5463.
Clocks and docks took a beating last year. A tugboat struck the barge of the Lake Washington Rowing Club (just off Fairview Avenue East, south of NOAA). While the barge did not sink, it sustained damage... And a produce truck knocked over the historic sidewalk clock that was in front of the Lake Union Café. Word is that
the dock and clock are being repaired. … Congratulations to Jules and Alex James (Lake Union Mail, 117 E. Louisa St. #1, 329-1468) on Jules’ Sept. 14 marriage to Pandora Eyre (see photo), and welcome to Pandora and her children Isabelle and Ryan Eyre.
Congratulations to State Farm Insurance agent Ezra Teshome. A Seattle P-I article, “Insurance Broker Dons Cape of Global Health Hero,” reports that Teshome’s efforts against polio in his native Ethiopia have been honored by Time Magazine and United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Teshome’s insurance office, now on Capitol Hill, was in Eastlake for many years. … Newly arrived to our neighborhood is an office of the Allstate Insurance Company (2714 Eastlake Ave. E., 568-7556, A007695@allstate.com, www.allstate.com/A007695). Agent Shane Secord offers a wide range of policies for automobiles, boats, homes, and more.
Eastlake was without a pharmacy for nearly fifty years after the I-5 construction closed down the old University Drugs at the corner of Harvard and Eastlake avenues. Now the Union Center Pharmacy is on the fourth floor of the Areis Building (2324 Eastlake Avenue E. #405, 441-9174, www.unioncenterpharmacy.com). It fills prescriptions (usually on a next-day basis), and there is a small section of over-the counter cold and pain relief medications, lotions, and vitamins. Flu shots are available on-site for $25. Hours are 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday to Friday.
The Seattle Weekly recently wrote of 14 Carrot Café (2305 Eastlake Ave., 324-1442): “On the weekends, it’s packed with polite families and young couples, all eyeing to get to the biscuits and gravy or the pancake du jour before they run out. If you don’t get to them in time, find solace in the egg dishes or the French toast.” … We were sorry to lose Porta Greek Taverna to redevelopment, but are glad to hear from Demetri that under the new name of Porta by the Market (info@portabythemarket, 374-1301), the popular business has successfully relocated to 113 Virginia Street, Seattle, a half block west of the Moore Theater and a block and a half east of the Pike Place Market between 1st and 2nd Avenues.
Eastlake Hair (2234 Eastlake Ave. E., Suite C, 328-5570) offers a full line of hair styling and coloring services. … Stylist Sierra Harding has joined Bridge Blond Salon (2373 Eastlake Ave. E., 329-1362). … The critically acclaimed Seattle Baroque Orchestra (2366 Eastlake Ave., 322-3118, www.seattlebaroque.org) has announced its new season: Feb. 9/11/12, “Three Ladies of Ferrara”; March 10/11/12, violin and keyboard recital of Bach and Biber; April 21/22/23, Vivaldi extravaganza. … The Food and Drug Administration has granted to ZymoGenetics (1201 Eastlake Ave.) “orphan” status for its experimental cancer drug, Interleukin 21, earning it a monopoly and tax incentives for this treatment for advanced or aggressive melanoma, a disease that affects about 60,000 people annually.
Designer Fabric Liquidations (3204 Harvard Ave., 721-7981, www.rickbaye.com) was the subject of a positive article in the Seattle P-I business section. Owner Rich Baye sells high-end fabrics at a fraction of their retail price, and he also has a design business. … Seattle Savings Bank (3147 Fairview Ave. E., #100, 219-0814, www.seattlesavingsbank.com) offers savings accounts, certificate and money market accounts, IRAs, loans, ,and other services. … Seattle’s municipal channel 21 is seeking story ideas about inspirational people, the relevant issues, the cultural traditions and rich histories that make up our city’s diverse populations. Contact Shannon Gee, shannon.gee@seattle.gov, 233-3982.
