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BUILDING A NEW BALLARD BRANCH & NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICE CENTER
DESIGN UPDATE MEETING RECAP
7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 18, 2003
Adams Elementary School, 6110 28th Ave. N.W.

More than 60 people from the community attended this meeting to discuss current design development for the new Ballard Branch and Ballard Neighborhood Service Center. The Seattle Public Library capital program director Alexandra Harris started the meeting with welcoming comments and introductions of Library Board President Linda Larson; David Traylor from the Citizen Implementation Review Panel (CIRP); Sibyl de Haan, Ballard Branch manager; Pamela LaBorde, Ballard Branch staff; David Kunselman, library capital projects manager for the Ballard Branch; Peter Bohlin, Robert Miller and Stephen Gibson from Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, project architects; Donald Fels, the artist for the Ballard Branch; Teresa Rodriguez, of the City’s Fleets and Facilities department; Rob Mattson, coordinator of the Ballard Neighborhood Service Center; and DaVonna Johnson, from the city’s Department of Neighborhoods. Additionally, community members of the Ballard Library Project Advisory Committee (BLPAC) were identified and asked to stand if present. Members of the BLPAC are: Michael Carsiotis, Mahlon Clements, Lynda Emel, Cynthia Felice, Dionne Haroutunian, Christy McDanold, Scott Surdyke, Paul Tomita, Harriet Towne and Thomas Whittemore.

Peter Bohlin and Robert Miller talked about the project and its progress, and showed illustrations of current design development for the branch and neighborhood service center. They showed a model of the building and a PowerPoint presentation of the plans and elevations.

Donald Fels introduced his team and spoke about his concepts for the art for the project. He is planning to collect environmental data from roof-mounted anemometers and convert it to a lighted interpretation of the information. This will be part of a sculpture that will be hung from the ceiling along the entry axis of the branch. The data will also be mixed with other sound and used to create a composition that can be heard in the neighborhood service center.

Yvonne Sanchez, director of the city’s Department of Neighborhoods, spoke briefly about the neighborhood service center and her continued excitement about the project. This was followed by a question and answer session. Comments and questions raised were:

• It would be good if the neighborhood service center sound art audio system could be used for other purposes, such as broadcasting meetings being held elsewhere. Can the public have input on the art audio content? Response: The public will be asked to suggest places in Ballard where content should be recorded.
• Can citizens add to audio art in the neighborhood service center on an ongoing basis? Response: Yes, the public can contribute to the recordings.
• Suggest the children’s area have cubbies for coats, diaper bags, etc., and a dedicated card catalog computer available for parents so they can look stuff up while watching their kids.
• The front porch could become unsafe and unwelcoming if it becomes a hangout for groups of people.
• How will the design and location of street furniture and bike racks be determined? Response: There are guidelines for such features in the Ballard Civic Center Municipal Master Plan. We will do further design on these aspects. We will have bike racks at the branch, both at street level and in the garage.
• Check out the audio clips about immigration available at the Nordic Heritage Museum for possible use at the neighborhood service center.
• Could the library and neighborhood service center accommodate a chess and checkers club or a farmer’s market? Response: The branch and neighborhood service center will be diagonally across the street from a new park, which could accommodate some of these activities.
• What about those who are saturated with technology as a stimulus? The audio and visual components of art should not be busy or distracting.
• As requested, computer locations were pointed out on the library plan.
• As an additional art project, supported by grant funding, tracking sun paths across the lobby floor and walls could be done as a community art project to create a sundial. Might be good project for the Seniors Making Art program or for kids. (This project is not included in the current art scope and would require additional grant funding.)

Linda Larson discussed the next steps for the project:

• Seattle Design Commission design development review scheduled April 3, 2003
• Begin construction documents phase
• Take possession of bank building in late summer 2003; begin hazardous materials survey work, followed by abatement
• Begin demolition end of 2003
• Complete construction end of 2004/beginning of 2005
• Grand opening date to be determined

Plans are available on the Library’s Web site at www.spl.org.

The meeting was concluded with a reminder to have people send comments to Library staff or e-mail the capital program office at capital.program@spl.org. People can also contact capital project manager David Kunselman at 386-4096 or by e-mail at david.kunselman@spl.org. The meeting ended at 8:30 p.m.

Content Modified: Content Modified: 3 April 2003

12/30/2005

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