Because of budget cuts, Seattle Parks and Recreation will have to cut back the number of wading pools that are open this summer. So Parks is looking for “partners” to help fund some wading pools.

Seattle Parks currently has 25 wading pools, but 10 will close because of budget problems. (However, three of those are being converted to water spray parks, which don’t require staffing.) That leaves five wading pools that will be open seven days a week, and another 10 open three days a week.

Parks hopes to expand the schedule to increase family recreational opportunities in a way that is economically and geographically equitable. Some communities may be more organized or have different access to funding sources, so Parks would pair wading pools as a way to ensure balanced and equal recreational opportunities across our city. Under this partnership, Parks would keep the wading pool open one additional day each week in the neighborhood from which the funds came, and Parks would select a second site that the contribution would fund as well.

Opportunities include:

· Sponsoring two wading pools one day per week through the summer at a cost of $8,800

· Sponsoring two wading pools for three days per week during the last two weeks of summer at a cost of $6,600

· Sponsoring a one day wading pool operation for a special event at a cost of $650

· Receiving recognition on the Seattle Parks and Recreation website

· Sponsoring an unfunded wading pool three days per week through the summer

For more information, or for organizations interested in a partnership with Parks and Recreation to provide more access to wading pools this summer, please contact Bill Dougherty, 206-684-7185, bill.dougherty@seattle.gov, or Kathy Whitman, 206-684-7099, kathy.whitman@seattle.gov, no later than May 1, 2011.

By Amy Duncan of MyGreenLake.com,

The 2011 City of Seattle budget was hard on the Department of Parks and Recreation. Several community centers were hit with cuts, including the Queen Anne Community Center.

As a result, Parks and Recreation has been asked by the City Council to re-think how community centers operate. This process will include public meetings to discuss with the community ideas for how centers can be run differently. The first public meeting will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011 at Miller Community Center (330 19th Ave E), from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.

“Seattle Parks and Recreation operates 26 community centers,” reads a press release from Parks about the community meeting. ”The cost to run the centers far exceeds revenue brought in from center programs. Because of the current difficult budget situation, the department is exploring alternatives that would offer continued services for the public, while reducing costs. New methods of management, staffing, fundraising and partnerships will be explored.”

At the Feb. 2 meeting, Parks staff will ask attendees to share ideas and concerns regarding community center operations. In the spring, an additional public meeting will be held to discuss specific options.

The driver didn’t make another attempt to climb the hill, indicating that conditions are already too slick for larger vehicles to safely traverse.

The weather report originally estimated that Seattle could see anywhere from 1 to 3 inches of snow today, but as the snowfall presses on, UW atmospheric scientist Cliff Mass says even more snow—in large amounts—is a possibility this afternoon. From Cliff’s blog:

If the low goes south of us and draws some of that cold, unstable air in…and it meets the cold stream from the north, we are talking about serious snow (6-12 inches). Or if the low moves farther north we could get a Puget Sound convergence zone over the central Sound and a huge amount of snow in a narrow band (a la Dec 18, 1990). The system is moving slower than the models predicted and the real threat is the middle and latter parts of this afternoon.

While many of the roads in Queen Anne are still clear, ice is stacking up. There have already been a handful of crashes on the Aurora Bridge today, and conditions are increasingly worse as the day goes on.

Seattle Public Schools also decided that the forecast for snow, the majority of which is expected to fall this afternoon, was enough to release all schools in the district at 12:35 p.m today (originally only the middle and high schools were given a half day).

Seattle Parks and Recreation has also closed down a number of facilities due to the snow. Here are the closures affecting Queen Anne:

• All community center programs scheduled after 6 p.m. are canceled.
• All pool programs scheduled after 6 p.m. are canceled.
• Pools and community centers will be open for drop-in use until their regularly scheduled closing times: http://www.seattle.gov/parks/centers.asp and http://www.seattle.gov/parks/pools.asp.
• All athletic fields are closed.
• All evening recreation programs are canceled.
• Parks and Recreation’s middle-school learning centers are closed.
• Late night programs will not take place tonight.
• Golf courses are closed but not open for sledding because there is not enough snow.

School age care camps at the Queen Anne Community Center are still in session.

The proposed partnership was part of Mayor Mike McGinn’s 2011 budget. Parks and Recreation says the deal would have “expended revenue to continue Parks and Recreation programs, and expand financial literacy for children in the Queen Anne neighborhood and throughout the City.”

Since the plan was first announced last month, many in the community have publicly opposed the deal attending budget meetings, rallying for support from City Councilmember Tim Burgess, and seeking out ideas for alternative plans in order to keep the gym open to the community.

Seattle Parks and Recreation did not give a reason for why BizKid$ decided to walk away from the deal. We’ve put in a call to BizKid$ executive producer Jamie Hammond, but have not yet heard back.

Seattle Parks and Recreation is looking for nominations for the Denny Awards, which honor volunteer service to the city’s parks system.

