Seattle Sun Newspaper - Vol. 7, Issue 9, September 2003
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City acquires open space site
By CLAYTON and SUSAN PARK
Mayor Greg Nickels recently announced the City's plans to acquire a half-acre open space property next to Thornton Creek Park No. 6.
The property, on the south side of NE 105th Street, between 5th Avenue NE and 8th Avenue NE, includes a 140-foot stretch of Thornton Creek.
The soon-to-be acquired open space property had long been identified as a top acquisition priority in the Thornton Creek watershed by the City's Parks and Recreation department and by citizens involved in preserving and restoring the creek.
Funding for the purchase, which is expected to be completed this fall, will come from the Pro Parks levy, approved by Seattle voters in 2000.
When complete, the new acquisition will facilitate creek restoration efforts and provide a good location for environmental education already being conducted at Thornton Creek Park No. 6 by students from nearby Olympic View and Viewlands Elementary schools.
The mayor did not disclose the amount of the deal or the seller of the property.
Levy funds have also helped fund the purchase and preservation of other sites in the Thornton Creek watershed. On July 31, a property along the Morningside Creek tributary was purchased on NE 95th Street near 27th Avenue NE.
Nickels made the announcement on Aug. 16 before a gathering of about three dozen people in the parking lot of the recently opened temporary Northgate Branch Library at 10548 5th Ave. NE. The occasion was a "Clean Seattle" event to clean up Thornton Creek Park No. 6 as well as sidewalks in the Northgate/Maple Leaf area along Fifth Avenue NE and Roosevelt Way.
The cleanup included picking up litter, weeding out invasive plants, mulching newly planted native plants, and stenciling of future storm drains.
A similar cleanup was held in July at the Wallingford Steps/Gas Works Park area.
Volunteers participating in the Northgate/Maple Leaf cleanup included neighbors, several City employees including Ed Pottharst, director of the Lake City Neighborhood Service Center, Cheryl Klinker of Thornton Creek Alliance, members of the Church of Scientology, and several blue-shirted employees from Northgate Mall, including Gary Weber, leasing manager for the shopping center, and members of Varsity Contractors, the company that provides maintenance and operations services at the mall. Varsity Contractors volunteers included operations director Michael Hansen, Rhian Mahaney, Marie Morris, Dave Nicacio, Jensen Pagba and Jeremy Peppard.
The State Department of Corrections and King County Youth Detention Center also provided work teams for the event.
Shortly after Nickels' speech, as volunteers were dispersing from the parking lot to begin cleanup efforts, Parks Department spokeswoman Catherine Anstett spotted a large blue heron flying overhead, west towards Northgate Mall across the street.
"That's auspicious," she remarked, added that she suspected that it was headed towards a pond in a wetlands area on the other side of the mall, near the freeway.