The food concession at Seacrest Park, 1660 Harbor Ave. s.w. has been handled by Alki Crab and Fish for the past seven years. But now Seattle Parks, which owns the land, has, after a review of a request for proposals determined that Marination Mobile has been awarded the lease. Owned by Roz Edison and Kamala Saxton the company maintains a mobile food truck that is in a different location every day. They visit West Seattle on Saturdays parking at 35th and Graham Street.

Alki Crab and Fish, owned by Eric Galanti and his father Rick, also owners of the Admiral Pub have filed a formal letter of protest with the Seattle City Council.

Since the space is also occupied by sub lessor Alki Kayak this has implications for owner Greg Whittaker and staff too and he's joined the Galanti's letter.

If Marination is successful in its bid they will transition into the space between April and June of next year.

The original request for proposal from the Seattle Parks Department went out in late August and a timetable was set for questions, responses, evaluations, recommendations and finally notifications.

Whittaker said, "We dont know what will happen, but we hope to negotiate something with Seattle Parks and Recreation."

The Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) outlined the site background and current situation in the RFP:

"The Seacrest Boathouse operated as a boat rental and retail sales of fishing equipment business for over 30 years and has proven to be popular with park visitors. However, the amount of revenues generated from this line of businesses was insufficient to sustain a profitable operation. DPR publicly advertised a Request for Proposal (RFP) process in 1999 and Alki Crab and Fish Company’s response proposed a restaurant at the site in addition to the fishing and boating operation. Alki Crab and Fish Company completed renovation of the kitchen including a fire wall and has been operating since the renovation for ten years. During that time Alki Crab and Fish Company requested to add a license to sell alcohol at the site and DPR granted the request dependent upon all state requirements, permits and additional insurance requirements are met at the sole expense of the concessionaire. The long term agreement that was approved by Seattle City Council in 2001 expired on June 30, 2011. DPR granted an extension with the current concessionaire through June 30, 2012 or until this RFP process is finalized, whichever occurs first."

"DPR believes that the continuation of a restaurant service with a Café theme is best suited for this location but will entertain all proposals for food service at this facility, including catering. Proposers should be aware that DPR is requesting proposals in which a restaurant is the main component. Therefore, the proposed food service facility may not be exclusively intended for catering.

The concessionaire must submit a menu with the proposal. Items and prices will be subject to DPR’s approval. Wine, beer and alcohol may be served in an enclosed area with all state requirements and permits met at the sole expense of the concessionaire. The sale of additional items is subject to DPR approval."

Roz Edison of Marination Mobile said, "Marination is thrilled to have been awarded the contract by the Parks Department to assume the operations of Seacrest. We are excited and honored to have the opportunity to strengthen and deepen our roots in West Seattle, but by no means was it ever our intention to get into a battle with an existing small business, and certainly not to take another small business "out of business." Based on the information presented in the RFP, we honestly assumed that we would be "competing" with all new concessionaire bidders. We respect Alki Fish and Crab's decision to appeal the Parks decision, and we have faith in the Parks due diligence to look into this matter."

Sarah Chadd a "regular customer of theirs" has formed her own petition on SignOn.org to assist Marination Mobile. "I support their business model very strongly. They're a very progressive business that I think has done great things for the community. She's seeking at least 50 signatures.

But there's also a petition to "Save Alki Crab & Fish" sponsored by local diver/photographer Laura James. She was seeking 400 signatures and has gone well beyond that. James said, "There are fantastic people there that need their jobs saved. They are part of a larger community. The diving community, the kayaking community. (...) What I do feel very strongly is that the community that Alki Crab and Fish has developed is based on the fact that they've been there for so long (...) They are always there for us. They've been there for diving accidents, and Yvonne the manager has been instrumental in calling the aid cars and helping us out. And it's thanks to them that we were able to put in an AED device (automated external defibrillator) after there was an incident where we lost a diver."

This story will be updated.