Though brochures haven’t come in the mail yet, registration is now open for fall 2011 courses at the Queen Anne Community Center, located at 1901 1st Ave W. Learn to Tae Kwon Do, dabble in pottery or acrylic painting, or enroll your kids in one of the many activities.

Some special events are:

Family Fun Night
Ages: 11 and under. Bounce houses, tumbling area, what more could you want!
Queen Anne CC – 9/23, 10/7, 11/4, 12/2
Fridays 6-8 pm $3 per child

Drop-in Sports:
Unless otherwise noted, all drop-in sports are $3 (ages 18 – 54), $2 (seniors 55+ ), Free (youth under 18)
Basketball Open Gym: Queen Anne
Mon/Tue (all ages) 1-3 pm
Mon – Fri (ages 11-17) 2:30 – 4:30pm

Toddler Open Gym
Children play, learn and develop both motor and social skills in this highly interactive drop- in social and play time. Toddlers will meet new friends, play on Bouncy Toys, scooters, tricycles, with bouncy balls and much more.
Location: Queen Anne CC
Tue/Thu 10 am-1 pm
$2 per child

Classes can be found here or the full fall brochure for northwest Seattle community centers and pools can be found here (.pdf). According to our sister site, MyGreenLake.com, the brochure is currently available online only because of a publication delay. The hard copy will come later this week.

This Friday is the 27th annual Windermere’s Community Service Day. Our local Queen Anne associates will be taking the day off from their normal duties to roll up their sleeves and get dirty doing extensive landscaping and painting projects at McClure Middle School and the Queen Anne Community Center.

Other local projects in other neighborhoods include:

Green Lake – Daniel Bagley Elementary: development of the outdoor classroom including construction of a shed and benches.

Fremont – BF Day Elementary: grounds maintenance and the creation of paper “birthday crowns” for the student body.

Wedgwood – Theodora (HUD 202) Housing: projects as assigned.

Sand Point – Magnuson Park YMCA: projects as assigned.

Lake Forest Park – Ballinger (Low income) Homes: maintenance and beautification projects as directed.

Northgate – Olympic View Elementary: flower and shrub planting.

Oak Tree – Greenwood Elementary: maintenance and beautification as directed.

It seems that spring has finally arrived just in time for Earth Day, and the many annual spring egg hunts happening on the hill this week. Whether you celebrate Easter or not, spending some time in the sun looking for hidden candy is an activity most kids and families would probably enjoy.

Check out some of the Easter, Earth Day and springtime events happening in Queen Anne this week:

• April Family Fun night at The Children’s Museum – 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 20
• Spring egg hunts will be happening at The Children’s Museum at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, April 21 to 24. Admission is $4 per child.
• The Children’s Museum and the Seattle Center Monorail will be hosting an Earth Day Celebration, with story time and monorail tours, on Friday April 22. Details here.
• The Queen Anne Community Center is also hosting a Spring Egg Hunt for kids ages 2 to 10 at 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 23. Don’t forget to bring a bag or basket to collect your eggs in.

For other events happening in the neighborhood, check our events calendar. Know of an event we’ve missed? Submit it to the calendar here.

The Queen Anne Community Council held its last board meeting at the community center Wednesday night. The council will no longer be able to meet there due to the reduced hours of operation from Parks and Recreation Department budget cuts, but it was announced that future meetings will be held inside Queen Anne Manor located at 100 Crockett St.

Fittingly, the council discussed Jim Cunningham’s membership in the Community Center Advisory Team, spearheaded by Seattle Councilmember Sally Bagshaw to find possible solutions to the financial woes of the city’s community centers. Cunningham discovered in a budgeting statement received at the last CCAT meeting that the QA Community Center looses $700,000 a year. The public has been asked to submit ideas for saving money or generating revenue for the centers. Ideas can be submitted via a link found here.

