Conceptual Drawing of the Christian Restoration Center Replacement

Here's the first published conceptual drawing of the condo/retail development that will replace the Christian Restoration Center at 15th and Oregon. From the Rudeen website:



The architects are H+DLT Collaborative, whose past projects aren't particularly inspired, but at least do not make me want to break down in tears. The H+DLT designs are certainly several steps up from the designs that Rudeen has typically worked from in the past. I'm not knowledgeable enough about design and construction to guess how well a standard big-box developer might work with a higher-end architecture firm, but I do have hope this could be a good thing for the neighborhood. (Especially if an independent restaurateur starts serving dinner and drinks in one of those retail spaces, please God.)

The scale of this structure seems out of place if you compare it to the low-built (and dilapidated and dirty and depressing) structures at Beacon and Columbian, but not so much if you compare it to the large (and dilapidated and dirty and depressing) residential developments down the road by the I-5 and West Seattle Bridge onramps. Or the nearby VA Hospital. It seems inevitable that our commercial thoroughfares will get a little taller.

As long as we don't end up with tanning/nail salons, FedEx centers, check-cashing places, chain food, or malt liquor quickie marts on that retail level, I'm actually kind of excited to see what happens here. Since I don't golf or throw weddings or dry-clean my clothes, and since I discovered that the Vietnamese sandwiches at Fou Lee don't hold a candle to the fresh ones in the nearby I-District, and that you can't drop in and get a cold six-pack at the Seattle Supermarket, and that the MC Foods gas station fails my can-I-just-fill-my-tank-outside-and-go test, I honestly have no interest in any of the stuff at Beacon and Columbian. But some of this new stuff could be useful to me.

I don't know. What do you guys think?

P.S. Jim Claeys, who's been discussed in the comments of some of these posts, is a partner in the property's ownership group (as is Rudeen Development). The group is called Beacon Hill Ventures LLC.

Pictures from South Orcas Street

This is my part of Beacon Hill.



I'm on my way to the bus stop.



Chain-link fence is ubiquitous down here.



I could roll down the hill to Seward Park.



But I won't. I'm taking the loathsome 36 to the Northwest Garden Show. See photos at my new plant blog.

Rudeen's Been Cleaning Up the Christian Restoration Site

Rudeen responded very quickly to the report of trash buildup at the Christian Restoration Center. I sent my e-mail out Thursday night, and on Friday they had crews out there starting to clean the area up. They've been out there working on it this week as well.

They're working with Jon Hager of Hager Realty Services in the Eastlake area as the local contact for this project. He seems very nice and open to questions; his e-mail is jon at jhager.com, if you'd like to contact him directly. He's been discussing the project with passersby this week, so if you see people out there working, feel free to approach them.

As for the design of the project, he said this:

On the planning front, we have hired a local Seattle architect and the current concept for the property itself is to have retail on the street level, with condos above. There is also a landscaped atrium in the back for the residents, with a parking garage underneath the building.

I asked who the architect is and whether they plan to share conceptual drawings with the community soon. I've also asked about Jim Claeys, whom a longtime Beacon Hill resident named Dan Hagan has been discussing in comments on this post. According to different sources, Claeys is either the past or the present/future owner of this site. I have no idea; I just work here.

Red Apple Remodel in Beacon Lights

Craig Thompson at Beacon Lights has written about the Red Apple remodel.

Finding Beacon Hill Stories

On most days, I search the Seattle P-I and Seattle Times websites for "beacon hill," hoping to find all the news stories about our neighborhood. However, the reporters sometimes misidentify Beacon Hill (even its western edge) as "Rainier Valley," and more often they just don't even bother trying to identify the neighborhood and just call it "South Seattle."

Yesterday they pulled a new one, identifying an area east of Rainier Avenue as Beacon Hill.

The story is only credited to "staff," so I won't bother trying to get this corrected. But these reporting inaccuracies make it hard to try to find out what's really happened in our neighborhood over the years. Do they screw up this badly in other neighborhoods, or are local reporters particularly ignorant of areas south of I-90?

SE Seattle Pics at Good Taste Chronicles

Fellow Beacon Hill blogger Catalina Vel-DuRay has been going around Southeast Seattle snapping pictures of things that would already have been demolished in tonier parts of the city. Like the New Holly Safeway. And a cool-looking church that I believe is on Orcas in Hillman City, a little bit west of Rainier?

CvDR also posts YouTube clips that I would never have found otherwise. Like this.

It's Morning on Beacon Hill

The Letter I Sent to Rudeen About the Christian Restoration Center

I'm a resident of Seattle's Beacon Hill neighborhood, and I'm writing you first of all to express concern about the sad state of the property you'll be developing here in the summer at 4351 15th Avenue South. I've taken some photos to show you the extent of the damage.

1. There's a lot of graffiti. A lot.



2. There's also a broken toilet and empty liquor bottles.



3. There's garbage and broken glass scattered all over the place.



4. There's an overflowing garbage can that the local rats are probably enjoying, but the neighbors, not so much.



5. There are boxes full of (presumably dead) fluorescent blubs. These contain mercury and possibly lead. According to Seattle Municipal Code 21.36.025 (Unlawful Disposal), these bulbs cannot be taken to city transfer stations; you can read about proper disposal at this King County website.



Anyway, the Beacon Hill community would like you to please clean up your property as soon as possible. I know your company is headquartered in Spokane, and I understand how you might not be aware of the way things are going over here in Seattle. But I'm happy to provide you with photo reports whenever you like -- please just ask.

