June 2010

After 80 years of service, the last pedestrian, bicycle rider, and motor vehicle crossed the double-leaf bascule South Park Bridge bridge at about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 30. A bittersweet neighborhood event coined a "wake" celebrated the closing, and while Mayor McGinn, Seattle Councilmembers Richard Conlin, Sally Clark, Tom Rassmussen, and other dignitaries attended, the bridge was the star of the show.

It seemed many in the crowd expressed a mixture of frustration and hope. The bridge was laid to rest, but with $80 million raised for a new bridge, there seemed a spark of optimism among politicians and neighborhood residents.

"I just thought it was important to be down here," said Mayor Mike McGinn, dressed in casual attire. "This bridge is a real loss to the community so I wanted to come down and be with them. There's a lot of movement on the funding and the city will do its share but there are still some hurdles to come so I hope we can put it together."

Gordon Wittenmyer knew what he wanted when he burst through the door at the Chicago Tribune.

"I thought I could just go in there, like in Spokane," said Wittenmyer, who was immediately ushered out. "I couldn't even get in."

The 19-year-old Eastern Washington University student had fallen in love with the Chicago Cubs as a youth, and wanted a job covering the team for a newspaper. The Tribune was the one he wanted.

Wrong time, wrong paper.

Wittenmyer eventually wound up in the Windy City following the Cubs, only for the rival Chicago Sun-Times.

"I was asked in an interview what I saw myself doing in five years, and I said covering the Cubs for the Tribune," Wittenmyer said. "I wound up covering them, but not for the Tribune, and it took a lot longer."

Wittenmyer stepped right into the role of a professional journalist while attending Eastern.

The 1983 graduate of Federal Way High School worked as a freelance sports writer for the Federal Way News, and wound up working all over the Northwest.

"I've known these people for 70 years. Don't let anyone tell you the are 69."

That was Ted Dooley, graduate of St. Alphonsus School in Ballard, talking about his former classmates, who met each other in first grade in 1932, during a reunion June 30 at Ballard Brothers Seafood & Burgers.

Of the 30 members of 1932 first-grade class, 15 are still alive, and reunion organizer Roman Miller said he expected eight to 10 to show up.

The group of friends first reunited 30 years ago, and it had been a while since their last reunion, Jackie Gross Mitchell said.

The reunion was being held at Ballard Brothers because classmate Frank Traverso owns the building.

Ballard Big Picture is a column of scenes from around the neighborhood. If you would like to submit a photo for use on this site and in the Ballard News-Tribune, please send it to Michael Harthorne at michaelh@robinsonnews.com. Be sure to include your name and information about your photo.

Long time Shell station owner Eric Elsey has switched gears, opting to pump Union 76 beginning next week at his station in Des Moines.

Elsey said his agreement with Shell expired allowing him to choose the type of fuel he wanted to sell. While the colors may change at the popular service station, the expert mechanic work and friendly staff will stay the same.

West Seattle actor, Scott Bessho portrays Mr. Cox in the comedy opera "Cox and Box" about a greedy landlord who rents a room to two different men who work two different shifts without their knowing about it until, of course, they find out. This play, and the classic HMS Pinafore will be performed at the Bagley Wright Theatre at Seattle Center.

Times are:

July 9-11, 15-18, and 22-24.

For ticket information check out: http://www.pattersong.org/

Also, check out our story about radio personality David Ross and the G&S Society's new performance space in Ballard here:

http://www.ballardnewstribune.com/2010/06/10/news/gilbert-sullivan-open…

Republished from June 30.

For most people, Fourth of July means barbecues, flags and fireworks. For members of the medical community, it can also mean burns, facial injuries and amputations.

"I can share war stories because these are war-like injuries," said Dr. Raymond Jarris Jr., an emergency medical physician at Swedish Medical Center in Ballard.

He said fireworks that are not handled properly and with care can result in destroyed hands and faces, amputated tissue, injuries from flying debris, burns, loss of an eye, loss of hearing and tattooing, which occurs when powder or chemicals from fireworks get underneath the skin and cause discoloration.

Jarris said Ballard is fortunate in that it is a very responsible community, and Swedish/Ballard does not typically see a lot of injuries from fireworks, though they do occur.

Residents should focus on prevention and safety and let the medical community be there to cover the mishaps, Jarris said.

First, Fourth of July celebrators should stick to "safe and sane" fireworks, he said. Illegal fireworks particularly cause hand injuries that may require amputation.

Three Junction area business each held car washes June 25 to raise money for the West Seattle Food Bank and Haiti relief. The "ringleaders" included organizer Terry Gagnon of State Farm, Jim Sansburn of John L. Scott, and Rich Bianchi of Keller Williams. True Value donated hoses, buckets, mitts and other washing supplies. Total raised was $2597.05. Of that, $2,020 goes to the food bank. We reported the car wash here.

Checks and cash were presented June 30 to the Food Bank's Fran Yeatts and Anna Guitchounts.

Pam Carter of True Value also engaged 10 West Seattle High School cheerleaders to volunteer washing cars, including her daughter, Jamie. Quang Vo of State Farm pitched in, as did Jack Miller of Husky Deli. Five members of Mars Hill Church also volunteered.

"I want to thank the entire West Seattle community for participating and hope we can do a better job washing cars next time," said Gagnon.

The South Park Bridge will close permanently today at 7 PM, the victim of age and deterioration. The South Park community will hold a "Wake" today at 14th and Cloverdale beginning at 6:00 PM. with live music and a toast to the bridge.

It is looking more likely almost by the day that it wiil be replaced, with major sources of funding for a new bridge coming from the State of Washington to King County to the Transportation Improvement Board.

The Transportation Improvement Board plays a key role in providing state grants to support local transportation projects. The total funding package for the South Park Bridge is now $80 million or more than half the $140 million needed to build the replacement.

At the wake there will be a moment of silence, a toast and bagpipes will play as the leaves of the bridge are raised for the last time.

In many cities the waterfront is tied to the downtown core in ways physical, economic, cultural and visual. In Seattle we've had the Alaskan Way Viaduct, which has served as a barrier of sorts for the development of the waterfront and the City of Seattle is moving ahead with the proposed deep bore tunnel in mind to begin to reclaim the waterfront land by getting designs in place to make it what it could be. To that end the city is asking for people and companies to submit their qualifications to reshape the area and recreate the waterfront once the shadow of the viaduct is gone.

The City of Seattle press release:
Taking a major step towards reshaping its most important waterfront space, the City of Seattle today issued a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for the design of the Central Waterfront.

The city is seeking a multidisciplinary team of exceptional talent and experience to design:
- More than nine acres of new public space;
- A new multi-modal surface street that will run from King Street to Elliott and Western avenues along Alaskan Way and the existing SR99 alignment; and

A plan submitted by community members to rezone Greenwood's Town Center would allow for a more pedestrian-friendly commercial core, but it could also bring greater development into single-family neighborhoods.

The rezone proposal, which was developed by the Greater Greenwood Design & Development Group, would affect the area between the west side of Third Avenue Northwest, the north side of Northwest 87th Street, Palatine Avenue North and south side of Northwest 85th Street.

Subarea 1 of the proposed rezone, the site of the current Fred Meyer and future Fred Meyer redevelopment, would be changed from a mix of Low-rise, Commercial and Neighborhood Commercial zones into Neighborhood Commercial with a 65-foot height limit.

According to the Greater Greenwood Design & Development Group, the rezone of Subarea 1 could make the area more pedestrian friendly, add housing and promote small businesses. But, it could also increase traffic and demands on parking, reduce neighborhood affordability and change the neighborhood's character.