At the Sunset Hill Community Club, nearly 30 community members huddled over pieces of paper, colored markers working as furiously as ideas were being thrown around, to create their ideal community space.

The exercise was part of a Feb. 23 meeting to develop a proposal for the former Seattle City Light substation site on Sunset Hill.

A group of neighbors received a $15,000 grant from the Department of Neighborhoods to conduct a feasibility study of the land located behind Ristorante Picolino's on the corner of Northwest 65th Street and 32nd Avenue Northwest.

Dave Boyd from Groundswell NW said the goal is to get the neighborhood excited about the project and develop a good pitch to convince City Light, which owns the property, to let them use it or to convince Seattle Parks and Recreation to purchase it.

The main idea for the site is to have solar-power generators over an area of community space on the 6,300-square-foot lot. That left a lot of room for the community to exercise its creativity.

Some of the ideas being thrown around in the four groups of seven or eight neighbors included charging stations for electric cars, artistic displays of the power being generated, space for adult physical fitness, artists' cottages, a source for Wi-Fi, playground equipment and sunny seating areas.

At the end of the meeting, each of the four groups presented their design for the former substation lot.

The first group wanted a heated community areas and a storage shed for games, art supplies and a movie screen. They included an open play area for croquet and bocce ball, as well as a structure from which to view the Cascades.

The second group designed the space with a playground accessible from Picolino's outdoor dining area and multiple cottages for artists. They also included an herb garden, seating area and kiln.

Group three developed the most ambitious design in terms in energy generation. They envisioned the solar generators extending from the park over the sidewalk on 65th Street, the alley on 32nd Avenue and Picolino's roof. They also included energy generating play equipment for children and adults and an artist's loft with community studio space.

The fourth group wanted a more organic area with wind and water sculptures, rocks for sitting and a distinctive entrance, such as at Wallingford's Meridian Playground, on 65th Street.

Click here to see the sketches from all four groups.

CAST Architecture from Fremont will take the neighborhood's ideas and use them to create three potential designs for the space.

CAST opened the meeting by presenting four themes culled from prior community meetings and public comments as a way of developing a vision statement for the project. The themes are:

1. Public land should remain public land; vacant city properties should become open space.
2. Incorporate renewable energy technologies that allow power generation and public use to coexist.
3. The space should be actively managed and maintained by the community that uses it.
4. The project should contribute to meeting civic and regional goals for carbon emissions reduction.

Meeting attendees wondered if themes two and four were too similar and if it is too early in the design process to tell if theme three will be feasible.

CAST has set up www.sunsetsubstation.org, where they hope residents will give more feedback on the themes, designs and other aspects of the project.

The next meeting, during which CAST will present its three designs, is scheduled for March 24 at the Sunset Hill Community Club.

But, the future community space is no certain thing.

Seattle City Light still owns the land and announced plans to sell it.

"It's going to be an uphill battle to get Parks and City Light onboard with this," Boyd said.

Robert Drucker of the Sunset Hill Community Association said the goal is to convince City Light that the land could be more than a demonstration project.

"We’re talking about a real, functioning part of the city’s energy infrastructure," he said.