Category — Magnuson Park

It’s been 18 long months since the Dearborn Street Coalition formed to help make sure that the proposed Goodwill development in Little Saigon and they’re still going strong. The coalition has just put out a couple of announcements asking support from the Seattle community to help them out with their efforts to,

We seek a balanced mix of retail, not a big box, formula retail project with over 90% of its retail square footage dedicated to shops over 5,000 square feet. We seek a project that doesn’t require over 25,000 automobile trips per day to already congested arterials. We would like to see more housing in the project, in particular a commitment to affordable family housing which is so desperately needed in the downtown core. Above all, we seek a signed agreement with the developer that ensures a more appropriate project that provides real benefit to the community.

It doesn’t take much to help, here are three things they suggest,

1. *Donate* to our campaign. To date, we have operated through volunteers. But we must pay our experts in land use and economics to help our grassroots campaign against a well-funded developer. Your financial contribution is essential for achieving success. Any amount - small or large - will add up to make a difference! Contribute right now by clicking here: http://dearbornstreetcoalition.org/v2/get-involved/

Here are three more easy actions:

2. Sign our online *petition* today: Even though you may have signed a paper petition, sign our online petition – and encourage others to do the same. Click here: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/DearbornStreetCoalition

3. Visit our *website*: http://www.dearbornstreetcoalition.org Keep informed about the project and our efforts.

And Sand Point/Laurelhurst readers, you should pay really close attention to this project since the company developing this site (TRF Pacific) also has plans to redevelop Building 11 in Magnuson Park. Who knows, if you help out Dearborn Street today you might find yourself with some new friends who are able to help you out later.

Last night at my community council meeting one Trustee let us know about a proposal by Arena Sports to invest $6 million dollars to refurbish Magnuson Parks’ Building 27 for well…Arena Sports’ use. However, when I returned home I discovered a forwarded email from hangar27.org, a local group who wants the hangar to remain available to a wide range of organizations (including the Rat City Rollgirls!).

Anyway, supporting the Arena Sports proposal is the Seattle Parks Department, while on Hangar27 ’s side is the Seattle City Council (Lucky for Magnuson Park that councilmember Jean Godden’s sister lives in the neighborhood! And Hanger27.com if you want to guarantee councilmember Richard Conlin’s vote, make sure you somehow tie your plans together with domesticated pet goats, because the Goat Justice League lobby totally owns Conlin).

What’s really sad about these two different city organizations putting their support behind two competing proposals like this shows that Magnuson Park’s long-term care isn’t in very good hands right now. And I say this because the same thing is happening over Magnuson Park building 11 where the Parks Department wants to hand over the building to a private company, and the Friends of Magnuson Park feel it should remain a publically managed building.

My suggestion, rename the park ‘Olympic Sculpture Park II’ and hand the whole park over to the Seattle Art Museum to manage. They are one of the few groups in town that has both the influence over the city to not only propose a vision for good land development, but to execute on that vision.

This should be a good council district meeting to attend because some hot potato issues will be discussed. Most notable will be topic of the ‘Commercialization of Magnuson Park’, which should give lots of people concern because this isn’t part of Magnuson Park’s development plan. Development of the park was supposed to go towards non-profit and arts groups. Anyway, this will be a good opportunity to give feedback on the subject.

When and where the meeting will be held.

Wedgwood Presbyterian Church, 8008 35^th Avenue NE

Thursday, November 1, 2007, 7:00 p.m.

I really like Magnuson Park and think that the development there to date has been very good. That’s why it was kind of a surprise that today it was reported that the parks department is going to bring a proposal to the city council requesting that: 

A private developer has offered to pay $7.7 million for renovations to the 59,000-square-foot building sandwiched between Lake Washington and Sand Point Way Northeast.

This news came as a surprise because I already thought the city had a plan for Magnuson development, and that it was going to be focused on housing programs, restoring Sand Point’s wetlands, bringing in athletic organizations, educational services, and housing other cultural programs.  So, why does building 11 at Sandpoint need to be developed with restaurants and office spaces? I’m confused, and reading through the article it seemed like the Department of Parks is just as confused. 

I mean, is there a call within the city to develop these buildings as soon as possible? Is the city willing to put up a white flag right now even though they don’t have funding for this and can’t find enough non-profits to fund development? And why would the city accept a proposal from a development group that has caused great neighborhood concern with their Goodwill redevelopment plan?

Isn’t this where the city needs to step in, put together a redevelopment plan with financing for Magnuson Park, rally the city around it, and put it up to vote?

Magnuson is a great park and it would be a shame to see that it is developed in the same hodge-podge way that the city is allowing the rest of Seattle’s neighborhoods to be developed.