Conversely, the Parks Committee report by Don Harper announced that the Parks and Green Spaces Levy had an excess of $10 million due to the lack of inflation. The excess funds will go into the opportunity fund and can be spent on projects chosen by community groups.

The disorganization and difficulty receiving public comments at last month’s meeting was also addressed. Ideas were offered on how to do a better job in the event of a large public turnout for a contentious issue, such as: signing up to speak, giving more time to hear public comments, signs to indicate time left to speak, using a timer, giving committee reports by e-mail if time is running short.

Additional council matters:

• Two council vacancies were filled in a vote.
• Board Member Scot Baker met with the owner of the Queen Anne Avenue North 7-Eleven regarding the sale of high-octane alcohol. Council Chair Ellen Monrad said the issue is not yet resolved, but it was a good first meeting in an on-going discussion.
• In the Transportation Committee report, Glenn Avery said that SDOT will give a public presentation of the West Mercer Place portion of the project March 15 at the Seattle Center Rainier Room from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. (link). Also, SDOT is expected to attend the next council meeting.
• According to studies, the Kinnear Park forest is dying, said Harper. The plan is to cut down most of the trees and replace them with a different species. Climate change was cited as the reason.

Correction 3/7: An earlier version of this story misspelled Jim Cunningham’s last name.

The Queen Anne Community Council‘s transportation subcommittee is meeting tonight, Wednesday, February 23 at the Queen Anne Community Center. The primary topic on the agenda will be SDOT’s Mercer West Project, which plans to expand West Mercer Place by an additional lane, and has been the center of much debate in the Lower Queen Anne community recently.

Other agenda items include concerns over the area between 5th N to 5th W, and dedicated time for topics committee members may want to bring up.

The meeting will start at 7:30 p.m. Attendees should enter through the community center north door.

After recent budget cuts left community centers facing service and operational cuts, including here in Queen Anne where the neighborhood fought to keep the gym open, the city has been forced to take a second look at cuts planned for community centers citywide.

As a result of much public backlash to the challenging budget cuts, the City Council has asked the Department of Parks and Recreation to rethink how community centers in Seattle are operated. As part of the process, the city is holding a public meeting with the community to discuss ideas for how the centers could be run differently tomorrow, Wednesday, February 2 at the Miller Community Center, 330 19th Ave. E, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Seattle Parks and Recreation operates 26 community centers. The cost to run the centers far exceeds revenue brought in from center programs. Because of the current budget situation, Parks staff are exploring alternatives that would offer continued services for the public while reducing costs, including new methods of management, staffing, fundraising, and partnerships.

At the February 2 meeting, Parks staff will ask attendees to share ideas and concerns relating to community center operations. In the spring, Parks will hold another public meeting to discuss specific options.

The Community Center Advisory Team, which is comprised of community members, representatives from the Board of Park Commissioners, representatives of employee unions, employees, the Associated Recreation Council, and City Council and City Budget Office staff, is also working on a solution to the community centers operations and budget problems. For questions about the public meeting, contact Susan Golub at susan.golub@seattle.gov or at 206-684-7046.

The City of Seattle’s Department of Planning and Development held the last public design review meeting of the Seven Hills Apartments development project last night at the Queen Anne Community Center.

Emerald Bay Equity’s design was approved, although the board offered various recommendations regarding certain details of the façade’s appearance. This concluded the review and recommendation process of the long stalled project.

As mentioned is yesterday’s post about the design review meeting, the developer had originally planned for the project to house medical offices above the ground-level retail, but opted to change out the office space for residential apartments due to the economic downturn. The property was temporarily put up for sale by Emerald Bay Equity in April of last year.

Construction at 1919 Queen Anne Ave. N. is slated to begin as early as March, according to Emerald Bay Equity principal Joe Geivett, who has seen this project through six screenings by the City of Seattle and the Queen Anne Community Council. He said the building will take approximately a year to complete.

The four-story building will be primarily dedicated to one-bedroom apartments, with a total of 57 units on three floors. The first floor will be dedicated to retail stores and restaurants, and two levels of parking will be provided below ground.

