(Photo courtesy of Society of Friends of St. Patrick, via their Facebook page).

The most interesting twist to the story is, however, that the anonymous do-gooders behind the shillelagh’s safe return turned out to be the Seafair Pirates, who produced both the missing artifact and the alleged culprit.

“The Seafair Pirates produced both the shillelagh and a clown – who evidently was the culprit.  I’m told it may have been a Seafair Clown.  The clown was “cuffed” and hauled off in what looked like an unmarked police car,” McQuaid wrote to us earlier today.

McQuaid had offered up a $5,000 reward for the return of the shillelagh, but he said the Seafair Pirates, acting quite the opposite to what their title implies, “respectfully declined to accept” the check.

“I was successfully duped by a clown and Seattle’s St. Patrick’s Day celebration and parade were saved by the Seafair Pirates.  I still have no idea how the clown got into my car.  I do know that we have a Seafair clown on our committee,” McQuaid wrote.

On Saturday evening after the parade McQuaid, as outgoing president of the Society of the Friends of St. Patrick, passed the century-and-half-year-old shillelagh, thought to be the oldest of its kind in the Pacific Northwest, on to new president Bob Larkin, continuing a 70-year-old tradition.

So there you have it. The St. Patty’s Day parade was saved. A 70-year-old tradition was continued. The 151-year-old shillelagh has been returned to its rightful owners. All thanks to the Seafair Pirates.

The private carnival ride and games concessionaire, Fun Forest Amusements LLC, has leased the two parcels of land at the Center since 1963. In the fall the rest of their lease will undergo termination, and the remaining rides, those located southeast of the Center House, will also be removed.

In the meantime, the Center has been searching for new projects and programming to incorporate into the space as part of the Century 21 Master Plan, a $570 million, 20-year investment in the revitalization of Seattle Center in celebration of the 1962 World’s Fair for which it was originally built.

(Image by Studio 216 for Owen Richards Architects, courtesy of both).

The Center asked the community for proposals, and has also received a project plan for a 44,000 square foot “glass house” for a permanent Dale Chihuly exhibit. The Center is looking for an exhibit that draws crowds to the campus and emphasizes community engagement. In a press release today the Center clarified its goal:

The Seattle Center Century 21 Master Plan, which sets the framework for future development on the campus, calls for campus design that draws visitors to the center of the grounds and emphasizes flexibility, vibrancy and artistic expression. While the plan was adopted by the Seattle City Council in 2008, it lacks the necessary public funding, and so Seattle Center must consider interim activities and amenities to fill the vacated areas.

The Center would like community input on the proposed projects, and will be hosting a public meeting on potential future uses for the former Fun Forest space at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 30 in the Center House Conference Room A. Those interested are invited to participant and will have an opportunity for public comment.

Please join Seattle Center to learn more about potential future uses of the former Fun Forest areas and share your thoughts and ideas on creating engaging activities and amenities that fulfill the mission of Seattle Center to “delight and inspire the human spirit in each individual and bring together our rich and varied community.”

Those who would like to submit comments before the meeting, may email sc.customerservice@seattle.gov or write to Seattle Center, c/o Customer Service, 305 Harrison Street, Seattle, WA  98109.

My boyfriend went out to go to work today and found his trunk open, the inside of the car all disheveled and the ignition looked like it had been messed with. Luckily they only got away with headphones.

If anyone remembers seeing anything suspicious in the area that could have been related to this break-in, please write in the comments below.

Power was returned to most affected within 30 minutes of the outage, and crews were able to restore service to all remaining buildings by 1:30 p.m. this afternoon. According to City Light,

The cause of the outage was a failed cable splice. Crews routed power around the bad section to restore power and will work on replacing the bad section of cable over the next several days.

The hangers will provide information on hunger in the community and ask for those who can to leave donations of food and toiletries on their porches by 10 a.m. next Saturday, March 20, when the scouts will come back to collect, weight and deliver them to the Queen Anne Helpline and Ballard Food Bank.

“In 2009 the food drive brought in over 600 pounds of donations. Our goal this year is to exceed 1,000 pounds of donations,” wrote scout parent and 2010 Scouting for Food campaign co-chair Mary Chapman. “The Queen Anne Helpline and Ballard Food Bank are especially in need this year to help hundreds of local households make ends meet as a result of the current economic situation.”

(Thanks to Mary for the tip and the picture!)

As part of a 30-city comedy extravaganza, “The Legally Prohibited From Being Funny On Television Tour” is being described on Conan’s website as “a night of music, comedy, hugging and the occasional awkward silence.” Conan announced the tour on Thursday, March 11, after which his Seattle date (April 18) sold out almost immediately. He then announced a second Seattle date (April 19), and tickets are going fast.

