Interested in checking out one of Seattle Center‘s landmark spaces? Then swing by McCaw Hall from noon until 1:30 tomorrow, Tuesday, November 16 for a free tour.
The Marion Oliver McCaw Hall was completed in 2003, when it became the third reincarnation of a performance hall on the site at Seattle Center since the city’s first civic auditorium was built in 1928. The building, which was fully renovated for the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair, is home to the Pacific Northwest Ballet and Seattle Opera. The Seattle International Film Festival also uses the facility for its year-round film series.
“Tours will bring visitors through the auditoriums, lobbies and amenity spaces that contribute to the ambiance and grandeur of the facility and give them a glimpse of the backstage and the state-of-the-art production technology of the Hall. The tours will highlight the extensive art collection housed in the building, review the dynamic history of the Hall and point out the many environmentally sustainable design features of this world-class venue,” says Seattle Center director of communications Deborah Daoust.
The tours are offered the third Tuesday of each month from noon to 1:30 p.m., however this will be the last tour of the 2010 year. Tours will pick back up again in January. Tour size is limited to 25 people on a first-come, first-served basis. To register, call the McCaw Hall administrative office at 206 733-9725.
As part of its work to rebuild the electrical system at Seattle Center, Seattle City Light has planned a six-hour power outage tomorrow, Tuesday, November 16, from 12:01 a.m. to 6 a.m.
During this outage, Seattle City Light underground crews will be pulling out old cable and performing critical maintenance work on some of the automated switches.
The area affected by the outage will be between Mercer Street on the north, Denny Way on the south, 5th Avenue on the east and 1st Avenue on the west. City Light says all customers who will be affected by the planned outage should have been notified already.
City Light also says this should be the last planned outage for Seattle Center and the surrounding area for the rest of the year, though additional outages will be required in 2011 as the city continues with its systematic replacement of the aging electrical system serving Seattle Center and Lower Queen Anne.
Seattle City Light recently revamped its website, adding new functionalities, including more information about power outages.
City Light’s Outage Management System displays a map of Seattle with the total number of power outages and customers affected at the top of the page. Click on a pinpoint of a particular outage on the map and see the number of customers affected, the cause, and the estimated time to restore service.
You may be asking, “What good will this do if my power is out?” Well, your power may be out, but you may have a friend or family member whose power is not out. This resource will give them the ability to relay information to you. OMS information can also be accessed via smart phone or you can take a laptop computer to a Wi-Fi hotspot to access information to find out when your power will return.
Coming in February, the second phase of OMS is slated to go live, offering more options such as automated callbacks to notify customers when power is restored and a “predictions” engine to enhance estimates for service restoration.
Given the number of power outages we had in Queen Anne around this time last year, this new service could come in handy for many in the neighborhood.
Major transportation changes are heading to SR 99 as the deep-bored tunnel option to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct moves forward.
Late last month, the Federal Highway Administration, Washington State Department of Transportation and the City of Seattle released its Supplement Draft Environmental Impact Statement (.pdf), which analyzes the bored tunnel alternative, the preferred option for replacing the Viaduct. The SDEIS report outlines the project’s effects on transportation and the environment.
At the most recent Ballard District Council meeting WSDOT representative Mike Rigsby outlined the project for the community. Read the full story at our sister site, MyBallard.
Since the deep-bored tunnel will affect Queen Anne, Magnolia, Ballard, and other north Seattle neighborhoods, we thought we’d keep you abreast of upcoming community meetings regarding the project. This coming Wednesday from 6 to 8 p.m., there will be a hearing at Ballard High School, located at 1418 NW 65th St., to discuss the entire project and the SDEIS. The meeting will be open-house style with display boards and staff to answer questions. Attendees will be able to leave make comments. Until then, read more about the project at MyBallard.com.
(Full disclosure: The Federal Highway Administration, Washington State Department of Transportation and the City of Seattle are sponsors of NextDoorMedia, which owns QueenAnneView and sister site MyBallard.)
Residents who battled to keep the Queen Anne Community Center gym open have finally won. Today, the City Council voted 8-1 in favor of a plan to keep the gym open and add back 15 hours of drop-in time each week at the center.