Artist rendering courtesy of Emerald Bay Equity.

“It’s a little more modern, but I wouldn’t call it a modern building,” Geivett said. “I think the building fits in real nicely with that block.”

Much of the interaction between the board and the members of Emerald Bay Equity revolved around aesthetic details, such as the mosaic of the ground floor and the contrast of color tones.

“The great thing about these developers is they take recommendations really seriously,” said Design Review Board Member Jill Kurfirst. “You can tell they have thought about what you said and are really trying to follow through.”

Public turnout was low – only one person attended who was not associated with the board or Emerald Bay Equity. The meeting was improvised in the game room of the community center after a room mix up prevented the use of originally scheduled room 3.

The design review proposal can be viewed here.

The Seattle Department of Planning and Development is holding a design review meeting for the Seven Hills development at 6:30 p.m. tonight, Wednesday, January 19 in at the Queen Anne Community Center, located at 1901 1st Ave W, Room 3.

Artist rendering of Seven Hills project courtesy of Emerald Bay Equity.

For those of you unfamiliar with the project, Seven Hills is the third of four mixed-use projects developer Emerald Bay Equity has slated for 2.1 acres of property (referred to as “The Collection”) at the top of Queen Anne hill. The first two developments—the Sweetbrier and Eden Hills mixed-use residential/retail buildings—are already finished and housing a number of retail and residential tenants along Queen Anne Ave N.

EDE plans to break ground on the Seven Hills development, located at 1919 Queen Anne Ave, in the first quarter of this year. The developer had originally planned for the project to house medical offices above the ground-level retail, but opted to change out the office space for residential apartments due to the economic downturn.

The public meeting tonight will serve as a forum for members of the Queen Anne community to discuss the new development plans with EBE representatives, and voice any questions or concerns they may have.

If you’d like to read through the design review proposal before the meeting, you can download the 25-page document here (.pdf).

The monthly Queen Anne Community Council meeting is happening tonight, Wednesday, January 5 at 7 p.m. at the Queen Anne Community Center. Enter through the north entrance of the building, between the CC and McClure Middle School.

In additional to the regular community updates, there are a number of interested items on the agenda this month, including a report on the Solarize Queen Anne project (more on that soon).

Take a look at the full agenda here:

• 7:00 p.m.: Adoption of Agenda, Approval of Minutes, Treasurer’s Report
• 7:10 p.m.: Open Forum—Comments
• 7:20 p.m.: Solarize Seattle
• 7:45 p.m.:  Report on budget and status of QACC and District Coordinator/New meeting location
• 8:15 p.m.:  Committee Reports

1. Communication—Michael Lapin
2. District Council—Mike Warren
3. Parks—Don Harper
4. Transportation—Glenn Avery
5. LURC/Planning—Craig Hanway
6. NAC—Kirk Robbins, Jim Smith, Glenn Avery, Don Harper
7. Social Issues—Kirk Robbins
8. Police & Crime—Allen Panich

• 8:45 p.m.: New Business
• 8:55 p.m.: Adjournment

The next QACC meeting will be held on Wednesday, February 2 at 7 p.m. at the Queen Anne Community Center.

The following QACC sub-committees will be meeting on these dates:

• Parks Committee: January 11, QACC, 7:30 p.m.
• LURC/Planning: January 24, QACC, 7:00 p.m.
• Transportation: January 26, QACC, 7:30 p.m.
• NAC: January 19, Port Headquarters, 4:30 p.m.
• District Council: January 10, MCC 7:00 p.m.

Many community centers, including the Queen Anne Community Center, were hit hard by the 2011 City of Seattle budget. In the case of the Queen Anne center, the city proposed to close the gym to the community and lease it to BizKid$, a national public television series for children. The plan was actively opposed by many in the neighborhood (more here), eventually leading to BizKid$ pulling out of the deal and City Council voting in favor to keep the gym open to the community.

