Green Lake’s Fire Station 16 (6846 Oswego Place NE) will be holding a dedication and open house on Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Attendees will be able to tour the newly-renovated 1927 fire station and meet Engine 16′s fire fighters. Children’s activities and refreshments will be provided.

The event is jointly sponsored by the Seattle Fire Department and Seattle Fire Fighters Union, Local 27.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2012.

Permalink | Comment on this post

Post tags: construction, fire

Work on the path began today (Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2012) and will continue throughout the week, according to Seattle Parks and Recreation Operations Crew Chief Colleen Hackett.

The new gravel will eliminate the lip between the asphalt and crushed rock. Tractors, groomers, rakes and flaggers will be used.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2012.

Permalink | Comment on this post

Post tags: construction, parks and rec

Village Cove is an expansion of The Hearthstone, a continuing care retirement community located at 6720 E Green Lake Way N. The four-story building will contain 28 luxury one- and two-bedroom units on the top three floors, retail spaces on the ground floor, and underground parking.

Since groundbreaking in May, more than 3,000 tons of soil containing dry-cleaning contaminants has been excavated from the property.

“We had hoped to be in construction by now, but often there are glitches that happen,” Mary Lou Stuenzi, CEO of the Hearthstone, said in a report to stakeholders earlier today (Tuesday, Nov 22, 2011).

We are still working closely with ecology to perfect our process to a “clean site”. One more “go-round” with more dirt being removed and then tested and we are confident we will be going into construction.  The additional challenge now is the changing of the calendar and the changing of the weather – costs more to move wet dirt than dry dirt.  We will be adapting the construction site to keep it secure while we give the weather a chance to change for our good – hopefully very early spring.

Once we get final reports back and everything in place and clean – we will already have had a “leg up” because where we have removed dirt, we will be constructing an underground parking level, so construction will be happening already, and will be concluded a little faster.  Our partners in development will do everything they can to be ready to go, and ready to put lots of guys on the ground to move through the construction phase as soon as possible.

For more information about Village Cove, contact Sheryl Harmon at (206) 774-5153 or villagecove [at] hearthstone.org.

Village Cove is a My Green Lake advertiser.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

Permalink | Comment on this post

Post tags: advertiser, construction, older adults, the hearthstone

Bruce Lorig and Meredith Messmer present artist renderings of Green Lake Village. The renderings are not yet available for publication.

Bruce Lorig, the founder of  Lorig Associates, and Meredith Messmer, Lorig Associaties Project Manager, spoke at last night’s Green Lake Community Council meeting (Wednesday, November 9, 2011).

Lorig Associaties is managing the development of Green Lake Village, a large mixed-use project that is slated for construction at the former Vitamilk Dairy site, a three-acre empty lot of land often referred to by locals as “The Big Hole.”

The property, located between Woodlawn Ave NE, NE 71st St, 5th Ave NE and NE 72nd St, has been a vacant pit for more than three years.

“We dug the hole early because there was a lot of diesel fuel in the ground and we didn’t want to excavate during the raining season” Bruce Lorig said last night. “Then the real estate world collapsed. So, it’s been awhile.”

Green Lake Village will include 298 studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments in five stories. Lorig said that a rent structure has not yet been developed, and the property owners have no intention of selling the units as condos.

There will also be 50,000sf of retail space, anchored by a 25,000sf PCC Natural Markets. PCC has signed a 10-year lease.

At least 1/3 of the retail space not occupied by PCC will likely be restaurants and other food-related businesses, Lorig said. Some may be open at late hours.

There will be 450 parking spaces in an underground parking garage. Entry to the garage will be available on NE 71st St, and there will be an entry and exit on NE 72nd St. Truck-loading bays will be located on 5th Ave NE and trucks will also travel down NE 71st St.

Although the traffic impacts of the development have been studied by Lorig Associates, neither Bruce Lorig nor Messmer were able to provide the results of that study.

The complex will include three separate buildings which will be accessible from  a ~40-foot-wide pedestrian corridor.

The buildings’ exteriors will be composed of brick, metal and an as-yet-undetermined material that will be painted. Some of the residential units will have patios.

On-site landscaping will include street trees and planters, and there will be an outdoor public gathering space with seating and a water feature or sculpture.

Storm water run-off will go into the combined sewer, a point which caused heated discussion at last night’s meeting.

“This is totally profit-driven,” one resident in attendance said. “It’s not ecological. At the very least, you could use rain water to water the onsite landscaping.”

“It’s not profit-driven,” Lorig responded. “It’s cost-driven.”

The project, Messmer said, is being targeted for a LEED Silver rating.

Construction is slated for the middle of February 2012.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

Permalink | Comment on this post

Post tags: construction, green lake village, local businesses, pcc

Bruce Lorig and Meredith Messmer, Lorig Associaties Project Manager, will be at the meeting.

Lorig Associaties is managing the development of Green Lake Village, a large mixed-use project that is slated for construction at the former Vitamilk Dairy site, a three-acre empty lot of land often referred to by locals as “The Big Hole.”

The property, located between Woodlawn Ave NE, NE 71st St, 5th Ave NE and NE 72nd St, has been a vacant pit for more than three years. (You can read more about the history of the project here.)

Green Lake Village will include approximately 300 studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments in five stories. There will also be 50,000sf of retail space, anchored by a 25,000sf PCC Natural Markets. (You can read more about the PCC here.)

Wednesday’s meeting will also include updates from the Woodland Park Zoo, the Lifetime Learning Center, the Friends of Green Lake, the Northwest District Council, the Seattle Public Theater, and the Community Council’s liaison to the Seattle Police Department’s North Precinct.

In addition, a representative from the Green Lake Community Center will provide information about this year’s Pathway of Lights and information about lifeguard and wading pool scheduling at Green Lake Park.

