Our new playground design was presented to the Wallingford Community Council on Tuesday, Dec. 3rd. Daniel Winterbottom and Jennifer Szabo described the entire plan, including public amenities and the cultural themes of creative play. Kelly Aramaki, members of the steering committee and a JSIS parent and student attended the meeting to show support. The presentation ended with the topic of fundraising and community building in this area of Wallingford. The council praised the plan and recommended advertising our project at Wallingford Park and on the Council's website.
On January 7, 2009 Seattle Parks Superintendent, Tim Gallagher, will attend the next WCC meeting. The Hamilton/Wallingford Park interface 65% design will be presented. The intent of Gallagher's attendance is to gather community input on how the Parks and Recreation Department can work successfully with the neighborhood in the future. This will be an ideal opportunity to show our support for the playground upgrades. Our playground is a pocket park for the neighborhood and should complement Wallingford Park. With support from city departments such as Parks, our fundraising options expand. Please consider attending this meeting.
The new Master Site Plan will soon be posted on the playground blog site which is accessed via the JSIS website at jsisweb.com. The design team will be meeting independently with Gretchen Dedecker at Seattle School District to gain her explicit approval. Landmarks Board will also review the plan. Finalization of the plan with these approvals should occur in early January. The steering committee will be completing our grant obligations with the Department of Neighborhoods by the end of January. Our hope is to apply for the large grant in February to enable us to begin the playground renovation later this year. Stay tuned for opportunities to make the playground a reality.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Saturday, November 15, 2008
2008 Playground Effort Blog: Playground Update
On Thursday, November 6th, Daniel Winterbottom and Jennifer Szabo presented the final master site plan for the entire JSIS school site. Their plan is packed with active play structures, dynamic slides, seating, quiet refuges, games, trees and picnic tables. The plan addresses three distinct areas on the school grounds; the southern playground, the kindergarten play area with the northwest garden and the eastern building entry with the northwest school sign. In each of these three areas the design team incorporated themes and elements that were preferred in the public design workshops. The plan successfully reflects the diverse cultures and creative minds that participated in the design. It also incorporates many opportunities for artist and student participation in construction.
About 20 adults attended the unveiling and applauded the completion of the master plan. Questions regarding safety, lighting, grading, construction timing and funding were discussed. The design team presented rough construction costs for the three areas of the site as well as phasing plans. The rough grand total cost for all improvements came in at $1.3 million. This cost can be broken out into many mini-phases of construction depending on funds available and interest from parents and community members. Gretchen DeDecker with the school district attended the meeting and contributed to the brief brainstorming session regarding funding sources. The Department of Neighborhoods, the school district, Vulcan and Starbucks were all mentioned as possible funding sources for construction and final design. There is also the possibility of developing a safer pedestrian connection between our school and the Burke Gilman trail by linking the playground improvements with the Lake Union Loop trail development by the City of Seattle. There are currently no playgrounds along the the new Lake Union Loop trail.
About 20 adults attended the unveiling and applauded the completion of the master plan. Questions regarding safety, lighting, grading, construction timing and funding were discussed. The design team presented rough construction costs for the three areas of the site as well as phasing plans. The rough grand total cost for all improvements came in at $1.3 million. This cost can be broken out into many mini-phases of construction depending on funds available and interest from parents and community members. Gretchen DeDecker with the school district attended the meeting and contributed to the brief brainstorming session regarding funding sources. The Department of Neighborhoods, the school district, Vulcan and Starbucks were all mentioned as possible funding sources for construction and final design. There is also the possibility of developing a safer pedestrian connection between our school and the Burke Gilman trail by linking the playground improvements with the Lake Union Loop trail development by the City of Seattle. There are currently no playgrounds along the the new Lake Union Loop trail.
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