Speaking near the southwest footings of the South Park bridge on the Duwamish River, Governor Christine Gregoire handed a $20 million check to King County Executive Dow Constantine for additional funding from the State of Washington to build a replacement for the ailing and soon to be closed structure.

The Seattle City Council, speaking through Richard Conlin announced it would provide an additional $15 million. A letter was sent pledging their support.

King County already has $30 million secured and the Port of Seattle has $5 million ready to go.

This brings the total funding available to $70 million or roughly half the total cost of demolition and replacement.
Constantine announced he would be seeking a Tiger II Grant to complete the funding, since the original Tiger Grant was declined.
Tiger II is a $600 million competitive grant program included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

Also speaking at the event were King County Councilmembers Bob Ferguson and Julia Patterson, Port of Seattle Commissioner Gayle Tarleton, and South Park Bridge Coalition Co-Chairs Dagmar Cronn and Larry Brown.

The bridge will close Wednesday, June 30, ay 7pm.

The South Park community has organized a "South Park Bridge Wake" June 30th from 6-10pm to mark the closing.

Although the principal focus of the wake is to bemoan the loss of the bridge, South Park residents, including business owners, artists and musicians are stepping up to showcase the community’s diversity. According to a press release, the Duwamish Tribal drummers will cross the bridge in the minutes before its closure at 7pm. Muralists from South Park Arts will be painting the bridge, “transforming the structure from defunct infrastructure into artistic force.” (South Park Arts website, www.southparkarts.org) Bagpipers will play during the final raising of the leaves, followed by music from a New Orleans Funeral Band, a Latino Roots/Folk band, and a Blues Band. South Park restaurants, like the popular Muy Macho, will be offering food specials, and local organizations will be tabling to showcase the variety of activities and services in the neighborhood.

For additional information about the South Park Bridge Wake, please contact Elise Roberts or Bill Pease at ECOSS, (Environmental Coalition of South Seattle.)

www.ecoss.org or phone (206) 767-0432