Queen Anne Community Center gym
Councilmembers went against the mayor’s proposed budget that called for the gym to be closed and rented out as a production studio. That planned rental agreement later fell apart.
Councilman Tom Rasmussen voted against the measure as a whole since he opposed turning some space at other community centers into offices for Parks staff.
While we don’t know many details on what exactly is coming to 2 Boston Street, or when it will be opening, this week a new business called La Luna applied for a liquor license for the space with the Washington State Liquor Control Board.
We haven’t yet been able to reach the owners of La Luna to ask what exactly their restaurant will entail, but the application specifies the sale of beer, wine, and spirits in a restaurant/lounge, so that gives us some idea of what’s to come. We’ll keep you posted as we find out more.
The concern over possible changes to airspace over Magnolia and parts of Queen Anne is growing with the public meeting for residents to meet with the FAA in just a week. We wanted to provide additional information for residents prior to the meeting.
Hosted by the Magnolia Community Club (MCC), the meeting will provide information about the change to Class B airspace over Magnolia, west Queen Anne, and south Ballard. The meeting is is at 7 p.m. on Thursday, November 18 at Catharine Blaine School cafeteria.
The MCC says that the FAA’s proposal would increase the number of inbound aircraft over this area and lower their altitude to 2000 feet. This would mean a change to the primary instrument approach into Boeing Field resulting in aircraft over Magnolia below 2000 feet altitude, all the way down to 1600 feet altitude – a drop of 600 feet from the current crossing altitude.
Robert Bismuth from the MCC says that if implemented, the changes would cause a major impact in Magnolia and west Queen Anne with an increase in noise and pollution.
The FAA has scheduled three public meetings in December to gather input on its proposal, but not in the affected areas. One is scheduled to take place in Everett, one in Burien and one in Auburn. That is why the MCC has scheduled the public meeting in Magnolia.
The FAA, SeaTac’s management and Boeing Field’s management have all agreed to attend the meeting. The FAA has been asked to present its case for the proposal and to take community feedback.
A briefing sheet and contact information is available at the MCC website.
It’s the question that always spurs heated conversation. Is graffiti vandalism or art? A recent survey showed Seattle residents are almost evenly divided on the issue. Now, there’s a push to start a photo database to track graffiti and amend the city’s municipal code to include stickers.
With the help of the nonprofit Common Language Project and communications students at the University of Washington, we take a closer look at the graffiti issue through the eyes of the people tracking it, cleaning it up, and making it.
Today is Veterans Day, a national holiday to honor the men and women who have served our country.
Many public organizations will be closed around town for the day in honor of veterans lost. The Metro bus service will be on a reduced service schedule, and there will be no service to the University of Washington.
The following businesses and organizations are closed today:
Banks
Post offices (and no mail delivery)
Seattle Public Library branches
Seattle Parks and Recreation facilities
Most government offices
Schools
Parking is free (you don’t have to pay to park on city streets that are metered today)
There are also several businesses around town celebrating Veterans Day by offering special deals and freebies to both retired and active military members and their families. Take a look at the list we’ve compiled of deals going on in Queen Anne and around it:
It appears the Seattle City Council may save the Queen Anne Community Center gym. During budget discussions this morning, council staff members presented a plan that would keep the gym open next year. The gym would be available 30 hours a week during drop-in time, and would also be open to the extent that people pay registration fees for basketball lessons and for facility rentals.
Queen Anne Community Center gym
The staff proposal would add back 15 hours of drop-in time to the community center as a whole on top of the 15 hours proposed by the mayor. The City Council must still approve the changes when it votes on the budget later this month.
Mayor McGinn had proposed closing the QA gym next year and turning it into television studio space. That plan fell apart after producers of the television show for children decided to back out in the wake of community opposition.
Some Seattle Parks and Recreation facilities will be closed on Friday and next Monday as part of the furlough program to fill the budget gap.
All Parks facilities and offices will also be closed on Thursday for Veterans’ Day.