Anchor Bay Charters (www.anchorbaycharters.com) offers its luxury yacht the “Seeker” by the hour, day, or week for corporate events and private parties of up to 40 guests. To book a cruise: Captain Kelvin Dahlgren at 781-0709, Kelvin@anchorbaycharters.com. … Elder Care Accounting provides assistance with bill-paying and taxes, and reconciliation of checking accounts, credit card accounts and investment portfolios. Owner Kim Naranjo (406-2999, korange@seanet.com, www.angelfire.com/oz/eldercareaccounting) is an Eastlake resident and a member of the Washington Society of Certified Public Accountants.
The Floating Homes Association (seattlefloatinghomes.org/store, 325-1132) sells houseboat-themed notecards, blankets, tote bags, shirts, mugs, caps, and a cookbook. … Lee Ann Quinn (laquinn@windermere.com, 448-6000, 323-7383) is an Eastlake houseboat resident who is a Realtor at the nearby Windermere office. … The Tenas Chuck and Log Foundation floating home docks for several years have paid Eastlake Community Council memberships for all of their members. This generous vote of support is deeply appreciated. Please consider a similar donation by your dock, cooperative, or condominium association, of for your own household. As an all-volunteer organization, ECC assures that your dues and donations go far. For questions or a presentation, contact the author of this column, who is also ECC secretary. …
Mention in this column does not imply endorsement by the ECC, writer, or editor. Send your news to Chris Leman (cleman@oo.net) or c/o ECC, 117 E. Louisa St. #1, Seattle 98102.
Mar 14 Meeting Focuses on Transit & Emergency Preparedness
This public meeting (details see page 1) begins with the Seattle Emergency Preparedness Bureau’s advice on how to prepare your block or dock for earthquakes and other disasters. (If you can’t wait to start a disaster preparedness team: barb.graff@seattle.gov or 233-5076.) The second half of the meeting features transit issues, including debate on a City proposal for a streetcar on Eastlake Avenue, and how to implement the Seattle Transit Plan’s priority for some Eastlake stops by all express buses that use Eastlake Avenue. Volunteers are needed to help ECC on transit issues: cleman@oo.net, (206) 322-5463.
20% Placement Option at T.O.P.S.
The following letter was sent to Seattle School board members.
“The Eastlake Community Council wishes to reaffirm our appreciation of the decision of the Board to implement the 20% Placement Option at TOPS for Eastlake and Roanoke Park kindergarteners. This placement compromise, which overcame years of bitterness between the community and the school, has been very well-received in the past year by the community, the TOPS school administrators, and school parents. For those families choosing the school as their first choice for education, it has provided some placement certainty for families who live in the uniquely geographically disadvantaged neighborhoods surrounding TOPS. In addition, the cooperative and mutually supportive relationship that should exist between the school and community has begun to grow again under the 20% Placement Option. For instance: Community members are once again actively involved in — and welcomed by — the TOPS Site Council, and several family members of the new neighborhood children admitted to TOPS this school year are active participants in the TOPS community. The result is the vital enrichment of both the school and neighborhood communities.
As you know, the placement option was agreed to only for the 2005-2006, and we have concerns that this issue will be neglected in light of the multitude of other issues that the Board is striving to resolve. As the current School Board is comprised of the same members who passed this placement option for 2005-2006, we trust that you understand its background and will renew it for the upcoming enrollment year. However, if you have any additional questions, please address them to our TOPS/community liaisons: Michelle Buetow and Linda Furney so that they may provide information from the appropriate parties. We also would be happy to arrange a “coffee and questions” session with Eastlake and Roanoke Park parents of current/potential TOPS students. We believe the community and the Board both benefit from this type of interaction. ...”
School board member Sally Soriano, confirmed in a phone call that that the current assignment plan for TOPS has been extended for next year. She said that the Superintendent’s ‘commission’ is still out gathering information, and will be reporting back in February. Parents in Eastlake who are interested in access to TOPS for their kids should stay tuned for a major revision to the entire Seattle schools assignment plan which will take place for the 06-07 school year.
