November 2005

People have been wondering what's to become of the Southgate Skating Rink.

The 85-year-old White Center landmark closed in midsummer after a suspicious fire in a storage lot next door scorched the south wall of the building.

Rink owner Tom Brown said his family decided to temporarily close the skating rink after the blaze. Although the structure took $2,500 worth of fire and smoke damage, the skating rink faced an even bigger problem.

"People are not skating as much," Brown said. The days of skating to disco music are long gone.

A new four-story house under construction on Beach Drive has a nearby property owner upset about losing part of the view of Puget Sound because he contends the new structure is taller than what the zoning allows.

The site in the 4200 block of Beach Drive Southwest is zoned L-2 with a height limit of 25 feet, but that pertains to flat-roof buildings. If there's a pitched roof on the building, the structure can be 35 feet high. The new house has a pitched roof.

David Hammond and his brother own a four-story apartment building on the other side of Beach Drive.

Kenyon Hall, one of West Seattle's first performance venues, has often been labeled the place to go for vaudeville and old-fashioned entertainment.

But manager Lou Magor would characterize his unusual venue another way.

"We are a community hall and as that we just want to provide a place where people can come and enjoy themselves."

That has been the case since 1916 when the building was constructed.

Did you know Mother Goose grew up in West Seattle, White Center, and Beacon Hill, is a West Seattle High School graduate, and resides here still?

Well, it's so!

Elsbeth and I were having lunch at Coffee to a Tea with Sugar last week, a funky little eatery at the Junction that specializes in fancy pastries and light lunches of sandwiches and soups.

This interesting spot on California Avenue is a popular place for all sorts of groups looking for a convenient spot to hold meetings, have a tasty dessert and Coffee to a Tea with Sugar (or without).

Many of the patrons bring their youngsters because they have lot of things for kids to play on. Favorites on the pastry trays are the french apple tarts. Rugelach cookies are second.

Steve Clark

If the Ballard Locks continues to operate the way they are now, they will run out of money in June. So that doesn't happen, Army Corps of Engineers staff will have to make changes in how the almost 90 year old landmark operates, perhaps with workforce reductions that could do away with the practice of the locks staying open 24 hours a day. Those changes may happen soon, with little warning.

That was the message delivered at a public information meeting held Tuesday night at the Ballard High School Library by the Army Corps of Engineers, who operate the locks.

Dean Wong

"Inherit the Wind," is an ambitious new play by students in the Ballard High School drama department dealing with the subject of evolution.

Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee wrote the play in 1955 as a fictional account of the real-life trial of John Scopes .

Dean Wong

Five new granite stones with etchings representing Scandinavian countries were installed last week in Bergen Place, thanks to a group of volunteers dedicated to giving the park more of a Nordic theme.

Friends of Bergen place was formed earlier this year to clean up the park's kiosk, add the granite sculptures and do other improvements.

A total of $5,000 was donated to Friends of Bergen Place from city funds allocated by Department of Neighborhoods toward the granite project.

Steve Clark

A group formed to spotlight neighborhood crime in Ballard's north end got off to a stunning start last week. Greenwood Aurora Involved Neighbors or GAIN held their first public forum on Wednesday, October 26, in a standing room only cafeteria at the Greenwood Elementary School on Northwest 80th Street.