Friday’s closures:
Grounds maintenance
Community centers (except child care and late night programs, which will still operate)
Swimming pools
Environmental Learning Centers
Lifelong Recreation (except Food and Fitness programs, which will still operate)
Business Service Center
Monday’s closures:
Administrative offices (communications, correspondence, Park Board support, web management, public outreach, human resources, finance and administration)
This Veterans Day, Brown Bear Car Wash is offering free “Bear Essential” car washes for veterans, active members of the military and spouses who have loved ones currently deployed. “Our organization is proud to honor veterans and service personnel,” said Brown Bear president and founder Vic Odermat, himself a Marine Corps veteran. “While the washes are free, we know that freedom is not. This is a way for us to show our support and gives us a unique opportunity to say ‘thank you’ to people who sacrifice for our freedom.”
The free car wash offer will operate on an honor system. No verification or documentation is required. Drivers just need to identify themselves to the attendant as a current or former member of the military or a spouse whose loved one is deployed.
There are many Brown Bear outposts, but those closest to Queen Anne include the ones at 1800 15th Ave W, and 3435 15th Ave W.
When Seattle Public Schools released a new ranking of all schools in the district this morning, two of the top 12 ended up being right here in the neighborhood. John Hay Elementary and Coe Elementary both received the highest ranking of 5. That ranking means a high number of students pass state tests and that their test scores are improving. The rankings also reflect how students, staff, and family members feel about the school’s atmosphere. You can take a closer look at the rankings here.
While the Queen Anne Farmers Market is closed for the season, that doesn’t mean Queen Anne-ers will have to go back to buying their produce at other neighborhood markets, or (gasp) the grocery store. Enter the FarmBoat, the newest addition to Seattle’s farmers market scene.
With the goal of re-kindling Puget Sound’s historic maritime delivery routes, the FarmBoat folks set off to build a year-round “transient floating farmers market fleet that visits public docks in many Puget Sound waterfront communities selling fresh produce and other local products right off the boat just as it was a century ago.” From the FarmBoat website:
This is how farm goods were sold in port communities a century ago. It was more than just sustainable. People flourished here and the Northwest became what it is today. FarmBoat is about turning the clocks back and sharing a traditional and colorful maritime heritage. Back to a time when fruits and vegetables where picked at the peak of perfection and transported over the cool waters of Puget Sound to the cupboards of northwest families.
Small family farms still exist among the islands and near port towns all throughout the Puget Sound region. We connect growers and producers with consumers in a venue that is enjoyable, educational, conducive and commensurate with the superior quality of their products.
FarmBoat’s winter floating market is kicking off this Thursday, November 11, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. aboard Seattle’s historic steamship “Virginia V” docked at Lake Union Park, 860 Terry Ave N. (moored at the park’s Historic Boat Wharf), and will continue every Thursday through December 23, (except for Thanksgiving).
Check out the FarmBoat’s list of vendors here. Interested in signing up for a CSA (community supported agriculture) produce delivery? The FarmBoat has one of those too—check out the CSA program here.
While FarmBoat is just getting its start, it has some pretty ambitious plans. Take a look at the market’s proposed delivery routes, which it plans to use to facilitate trade across the Puget Sound region, from Bellingham, to the San Juan Islands, and all the way down to Olympia. Happy farmers marketing!
If Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn has his way, it appears that Nickelsville and other homeless tent camps around the city will find a permanent home in South Seattle instead of Interbay and Magnolia. Tonight, Mayor McGinn wrote on his blog that he wants the former Sunny Jim peanut butter factory in SODO at Airport Way and S. Snoqualmie Street to become the site of a permanent homeless encampment on city owned land.
Nickelsville camp currently in the U-District
The Nickelsville camp that spent the past three months in the U-District is scheduled to move out on November 15. Potential sites for a permanent camp included a location under the Magnolia Bridge next to the playfield (1451 23rd Ave W) and the Interbay substation at 3222 17th Ave W. But Mayor McGinn plans to hold a community meeting in SODO in support of his favored location in the next few weeks.
The Federal Aviation Administration is proposing to lower the altitude of aircraft flying over Magnolia, which could have an impact on Queen Anne.