Help Plan Our Future Open Space
ECC helped members of the landscape architecture profession get City funds for Open Space Seattle 2100, a project to expand and integrate the City’s network of parks and trails. Now the public is invited to participate in a charrette (workshop) at the South Lake Union Armory. At 8 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 3 there is welcome by the Mayor, and then until midnight citizens, UW students, and faculty will ponder and draw. The workshop resumes at 9 a.m. the next day (Saturday, Feb. 4), continuing until 5 p.m. Then all the drawings will be moved to UW’s Gould Hall that evening for a 6- 8 p.m. display and reception.
The best way to participate is to sign up by January 20 and establish your own work group or be assigned to an existing one. The registration forms and schedule are on line at http://www.open2100.org, or by calling 543-9240. It is likely that one of the work groups will focus on possible improvements to Colonnade Park’s connections to downtown, the shoreline, and Capitol Hill (cleman@oo.net or 322-5463).
Election Candidates in Eastlake
by Melissa Ahlers
Nearly two dozen political candidates for local office, from Mayor to Seattle City Council to School Board, defended their positions in Eastlake on October 11th. A standing room only crowd of Eastlake, Portage Bay, Roanoke Park and Floating Home residents filled the library at Seward TOPS to learn about the ballot measures and meet the candidates who were campaigning for their vote this November.
The forum had a lively debate style format, where each candidate and speakers for and against ballot measures had one minute for initial remarks, then one minute each to answer written questions submitted by the audience. The candidates had the opportunity to conclude by posing a question to each other. KIRO radio covered the forum for Mayor Nickels debate with opponent Al Runte.
The evening concluded with a dynamic debate between the proponents and opponents of the monorail.
Jan Carlson, of the FHA, said, “I learned so much and feel that I am now a much better informed voter. Many of the candidates said that [the] forum had the best attendance of any neighborhood gathering they had participated in.”
The audience walked away with a valuable understanding of our city government, the issues they deal with and the importance of our communities’ involvement in building Seattle’s future.
The forum was sponsored by Eastlake Community Council, Eastlake Community Land Trust, Olmsted-Fairview Park Commission, Floating Homes Association, Portage Bay/Roanoke Park Community Council, and Neighborhoods Opposed to Interstate Sound Exposure (NOISE). It takes place each October with Eastlake Community Council’s annual elections. Hope to see you all there next year!
Permeable Surfaces Clean Runoff
Thanks to ECC member Phyllis Hatfield for sending us an interesting article in the November 2005 Seattle Housing Authority News about West Seattle’s High Point public housing project and its recent shift away from piping its runoff to allowing it to percolate. As the article states, “the old drainage system, after collecting dirt and toxic materials from rooftops, streets, sidewalks and parking areas, channeled the water into pipes that drained directly into Longfellow Creek. While the water quickly disappeared from the site, the contaminated run-off polluted and eroded the creek, harming its ecosystem.”
But “the soil is an excellent water purifier. As water enters the ground, plant roots and microorganisms break down and consume most of the harmful chemicals and waste.” Thus the Seattle Housing Authority is in the process of replacing drainage pipes with “planting strips landscaped and shaped to collect rainwater, allowing it to absorb into the ground below. Gravel parking areas and ‘rice krispy’ sidewalks allow rain water to flow into the earth unimpeded.”
While unlikely to match the 120 acres of the High Point project, Eastlake has opportunities to make better use of permeable drainage. Although the City prohibits it, some planting strips have been paved, forcing the runoff into existing sewer pipes or directly into the Lake. Replacing those paved planting strips with earth will reduce the amount of runoff going into the sewer system, and filter it as it slowly reaches the Lake. And the paved parking lot along Fairview Avenue East just south of Roanoke Street has not been draining well. Seattle Public Utilities is exploring the possibility of removing some of the pavement to install plantings and a drain field and a walkway that provides a safe and pleasant walking route between Roanoke and the Louisa street-end park. To get involved in such efforts, contact ECC at cleman@oo.net, 322-5463.