We'll also want to provide input as to the design of the new building. Apart from work that appears to be going on at the VA Hospital, this will definitely be the largest new construction on Beacon Hill in many years and will have a huge impact on the community. We look forward to working with you on this project! Have you planned any community meetings yet?

Please let me know as soon as possible about your plans for site cleanup. I've already reported the graffiti to the city just to get that in the system, and I'm so concerned about all the illegal dumping that I should report that as well. But I'd prefer to work directly with you on all this. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help.

--JvA

Lead Paint Peeling Off in Sheets at Van Asselt Elementary

Saturday's caucus at Van Asselt was the first time I'd ever been inside a school on Beacon Hill. I was thinking it looked pretty shabby, but it sounds like the situation is worse than I thought.

From Sunday's Seattle Times:

And while district officials say health and safety issues are always a priority, just last week lead-based paint was flaking onto the playground at Van Asselt Elementary School — a problem the district identified 10 years ago. ... Tests have shown the paint contains up to 30 percent lead, well above the federal standard of 0.06 percent.

According to the story, district spokesman David Tucker said that lead paint is common on old buildings and isn't a problem until it begins to peel.

Yeah, well...



The school district is claiming to have fixed some of the problems at Van Asselt already:

Over the past several years at Van Asselt, the district has replaced the roof and flooring and fixed windows and broken bathroom-door locks. But it hasn't blocked access to the roof, which has been subject to vandalism, and tetherball poles on the playground are in bad shape.

But from first-hand experience three days ago, I can say that the bathroom door locks are not fixed.

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No One Hurt in Drive-By Shooting in South Beacon Hill

From the P-I:

Seattle police are looking for an older white van seen driving away from the scene of a drive-by shooting early Monday.

The shooting in the 5100 block of South Augusta Street near Beacon Avenue South was reported just past 8 a.m., police spokeswoman Renee Witt said.

The caller reported that it appeared two shots were fired at a house on that block. No one was hurt in the shooting and police had no suspects in the case.

New Hardscaping at a Beacon Hill House

My mother-in-law asked for a photo of my brother-in-law's lovely new retaining wall and landscaping. Since it's on Beacon Hill, it's topical enough to post here.

Another Beacon Hill Man in the News

From today's P-I:

A Beacon Hill man who admitted filming eight women in the Cinerama movie theater restroom won't serve any time in jail, a King County Superior Court judge ruled Friday.

As part of a plea agreement, Philip Michael Thomas was sentenced to 30 days of community service and required to register as a sex offender after pleading guilty to one count of voyeurism, a felony. Thomas, 21, is also required to undergo a sexual deviancy screening and may have to undergo therapy.

Thomas was arrested Aug. 11 after a patron discovered a video camera planted in a women's restroom at the downtown Seattle theater. While reviewing the recording, officers discovered that Thomas had inadvertently videotaped himself while setting up the camera.

According to court documents, police found recordings of eight women, as well as images of another woman at her home.

After his arrest, Thomas told police he set up the camera in a single-stall women's room because "he knew that he wasn't going to film any kids," according to police statements.

At sentencing, Thomas apologized for his crime.

"This was a very dumb mistake," Thomas told Judge Chris Washington. "I'm deeply sorry for what I did."

Fearless Raccoons(?) in North Beacon Hill

Some critter crawled into the Pac-Med parking garage and was checking out my car today. I rarely see raccoons in the daytime, or in structures, but I can't think of who else could have done this.

Where on Beacon Hill Am I? #1

I thought it would be fun to take photos around the neighborhood and ask you guys to guess where the photo was taken.

We'll start with what I think is an easy one. Where was this shot taken?

11th District Dem Caucus Locations Announced

As The Paper Noose noted today, the 11th District Democrats have posted the locations for the caucuses on Saturday, Feb. 9. The 11th District encompasses most of the west side of Beacon Hill (though not north of Holgate); you can find your 11th District precinct on this map.

If you're not in the 11th here on the hill, you're in the 37th, which seems to cover everything north of Holgate and most of the hill east of Beacon Ave. The website for the 37th says they'll be posting their caucus locations tomorrow. You can find your 37th District precinct here; you can find all the district maps for the county here.

Beacon Hill News, Georgetown News

Beacon Hill: Amazon.com will be leaving Beacon Hill for South Lake Union. They'll be taking their dogs with them.

Georgetown: Hangar Cafe is now serving Stumptown Coffee, yum!

Year in Pictures in Review: Part 2 (August Through December)

AUGUST

My little neighborhood held its first block party.





I suspected Little & Lewis my have my very favorite private garden in the area.





I took a lot of evening walks.



And drank a lot of French white wine, sometimes in my handmade Rubaiyat shoes.







Our plum tree produced an abundance of fruit.





And I made many ginger plum crisps.



I started planting the rock wall with sedums and heathers.





I visited Ciscoe's yard toward the end of its glory.





And found some awesome porn in the attic.



SEPTEMBER

We went to the Bridge Motel party.













We found a sign in our attic.



And I watched this Joan Jett video a lot.



OCTOBER

I got a new camera!





I take more, better photos inside the Brew House.







And of course I did the Halloween tour of Georgetown.





NOVEMBER

I take a lot fewer photos when the days get short.

The Great Stuff antique shop in Georgetown.



Kubota Gardens.







DECEMBER

It snowed.



I ate a crepe at Hangar Cafe. I'm thinking about it still.



We went to the Georgetown Holiday Art Walk.



I got these.



And I think I might be just about done with photos for the year.