If you manage to get tickets, lucky you! If not, maybe we’ll get a Coco sighting? Here’s hoping…

(Photo courtesy of Society of Friends of St. Patrick, via their Facebook page).

McQuaid can be seen holding the shillelagh, which is passed down to each society president every year, in the picture above. Although he says he didn’t speak to the anonymous tipster directly, he’s counting on them to show up.

“That’s where they’ve agreed to hand it off,” he said. “They said they would be there, so I’m just taking it on faith for now. Let’s see if they show up.”

The location was a strategic choice on the part of whoever will be returning the shillelagh, as it is the starting point for the Laying of the Green Stripe, the route for tomorrow’s St. Patrick’s Day parade.

McQuaid, along with the other green stripe layers, will be there to receive the shillelagh. “I’m on watch. I need it back,” Mike said. “I just want it back so I can pass it along to my successor.”

The shillelagh went missing sometime between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning when it was taken out of his SUV, which was parked outside his Queen Anne home overnight. McQuaid still isn’t sure if the disappearance was a prank or the result of a car prowl.

“That’s what’s odd about this. The car was unlocked Wednesday morning,” he said. “The car was unlocked and there weren’t any broken windows; the glove box wasn’t in disarray…normally I lock the car with the electronic lock on my keyring, and I was in a hurry which leads me to believe that maybe I didn’t hit the thing just right. Anyways, the next morning is was gone.”

McQuaid said he hasn’t filed a police report and doesn’t plan on doing so. “I was on the verge of filing a police report and then I got the message Thursday night,” he said. “All we care about it that we get it back.”

In fact, McQuaid is so concerned with getting the priceless shillelagh back, that he said he’s ready to offer a substantial reward for its return. “It’s a 5,000 reward and I’m prepared to offer it.”

But most importantly, he said, “The parade will go on.”

(Image by Studio 216 for Owen Richards Architects, courtesy of both).

However, according to a report by our news partner, the Seattle Times, after receiving project ideas for the space that left the Center “disappointed,” they decided to consider a proposal to build a 44,000-square-foot “glass house” that would house artist Dale Chihuly’s work. Many consider this proposed project an “extraordinary opportunity” for the Center. From the Times,

The Wright family, which built and owns the Space Needle, on Tuesday described a partnership with Chihuly and Seattle that could attract more than 1,000 visitors a day if the city will lease about an acre of land for what would be a $15 million tribute to the glass artist.

If built, a Chihuly spokeswoman said, the new “glass house” would be filled with at least $50 million worth of Chihuly art.

The 44,000 square feet of land directly below the Space Needle slotted for the project includes 3,800 square feet of indoor “glass house” exhibit space, outdoor public gardens and a plaza, as well as a café and bookstore/retail space.

Mayor Mike McGinn has voiced his support for the project’s consideration, noting that it could be a valuable revenue generator for the Center, which funds 67 percent of its own budget without assistance. However, others are concerned that the proposal takes away from the original plan for the space, which was intended to be a more open, multi-use, outdoor arena that would be open to the public free of charge. From the Times,

“There’s good intentions all around, but we need to decide, is this what we want to do with our public property?” said City Councilmember Sally Bagshaw, who chairs the council’s Parks and Seattle Center Committee. “We’re taking green, open space and closing it off in a very walled fashion, and people can only enter into that if they can pay. My hope and dream would be to make the Seattle Center Seattle’s ‘Central Park,’ and the more green space we give away, the less we’re going to have a Central Park.”

If the Center goes through with the proposal, Space Needle CEO Ron Sevart told the Times he hopes that construction would begin on the Chihuly space when the lease for the Fun Forest expires in September.

The project could open in the spring of 2011, in time for the 50th anniversary of the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair at the Center. Sevart said he didn’t know what admission would cost but said it might be in the $12 to $14 range.

This is not the only big change proposed at Seattle Center. Much discussion has circulated around a deal between the city and Seattle Public Schools concerning the ownership of Memorial Stadium.

The new deal would give ownership of the stadium over to the city, which would then rebuilt it into a “green, integrated, multi-functional space that provides for year-round community and school activities” to be shared between the School District and Seattle Center. In exchange, the city would give the school district preferential use of the new, smaller amphitheater and hand over ownership of an adjacent existing plot of land (currently being used as a parking garage). Read more on that deal here and here. Read background on the Fun Forest replacement project here. See the full Seattle Times story on the proposed Chihuly exhibit space here.

What do you think Queen Anne? Would you like to see a 44,000-square-foot “glass house”, equiped with gardens, a plaza and a 3,800-square-foot exhibit of masterful (some would say) glass creations, or would you prefer an admission-free open space? Share your thoughts and ideas in the comments below.