Feb 13 Meeting about Impending Land Use Projects
Eastlake is experiencing more demolitions and redevelopments than in many years. Find out the latest, and what you can do. ECC’s public meeting on Monday, Feb. 13 (7-9 p.m. at the TOPS-Seward School) will feature updates on residential/commercial buildings being planned such as 1520 Eastlake Avenue (just south of Eastlake Veterinary Clinic), 2713 Eastlake Ave. (Daly’s Drive-in and south to Louisa), and 2801 and 2800 Fairview Ave. E. (both sides of Fairview by Wards Cove). The meeting is also a time to share news about other possible redevelopment, such as of the apartments in the 2000 block of Eastlake Avenue (south of the Kim Brooke modeling and talent agency). Projects already permitted by the City and scheduled to break ground soon include 2901 Eastlake Ave. (Bar-Mart) and 2245 Eastlake Ave. (the former Porta/Hines). Volunteers are needed to serve on ECC’s land use committee, and comments on these projects are welcome, to ECC land use, 117 E. Louisa St. #1, Seattle 98102, or kellycoker@thelandmarkgroup.com, 322-5463.
ECC Needs Volunteers & Donations
The Eastlake Community Council builds community and enhances the neighborhood only with your help. We are all-volunteer, so donations of cash, stock, bequests, or real estate will go a long way. We are also looking for a used digital projector to go along with our old Kodak carousel projector. And we need your volunteer effort in any of the following:
(1) Organize an Eastlake auction or a neighborhood-wide day of yard sales.
(2) Weed in parks or organize new tree-planting efforts
(3) Help clean up a street—especially Boylston, which suffers from freeway debris.
(4) Serve on ECC’s land use committee, helping the board review land use proposals
(5) Help make Lynn Street between Boylston and Eastlake avenues safer and more beautiful
(6) Distribute the Eastlake News on your block or nearby
(7) Interview Eastlake pioneers to preserve our irreplaceable history
(8) Help the Eastlake Arts Council organize an arts walk and art shows
(9) With latex and plaster (provided), make a cast at the southwest corner of the University Bridge, of the 1917 plaque dedicating the original name as the Eastlake Avenue Bridge.
(10) Help organize a block or dock watch for crime prevention and disaster prepared ness, or represent the neighborhood at the East Precinct Crime Prevention Coali- tion meetings
Interested? Write to ECC, 117 E. Louisa Street #1, Seattle 98102, cleman@oo.net, or phone 322-5463.
Emergency And Police Numbers
911 Crime, fire, health, or other emergency in progress
684-4071 Harbor Police
684-8763 Illegally parked or abandoned vehicles
684-5740 Investigations of burglary and theft
684-5797 Narcotics investigations
684-0330 Domestic violence
625-5911 Crime problems not requiring an immediate response
684-7717 Advice on setting up a block watch
Community police team: Officer Tyrone Davis 684-4373 or tyrone.davis@seattle.gov
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Quiet Rental Wanted (including separate space in home) wanted as second, part-time residence. (206) 417-0689
Panasonic Fax machine with telephone, works well, model KX-FHD331, $15, (206) 577-7186 (leave message).
WANTED: Your old garden tools. The kids at the Seward School have stewardship projects all around the grounds of the school, but don’t have the gardening tools to complete them. If you have trowels, rakes, gloves, yard waste bags, etc. that would be suitable in a kids hand (from ages 6 – 14) please drop them off at Linda Furney’s house (2350 Minor Ave E.) or call Linda at 206-325-3756.
Eastlake News - a publication by the
Eastlake Community Council
117 E. Louisa Street, #1
Seattle, WA 98102-3278
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