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Blakely Commons wins award

Blakely Commons, a project comprised of two four-story buildings with retail space and 106 condominiums located at 2715 NE Blakely Street in the Ravenna/Bryant neighborhood was presented with Livable Future award from 1000 Friends of Washington on April 28.

Candidates for the Livable Future Award are evaluated by environmental and neighborhood groups, designers, lending institutions and developers. According to Rich Thorsten, urban policy director for 1,000 Friends of Washington, the project fulfills the neighborhood plan's goals for mixed-use and mixed-income housing, and is a good example of how to make multi-family housing fit into a community.

Construction on the Blakely Commons project is scheduled to begin in June.

Facade of Fremont building crumbles

In the early morning of May 24, the brick facade fell off a Fremont building located on the corner of N 35th Street and Fremont Place N, which houses The Empty Space Theatre, The Longshoreman's Daughter restaurant and several other shops.

A fire department spokesperson told KOMO-TV that the destruction may have been caused by an earthquake, but inspectors had not yet made that determination.

Mike Peck, owner of the building, told the Seattle Times later that day that there were no initial signs of internal damage and that he expected the building to be reoccupied almost immediately.

Greenwood Park gets more funding

The new park planned for Greenwood on N. 87th Street between Evanston and Fremont avenues is moving towards completion.

Loretta Vosk, chairperson of Friends of Greenwood Park, reports that her group recently received a pledge of $5,000 from Greenwood Shopping Center (which owns the properties occupied by the Fred Meyer, Greenwood Market and McDonald's stores in downtown Greenwood) in May. The money will be used to match a $110,000 award from the City's Neighborhood Matching Fund.

"It lets us know that they care how our urban village is developing," Vosk said.

Another boon for the park: in early April, Seattle Public Utilities pledged $100,000 to improve drainage on the park site and put a pervious concrete pathway around the park.

Vosk is also hopeful that in June the City Council will vote to release the $1.2 million earmarked for the project in the Parks for All Levy in 2001.

Currently, the Greenwood Park project is still in the design development phase, and Friends of Greenwood Park is still raising funds.

There will be a meeting to share ideas for the park at the Greenwood mandarin Restuarant on Thursday, June 14 from 6:30-8 p.m.

For more information about Greenwood Park, contact the Greenwood Neighborhood Neighborhood Service Center at 684-4096 or www.greenwood-park.org.

Mayor recommends matching fund recipients

On May 23, Mayor Paul Schell announced recommendations for Neighborhood Matching Fund awards to 13 community projects.

Recommendations for North Seattle projects were as follows: $125,000 for Loyal Heights Elementary Playfield improvements; $71, 890 for Haller Lake Community Club accessibility improvements including an elevator; $100,00 to install public art to enhance the Wallingford Steps project, and $18,675 to restore habitat area at the west end of the Last Open Space park in Lake City.

The City Council is expected to approve the recommendations in June. For more information, call 684-0464.

Work set to begin on Meridian Playground

After over two years of organizing and fundraising, Friends of Meridian Playground will finally see their dreams realized.

Ground breaking at Meridian playground, located behind the Good Shephard Center in Wallingford, is set to begin in June. The project will include new playground equipment, landscaping and literature-inspired artwork.

Friends of Meridian Playground is still accepting volunteers and donors to help complete the project. For more information, contact Lisa Kuh at 545-3715.