The Green Lake Community Council meets on the second Wednesdays of odd-numbered months.

There are upcoming opportunities to join the Community Council Board. The elections process will be reviewed at Wednesday’s meeting.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

Permalink | Comment on this post

Post tags: building community, construction, green lake community council, green lake village

On September 21, 2011, Mayor Mike McGinn announced that his 2012 Proposed Budget would include funding for a new roof at the Green Lake Bathhouse (7312 West Green Lake Dr N), a historic building that the city leases to the Seattle Public Theater (SPT).

Earlier this month, SPT unveiled new seats which were the product of a fundraising campaign put on by the theater.

The theater is now hopeful that the mayor’s proposal for funding for a new roof will be adopted by the Seattle City Council, along with additional funding for a new HVAC (Heat Ventilation and Air-Conditioning) system.

“This past summer the AC gave up the ghost, challenging our young actors to perform despite the heat and humidity, and every year we pray the furnace makes it through the winter without breaking down (we’ve supplemented with space heaters for the last several years, at great cost and less-than-sufficient heat),” an email from the Seattle Public Theater explains.

The Seattle City Council is currently reviewing the mayor’s proposed budget. A final city budget will be adopted by Friday, December 2.

Information about contacting the Seattle City Council can be found here.

The Seattle Public Theater is a My Green Lake advertiser.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

Permalink | Comment on this post

Post tags: advertiser, construction, local politics, parks and rec, theater

Since groundbreaking in May, 3,200 tons of soil has been excavated from the property at Woodlawn Ave NE and Latona Ave NE.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will soon be conducting soil testing. The agency is expected to issue a report by the end of the year.

“We are anticipating that by January 2012, we should have the EPA’s authorization and final report that we need to start the application process for our construction loan,” Sheryl Harmon, Director of Marketing for Village Cove says.

Village Cove is an expansion of The Hearthstone, a continuing care retirement community located two blocks away at 6720 E Green Lake Way N. The four-story building will contain 28 luxury one- and two-bedroom units on the top three floors, retail spaces on the ground floor, and underground parking.

For more information about Village Cove, contact Sheryl Harmon at (206) 774-5153 or villagecove [at] hearthstone.org.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

Permalink | Comment on this post

Post tags: advertiser, construction, older adults, the hearthstone

Work began today (Tuesday, August 23, 2011) and will be completed in two stages. The final stage has an expected completion date of Friday, September 2.

Work is currently being done on the block of Wallingford Ave N between N 82nd St and N 85th St. The street is closed, and Seattle Police officers are directing traffic around the closed street. Work is expected to continue on this block through Friday, August 26.

Metro Route 48 will be rerouted in both directions until midnight on Saturday, August 27. Reroute details can be found in this PDF.

Metro Routes 16, 82 and 316 will be rerouted in both directions until 4:30 a.m. on Sunday, August 28. Reroute details can be found in this PDF.

“Given that Bishop Blanchet High School, which is located at N 85th and Wallingford, starts the new school year on Thursday, September 1, the SDOT crew will first replace 17 concrete panels between N 82nd and N 85th,” a Traffic Advisory from SDOT reads. “During the work, Wallingford Ave will be closed around the clock. The crews will work from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. through Friday, August 26, when the work is expected to be completed, barring unforeseen circumstances.”

The block of Wallingford Ave N between N 80th St and N 82nd street will then be closed around the clock for the second stage of the project, which begins on Tuesday, August 30. SDOT crews will be replacing 18 concrete panels on this stretch of street.

The work between 80th and 82nd is expected to be completed by Friday, September 2.

Metro has not yet announced any service impacts relating to the second stage of the project.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

Permalink | Comment on this post

Post tags: bishop blanchet high school, construction, metro, traffic

Photo courtesy John Creed. Click to enlarge.

The sign, a parody of a Seattle Department of Planning and Development land use sign, indicates that the empty lot will be used “to construct one ground level ball pit pond containing 1,200,000 cu. ft. of rainbow plastic balls.”

“Parking for for 171 bicycles, 65 unicycles, and 13 tricycles to be provided in 2 levels within the structure,” the sign reads. “Existing ramp to be converted to one 40 ft. slide.”

A map on the sign shows a trampoline, a concessions area and a “rescue claw.”

The lot, located between Woodlawn Ave NE, NE 71st St, 5th Ave NE and NE 72nd St, has been a vacant pit for three years.

Ground breaking for a large mixed-use project, called “Green Lake Village,” is targeted for this winter, and opening is scheduled for late 2013. The development will include approximately 300 studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments in five stories, 50,000sf of retail space and an underground parking garage.

The commercial space will include restaurants and retailers, anchored by a 25,000sf PCC Natural Markets.

Read more about Green Lake Village here and here.

Thanks for the tips, Bob Green, John Creed, Jeb Spengler and Revolutions Espresso!

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

Permalink | Comment on this post

Post tags: comedy, construction, public art

Paving crews from the Seattle Department of Transportation will pave two blocks of Woodlawn Ave NE, between 4th Ave NE and NE Ravenna Blvd, tomorrow (Thursday, August 4, 2011) from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Crews grinded off the old pavement last week.

One lane will remain open, shared by both directions of traffic with the assistance of traffic flaggers. The sidewalks will remain open for pedestrians.

From 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Metro Route 26 will be rerouted off of Woodlawn Ave NE in this two block stretch. During this time, Route 26 heading toward downtown Seattle will travel instead via southbound NE Ravenna Blvd, westbound NE 65th St and then southbound on Latona Ave NE to its regular route. Heading toward east Green Lake, northbound Route 26 will not be affected.

For more information about the project, call Steve Hoyos at (206) 386-1218.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

Permalink | Comment on this post

Post tags: circa, construction, metro, traffic