As a result of the difficult citywide budget cuts, Seattle Parks and Recreation has been asked by the City Council to re-think how community centers are operated. This process will include public meetings and the creation of a Community Center Advisory Team.  Seattle Parks and Recreation is looking for community members to participate on the Advisory Team.

Advisory Team meetings will occur twice a month from January to May, 2011. The team will be exploring innovative ideas for operating the City’s community centers. Team members will consider the way the centers currently operate, review what other cities are doing, consider alternative operating models, evaluate public input, and assess options for partnerships.

Ultimately, the Advisory Team will review and provide advice on the report that Parks will submit to City Council by June 1, 2010. In addition to representatives from the general community, members of the Advisory Team will include representatives from the Board of Park Commissioners, representatives of employee unions, employees, the Associated Recreation Council, and City Council and City Budget Office staff.

Seattle Parks and Recreation is currently seeking community applicants for the team. Those interested in serving on the Community Center Advisory Team are invited to apply.  Parks is especially interested in those with past involvement with a community center, and those who are able to work with others for the greater good.

In a news release on Monday, December 20, Parks and Recreation asked applicants to submit a statement (no more than 1,000 words total) addressing the following questions:

• How and where have you been involved with a community center?
• Please give an example of your most recent involvement.
• What will you bring to the table?

Applicants are asked to submit their statement via e-mail to Susan Golub:  susan.golub@seattle.gov.  The deadline is Monday, January 10 at 5 p.m.

If you’ve still got some holiday shopping to do, you might want to head over to the Antique and Collectible Sale at the Queen Anne Community Center this weekend.

The sale is happening from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. today, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. And admission is cheap, at just $1. One of our readers swung by this morning to check out the sale.

“We dropped by and the place is packed with some really nice high-end antiques and also some fun vintage/retro/mid-century items,” Melody Anne says.  “Could be a great option for Christmas presents.”

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.

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.

As it stands right now, the Queen Anne Community Center’s gym is still scheduled to be closed next year even though a deal to turn the gym into a television studio fell through.  But there are more signs the City Council could reverse that part of the mayor’s budget.

City Council members heard more about the proposed cuts to five community centers across Seattle during a meeting yesterday.  Our news partner the Seattle Times reports Council President Richard Conlin expressed concerns about reducing access to the centers.

“I can’t help feeling we’re making a mistake,” Conlin said.

Queen Anne gym

Earlier this month, Councilmember Tim Burgess also voiced support for keeping the QA gym open.

“This is not a City Council idea (to close the gym).  It came from Mayor McGinn,” Burgess told the Queen Anne Community Council.  “You have lots of support not to do this on the Council.”

The Council is expected to adopt a budget before Thanksgiving.  The final public hearing on the budget takes place tonight (10/26) at 5:30pm at City Hall.  Sign in starts at 5pm.

In the wake of Friday’s announcement that BizKid$ was pulling out of a deal to use the Queen Anne Community Center gym for its production studios, we’ve been trying to find out what the decision means for the gym next year.  The mayor’s budget called for the gym to be closed during 2011 with some extra revenue coming from the BizKid$ deal.  That deal would have added $75,000 in revenue to the city.  But BizKid$ pulled out following community backlash, telling KING 5 they received ”unpleasant” emails from people who didn’t want them taking over the gym.

Today, we learned the City Council has asked the budget office to come up with a new plan to address the $75,000 shortfall within the next week.  But a staffer in Councilman Tim Burgess’ office tells us the mayor’s decision to close the QA gym was unrelated to the decision to bring in more revenue through BizKid$.  Bottom line: the decision by BizKid$ to pull out doesn’t change anything for the gym, other than leaving the parks department with even less revenue.  We’ll continue to keep you posted.

BizKid$ has pulled out of the proposed partnership with the Queen Anne Community Center, in which the national children’s public television series would have rented out the gym as production space for at least a year, according to the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation.

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.