Press Release

27 January 2004

PUBLIC INVITED TO FEB. 23 PRESENTATION ON DESIGN OF NORTHGATE LIBRARY/PARKS PROJECT, STREET IMPROVEMENTS

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The Seattle Public Library, Seattle Parks and Recreation and Seattle Department of Transportation invite residents to see images of the new Northgate Branch, community center and park, and to learn more about street improvements planned for Fifth Avenue Northeast.

The meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday, Feb. 23 at Olympic View Elementary School, 504 N.E. 95th St., auditorium/cafeteria.

For more information, call David Kunselman, Library project manager, at (206) 386-4096, Tim Motzer, Parks project manager, at (206) 684-7060, Teresa Platt, SDOT project manager, (206) 684-3507, or visit www.spl.org, www.seattle.gov/parks or www.seattle.gov/transportation.

At the meeting, staff members from the Library, Parks and SDOT will briefly discuss the projects and architects from The Miller/Hull Partnership will explain designs for the library, community center and park. Residents will have an opportunity to ask questions and fill out comment forms.

Attendees also will hear an update about the public artwork. Glass and metal artist Dana Lynn Louis, who lives in Portland, is designing artwork for the branch library. Nikki McClure, a mixed-media artist from Olympia, is designing artwork for the community center. The Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs manages the public art program for the Library and Parks.

The Library, Parks, SDOT, Arts & Cultural Affairs and Lorig Associates, which plans to develop part of the nearby south lot of the Northgate Mall, also will have tables with information about each project.

SDOT will hire a consultant to lead a Northgate Coordinated Transportation Investment Plan to evaluate current and future transportation needs and solutions for transit, autos, pedestrians and bicyclists. Community members are invited to meet the two finalist teams, share

their viewpoints about Northgate transportation, and provide the city with their comments and impressions of the consultant teams.

The Library/Parks project includes building a 10,000-square-foot library, a 20,000-square-foot community center and a 1.67-acre park on the site of the Goodyear store (the former Bon Tire Center) at Fifth Avenue Northeast and Northeast 105th Street and the commercial site one lot north. Two commercial buildings on the property will be demolished.

SDOT will install street medians, sidewalks, and street trees on Fifth Avenue Northeast between Northgate Way and Northeast 105th Street, in the first phase of improvements planned for the street. A pedestrian promenade with an improved crosswalk will connect the new community center and branch with the Northgate Mall entrance.

The Seattle Design Commission also will review the project at 9 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 19 at City Hall, 600 Fourth Ave., Boards and Commissions room, level L2; the public is welcome to attend.

Until construction starts, the Library will operate the Northgate Temporary Service Site on the site at 10548 Fifth Ave. N.E. to help provide service to North Seattle patrons whose branches are closed for “Libraries for All” funded construction. The temporary service site is open 48 hours a week, the same as full-service branches.

The temporary site will close later this year so construction can start on the new community center, branch and park, which are projected to be finished in the second half of 2005.

Funding for the new facilities comes from several sources.

Voters in 1998 approved the Libraries for All bond measure, which included money to build a new library in Northgate. The branch will include a new collection capacity of 40,200 books and materials, reading and homework areas for children and youth, computers, instruction areas, and a meeting room. At the October 2003 meeting, the Seattle Public Library board of trustees revised the budget for capital costs for the branch from $5,337,075 to $5,874,596 to fund unanticipated land costs.

In 1999, Seattle voters approved the community centers levy, which included $8.2 million for a new community center in Northgate. The community center will offer activities such as teen camps, basketball leagues, classes, after-school programs, community meetings, and programs for seniors.

In 2000, Seattle voters approved the Pro Parks Levy, which included nearly $4.4 million for a new park in Northgate. The park will play an important part in addressing the open space needs of the densely developed neighborhood.

Of the $2.1 million for street improvements, $1.8 million is from a federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality grant and the rest is from King County Metro Transit and the City of Seattle.

For more information about "Libraries for All," visit the Library's Web site at www.spl.org; for more information about the community centers levy, please visit the Parks' Web site at http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/parks/Centers/comcenlevyprog99.htm .

 

(For more information, call Caroline Young Ullmann, Library communications assistant, 206-615-1627, or Joelle Ligon, Parks public relations specialist, 206-233-7929, or Marybeth Turner, SDOT public relations specialist, 206-684-8548.)

 

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01/28/2004

Content modified: 28 January 2004