The Magnolia Community Club has invited the FAA, Boeing Field and SeaTac management to a public meeting to discuss the proposal, which they say means a potential increase in danger, noise and pollution for Queen Anne, Magnolia and Ballard. The meeting is November 18, at 7 p.m. in the Catharine Blaine School Cafeteria at 2550 34th Avenue West — next to the Magnolia Community Center.
Robert Bismuth from the MCC provides his assessment of the FAA proposal. “This would lower the floor of the airspace from 3000 to 2000 feet over all of Magnolia and potentially parts of south Ballard and West Queen Anne. This is a substantial change and would allow traffic landing to the south at SeaTac to be over Magnolia at altitudes down to 2000 feet. In the past such traffic typically turns from the west much further north and at about 6000 feet and above.
In addition from a safety point of view this proposal reduces the airspace available for non-SeaTac bound traffic as well – compressing that traffic (typically headed into/out of Boeing Field and Lake Union) into a channel from 1500 to 1999 feet high.
It also interferes with the preferred instrument approach into Boeing Field. That approach currently has a vectoring altitude of 2200 feet prior to intercepting the glide slope for descent into Boeing Field. This is typically the altitude at which we see all the large aircraft cross Magnolia. In order to keep that traffic out of the FAA’s revised Class B airspace they are also revising the ILS and lowering the approach over Magnolia by approximately 400 to 600 feet with additional requirements on the aircraft making that approach.
Using a standard formula for the impact of noise based on the distance from the source, a drop of 400 to 600 feet in altitude roughly doubles the apparent loudness of an aircraft passing overhead assuming the same= power settings and configuration of the aircraft.
We learned earlier this week that that FAA in fact are planning on putting the revised ILS approach to Boeing Field into use in late November. This was a surprise to a lot of people – in fact not even the management of Boeing Field were told of this approach change in advance. We also do not believe there has been any adequate period or opportunity for public comment.
In addition to failing to provide adequate notification and comment period for the change to the ILS, the FAA has also decided to hold the initial public meetings on the proposed revision to the Class B airspace in Everett, Burien and Auburn – communities that will suffer no major impact from the proposed changes.
The Swedish Ballard campus is opening its brand new emergency facility, at 5350 Tallman Ave NW, at 7 a.m. tomorrow, Tuesday, November 9. But before the doors officially open to patients, the public can get a sneak peak, online tour of the building.
The main entrance of the new Swedish Ballard facility
If you’re in the military or have served in the military, Dick’s would like to give you a free burger on Veterans Day, Nov. 11.
From the Dick’s press release:
Beginning at 10:30 a.m. until closing on Veterans Day, all veterans and active duty military members who can show any form of military identification or wear their military uniform will receive a free hamburger or cheeseburger at all five Dick’s Drive-In Restaurants in Wallingford, Broadway, Holman Road, Lake City, and Queen Anne.Dick’s Drive-In Restaurants, Inc. announced today free hamburgers and cheeseburgers in honor of Veterans Day, Thursday, Nov. 11. Free burgers will be served throughout the day at all five Dick’s Drive-In Restaurants to any veteran or active military member as a way to honor past and present military service.
Dick Spady, co-founder and president of Dick’s Drive-In Restaurants, is also a veteran of two wars and Dick’s Drive-Ins supports the local USO at Sea-Tac Airport and Joint Base Lewis McChord. “I served in the Navy in World War II, the Air Force during the Korean War, and my wife was in the Navy when we met. We both share a deep respect and admiration for our fellow veterans and active military members. They deserve our recognition and gratitude,” Spady says.
Swing by Easy Street Records in Lower Queen Anne at 6 p.m. tonight to catch Aloe Blacc’s free, live performance.
From Easy Street:
If you’re into the classic soul stylings of Marvin Gaye, Bill Withers, Curtis Mayfield – and who isn’t? – then you are bound to fall all over Mr. Blacc and his sharp white suit.
Aloe Blacc will be performing songs off his new album, Good Things.
See ratings and reviews of
If you’re in the military or have served in the military, Dick’s would like to give you a free burger on Veterans Day, Nov. 11.