Crown Hill Center, Gilbert & Sullivan

Gilbert & Sullivan Housewarming and Open Rehearsal, June 8th, 2010

G&S Housewarming & Open Rehearsal
(click to enlarge)

The Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan Society cordially invites all members of the Crown Hill community for a gala housewarming and open rehearsal preview of selections from their upcoming productions HMS Pinafore and Cox and Box.

Tuesday, June 8th, 2010
7PM
Crown Hill Center
9250 14th Ave NW
FREE!

Perhaps you noticed all the construction going on in the former covered play courts behind the Crown Hill Center? The newest center tenants completely transformed the space most recently used for storage into a palatial production facility and rehearsal space.  Now we’re all being invited to celebrate their arrival with tours of the new facility and previews of selections from their upcoming productions. For those not acquainted with the G&S Society’s productions, they are grand affairs with a cast of more than 40 performers, and tremendous musicality.

HMS Pinafore, a rollicking, sea-going comic opera, shreds class distinctions and pompous bureaucracy in the Royal Navy. The heroes are British Tars and the laughing stock is the First Lord of the Admiralty, who wants to marry the Captain’s daughter. She in turn loves a member of the crew.

Cox and Box, the 19th century version of “The Odd Couple,” features two inadvertent roommates sharing a shady landlord and a fiancee that neither cares for.

Both shows have happy endings. There is no charge for admission. Free show posters and postcards. Complementary refreshments. Show T-Shirts will be available for purchase.

Parks & Greenspace, Sustainability

Tree Survey Question (still looking for responses)

In August 2009 we published a tree survey questionnaire here. We got quite a few responses, but we’re looking for more. Our grant proposal is currently being reviewed has been approved for funding by the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods. If approved, We will contract with an arborist to survey the neighborhood for trees, but Crown Hill is a large area to survey, and we can ensure the trees we think are significant are looked at by the arborist by identifying as many as possible ahead of time. We’ll be sponsoring a neighborhood walk in September 2010, and publishing a push-pin type map (similar to the one below) showing the trees.  Please take a look around and submit trees you think are significant whether they are in your yard, a neighbors yard, a public space. UPDATE (May 2010): Our grant proposal was approved for funding by the DON. The questionnaire is still open, so take a look at the updated map below and submit more trees. Thanks


View Crown Hill Tree Map in a larger map

To see the map larger and with a descriptive legend, click here.

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Traffic, Transportation

15th Ave NW Traffic Cameras Now Working

Traffic Camera 15th Ave NW, NW 85th St
15th and 85th (click to go to Traveler's Information Map)

The traffic cameras at NW 85th St. and 15th Ave NW have now gone live, and are beaming back minute by minute images of the intersection.  The cameras were installed earlier in the year at 15th and 85th, 15th and 65th, 15th and Market, and 15th and Leary. They are available on the Department of Transportation’s Travelers Information Map. Refreshing this page will update the image if a new image is available.

These are traffic information cameras designed to provide close to real-time information about traffic congestion. During the Alaska Way Viaduct replacement project, 15th Ave NW is projected to receive additional traffic and these cameras will also provide information to manage the additional traffic. The images from 15th Ave NW and NW 85th  will not be used to issue traffic citations. However, red light cameras are installed for both North- and South-bound traffic at 15th Ave NW and NW 80th.

Other traffic cameras:

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Crown Hill Center, Parks & Greenspace

Crown Hill Park Meeting Wrap-up

Crown Hill Park Meeting

On April 28th, 2010, more than 50 community members gathered in room 4 of the Crown Hill Center (formerly Crown Hill Elementary School) to hear about, see and provide community input on the latest plans for the soon to be Crown Hill Park. Kim Baldwin, Pamela Alspaugh, and Shwu-Jen Hwang of the Seattle Parks and Recreation Dept presented the latest version of the schematic for the new park. Lynn Wirta (former director of Small Faces) presented the latest version of the schematic for the playground which will be on the adjoining Crown Hill Project/Small Faces property.

April 2010 Schematic Park Plan
April 2010 Schematic Park Plan (click to view full size)

The last schematic (developed in 2006) was out of date, and needed to be updated to reflect the change in ownership of the park and school land. When the plan was last looked at, the future park land and buildings were owned by the Seattle School District. Subsequently, the School District surplussed the property and the Crown Hill Project acquired the building(s) and associated land on the northern portion, while the city acquired the actual park land on the southern portion.  In the map below, the park property is shown in green while the Crown Hill Project property is shown in red and blue. Additionally, the project has suffered delays due to the temporary relocation of SFD Fire Station #35 to the southernmost portion of the property. The fire station will be relocating to its newly revamped headquarters in late summer or early fall, clearing the way for the development of the new park.

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