The deadline for nominations is Nov. 1. The award is named for the Denny family, Seattle pioneers who donated the land that became the first Seattle park, Denny Park, in 1864.

The Denny Awards acknowledge and honor the crucial role volunteers play in neighborhood parks, community centers, and recreation programs throughout the city. Volunteers help Parks and Recreation staff and management in the work of the department and give valuable advice on important decisions about our Parks and Recreation facilities and operations. Volunteers pull ivy and plant native trees in our parks, coach kids’ sports, work as docents at selected parks, and serve on various advisory councils and boards.

Denny Awards nominees should meet the following minimum qualifications. The nominee must have:

• Demonstrated exceptional stewardship to parks and/or recreation;
• Provided stellar leadership related to enhancing and preserving parks and/or recreation programs;
• Demonstrated a significant personal commitment of time and effort to assist the Seattle Parks and Recreation department, and
• Gained respect of community peers for efforts to help Seattle Parks and Recreation.

Seattle Parks and Recreation has more furlough days coming up this week and next, to help close its budget gap. City of Seattle employees are taking 10 days off without pay this year.

On Friday, all community centers, swimming pools, and environmental learning centers will be closed, and there will be no grounds maintenance.

Next Monday, all administrative offices (communications, correspondence, Park Board support, web management, public outreach, human resources, finance and administration) will be closed, as will the Planning and Development Division and the Magnuson Park office.

Golf courses and the Amy Yee Tennis Center will operate on a normal schedule.

Over the last week nine new trees have appeared at the gravel and concrete laden ‘urban park,’ most of which have yet to be planted.

The new trees make me wonder if we should trade in some of that gravel for fresh grass? What do you think?

Seattle Parks and Recreation has worked hard to schedule furlough days in a way that has the smallest possible impact on customers, and that provides as much coverage as possible. Parks will not take furloughs in July and August – the peak season for park users.

The following facilities and services will be closed on Friday, May 28:

• 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

The following facilities and services will be closed on Tuesday, June 1:

• Administrative offices (communications, correspondence, Park Board support, web management, public outreach, human resources, finance and administration)
• Planning and Development Division
• Magnuson Park office

All Youth Violence Prevention Initiative sites, also known as Extended Hours Program sites, will furlough today, Wednesday, May 26. In addition, all facilities will be closed on Monday, May 31 for Memorial Day. On both furlough days there will be no trash pick-up, and no bathroom cleaning or maintenance. Park maintenance staff will be on duty on Memorial Day to empty trash cans and clean restrooms.

“We’ve done everything we can to limit the impacts of the furlough on our patrons, customers and visitors; however, the public will experience parks with diminished maintenance on Friday, May 28,” said Christopher Williams, Acting Superintendent. “If park patrons encounter overflowing trash cans, we encourage you to pack out your own trash. We are asking the community to help us keep our parks clean on the few days this year that we are not able to clean them ourselves.”

“There are tire tracks all over the lawn up there. There is a Bobcat sitting next to what looks like a residential rockery job adjacent to the park but it doesn’t look like simply collateral damage. Maybe someone came and took the Bobcat for a joyride?  If it’s Park Dept. or some landscaping employee, they need a map,” she wrote.

Parks and Recreation Public Information representative Joelle Hammerstad did a little digging for us, and found that the Bobcat was not commissioned by the Parks department, and in fact belongs to a private company, Total Grounds Management, who was hired to do some work on a private residence near the park, at 515 Howe St. Joelle wrote,

It appears that there was some miscommunication between the homeowner and the on-site project manager for TGM.

Seattle Parks and Recreation did not give TGM permission to use the park for access to the private residence for their construction project. Nor did we give them permission to use the park as a staging area. We have spoken with TGM and asked them to remove a pile of gravel, as well as the bobcat from the park.

According to Joelle, TMG apologized for the incident and has agreed to work with Parks and Rec to repair the damage to the park. Parks and Rec and TMG will be meeting this coming Monday, April 12 to review the restoration plan.

Tire tracks that appear to have come from a Bobcat tractor have dug ditches in the grass throughout the park. Though some of the tracks may have been caused by the recent landscaping work done next to the park, Stephanie finds the fact that the tracks are all over the park grounds a bit suspicious.

“There are tire tracks all over the lawn up there. There is a Bobcat sitting next to what looks like a residential rockery job adjacent to the park but it doesn’t look like simply collateral damage. Maybe someone came and took the Bobcat for a joyride?  If it’s Park Dept. or some landscaping employee, they need a map,” she wrote. “I can’t see any reason for the cat to have been up around the sign and there are also some tracks out in the middle of the lower lawn that are not to or from the project. Just makes ya wonder…Bobcat joyride on a Saturday night?’

I’m waiting to hear back from Parks and Recreation to see if they know anything about landscaping at Trolley Hill Park or the tracks. In the meantime, if anyone has any further information, please post in the comments below.

(Thanks to Stephanie for the tip!)