The Westwood Neighborhood Council wants to lead a public process to create a "community spaces plan" for what it calls the Denny-Sealth-Southwest Community Center Campus.

The group is waiting to see if it's awarded a $15,000 Seattle Department of Neighborhoods matching fund grant that would help hire a facilitator to guide the process, said Steven Fischer, president of the Westwood Neighborhood Council.

It will examine a collection of spaces located in the "heart of the Westwood neighborhood," said Fischer. The scope of the "planning area" includes sites that will undergo major changes during the next few years: a new joint Denny Middle School and Sealth High School shared campus, the present Denny site, the Southwest Athletic Complex and areas around the Southwest community center.

The public areas lack connections with the surrounding community, said Fischer. The athletic fields are fenced off. It's difficult to get from one side of the 4.8-acre Denny campus to the community center without going through isolated areas.

Some areas are rundown, and as a whole, lacks public spaces where the community can comfortable interact.

"Currently, they are disjointed," Fischer said. "It's not accessible to the public at all."

Seattle Public Schools is in the early design phase of a capital project that will demolish the existing Denny school and construct a new one on the Sealth campus. There will also be major renovations to Sealth.

Seattle schools plans to create recreational spaces at the current Denny site once it is demolished in around 2011, said Eleanor Trainor, capital projects community liaison for the district.

Trainor has submitted a letter of support on behalf of the district with the neighborhood council's grant application. In the letter, the district pledges a $15,000 in-kind match, including more than 100 hours of donated professional services, printing, postage and other materials.

"We support it because we want them to be as organized as possible and as involved as possible," said Trainor. "It's always the goal of (Seattle Schools) to do this kind of collaboration with the community. This is certainly a community that is very involved and highly organized."

The community has been critical of the district for not getting notice out about public meetings quick enough. The Denny-Sealth project was approved by voters in February as part of a $490 million capital bond initiative, but the first major public meeting held to discuss the capital project was organized by the Westwood council this past summer.

At another construction meeting two weeks ago, held by Seattle schools this time, community members said the district didn't get the word out in time about that meeting to properly inform the neighborhood.

It's one of the reasons the council is moving for a more active role in the redevelopment of the key neighborhood sites.

"We're really trying to get ahead of the game," said Susan McLain, a member of the Westwood council.

McLain said she envisions a process that works in collaboration with the school district and Seattle Parks and Recreation on possibilities for public spaces that serve students and the neighborhood.

"There is a lot of land there and we see some opportunities that will work well for the community and the district," she said.

Patricia Lopez with the department of neighborhoods said Westwood is competing with 27 other grant applications. Award notifications should be sent out by the first week of November.

If the group receives the grant, a professional landscape architect will be hired to facilitate three community meetings, which will be used to create a formal plan identifying key priorities. A series of design workshops will also help target future goals, said Fischer.

"Extensive outreach" is also planned to involve the area's diverse population. McLain hopes to launch the process in the beginning of next year, with a vision completed by March or April.

Trainor said the district is committed to working with the community regardless of whether or not it receives the grant. To be sure, McLain and Fischer plan to hold the district to its word.

"The district seems glad to have people stepping forward in a more collaborative way," said McLain. "Either way, the Westwood Neighborhood Council is committed to moving forward on this."