Presidents’ Message
Our February speaker, David Williams, was captivating as he explained how Seattle was reshaped to improve trade and transit. He spoke at length about reclaiming the Duwamish mudflats south of town (stadium area), and you don’t want to know what is under there, but some day archaeologists might enjoy the multi-layers. The second area of reshaping was the Denny Regrade, which was a monumental task with the removed dirt being transported to Elliott Bay and dumped there. David had many old photos which he projected, and there seemed to be a constant stream of onlookers watching the leveling of Denny Hill. The third reshaping was the Montlake cut and the Locks; the original thought seemed to be that large ships would enter Lake Washington, but that didn’t happen. More shoreline was exposed as the lake level dropped and Leschi’s lakeside businesses benefitted. David graciously signed copies of his book for us after the meeting.
LURC (Land Use Review Committee) has been a big boon to the Central Area; they tackle projects early and give community input. Without this group, big projects would just occur and we would wish that we had been able to give some input before the project was completed. The value of the LURC process was apparent in the early review of the Promenade redo by Vulcan. Jeff Floor (LCC Board) is co-chair of LURC and brings us up to date on this impressive project (see page 4).
A big concern in this area is the fate of the small businesses along 23rd. The original agreement with SDOT was that the work would be confined to the stretch between Jackson and Cherry and once completed, they would move on to the next phase, Cherry to Union. Before we realized what was happening, it seems everything was torn up and even extending past Union, which should have been Phase 3. So two years of community meetings and agreements were for naught. Please read Barbara Parker’s (Madrona News editor) article on this problem on the following page, and please try to patronize these struggling businesses while the construction work is going on. We attended a meeting on 2/6/16 of business owners and Kshama Sawant at the 701 Coffee Shop (NW corner of Cherry & 23rd) and ordered a Mocha Latte; it was delicious! Neighbors said the bagel sandwich is also a treat with the owner’s own cashew butter spread.
We have begun planning for our annual Art Walk and invite interested persons to join the group as we want to expand into the park this year and we can use creative ideas! We are meeting on the 4th Thursday of each month at 3pm. at BluWater Bistro. Please join us!
Please note the article on the LCC elections (see page 6), which are held in May. Officers are term-limited, and as we step down, we need some new energy in these positions. We would also like to identify someone who is interested in helping with the newsletter as an associate editor. If you are interested, please email leschinews@comcast.net.
Be the change you want to see in the world. ~Gandhi
~Diane Morris & Diane Snell