Our Patch is Filled with Peas!

THIS WED! Dec. 1st - Burlap Quilting Bee for John and Summit Park

There is an important 'burlap coffee bean sack quilting' get together tomorrow, Wednesday, all day and evening (9am to 9pm) at the nearby Seattle Presbyterian Church.


Unpaving Paradise will be amending the soil at John and Summit Park this Saturday (Dec. 4th at John and Summit starting at 9am) with rich nutritive greens and browns. When finished UP will put the soil to bed for the winter by covering it with mostly pre-assembled quilted-together burlap coffee bean sacks. UP wants to give a 'nice look' to the garden for the local community to admire over the winter months. Therefore getting the 500+ coffee bean sacks stitched together in shapes mirroring and custom fitting the designed plots is important. Not only for appearance but to quickly and deftly cover the soil without walking on the soil and compacting it.

The plan is to have pre-measured template patterns on the church floor and then to quilt together the coffee bean sacks to fit the patterns. Many of the sacks have been already stitched together in strips so as to save time on Wednesday's assembling project.

The stitching is simple and requires no previous experience. We will have all materials ready for you. And feel free to be creative by sewing in thick colored yarn!

Please come and help out even if only for an hour. There are two volunteers so far who are coming. Consider lending a helping hand.

They have free church parking on the north side of the building and you are allowed to park for free from 7 to 9 pm in the pay parking lot just across the Street (Howell). The Church (located just behind the Seattle Central Community College) is a block south of East Denny. The quilting bee will be in the downstairs Fellowship Hall; entrance thru church's north side parking lot.

1729 Harvard Avenue
Seattle, WA 98122-2227

John & Summit Bedspread Work Party - Saturday, Dec. 4th

We have a Bedspread Work Party coming up. This time we'll be spreading coffee chaff, chocolate mulch and leaves on the beds, then covering the whole thing with burlap "bedspreads" for the winter. Come join the fun!

When: Saturday December 4th, 9AM (Rain, snow or shine . . . we're working!)

What: Distributing organic coffee chaff, chocolate mulch and leaves into the garden beds, then covering it all up with our burlap bedspreads

We won't need shovels, rakes and wheelbarrows this time, just small tarps, buckets and gloves. If you have small tarps, please bring them. We have everything else you'll need to help.

We really need your help! Come and bring your friends, too! We'll be moving soil in rain, snow or shine.

Delicious coffee and treats are being provided!

Please RSVP to Barbara at gingergooddog@gmail.com so we know how many to expect.

(Even if you forget to RSVP, come garden with us!)

A copy of a delightful flyer for you to view and post is coming soon.

See you Saturday!

Help fill the John & Summit P-Patch community garden at the

SOIL-MOVING PARTY!

Friday, Nov. 19 @ 11am
Saturday, Nov. 20 @ 9am

We'll work whether rain, snow or shine. Come by and help all day or just part of the day.

We have the tools, but please bring work gloves, shovels, 5-gallon buckets & wheelbarrows if you have them.

Treats and warm drinks will be provided.

We hope to see you there!

Save the Dates!

Please mark these dates in your calendar:

Friday & Saturday, Nov. 19-20

We'll be getting dirty! And we'll need everyone's help.

More Details to come soon, so check back.

Help get P-Patches included in the new Capitol Hill park

You're Help is Needed!

A new park is coming to Capitol Hill at the corner of Federal & Republican. Help is needed to get P-Patches included in the park. If you would like to get involved or stay informed, join the Federal & Republican listserv by emailing FedRepPark-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

John & Summit P-Patch Nov. 2010 Meeting Agenda

We will covering these topics at the Saturday, Nov. 6 meeting:

• Welcome and introductions


• Being a part of the P-Patch Program
• Individual Responsibilities
• Volunteer Hours and Plot Activity
• Lettuce Link


• Status of Unpaving Paradise P-Patch
  
• Shed
• Compost Bins
• Soil Committee


• Next steps
  
• Join a committee: Soil, Compost, Communication, Stewardship
• Form any additional committees that might be needed

November John & Summit P-Patch Meeting

Join a work committee. Share your thoughts. Learn about the progress made so far and what needs to be done by year end.

Saturday, Nov. 6, 2010 at 10:00 am
Capitol Hill Public Library

Meet and grow with the community. See you there!

Pictures from the 6/5 Capitol Hill Community Garage Sale

Without further ado, pictures from the Unpaving Paradise-sponsored Capitol Hill Community Garage Sale. All photos are courtesy of Dennis Saxman.

6/5 - UP at the Capitol Hill Garage Sale!

What: Capitol Hill Community Garage Sale Day
When: June 5th, 10am to 3pm in the empty 500 E Pine Block, between Summit and Belmont. Times vary at other garage sale map locations
Web: http://www.capitolhillgaragesale.com/

June 5th is the date for the neighborhood spring cleaning extravaganza, The Capitol Hill Community Garage Sale! Come check out the recycled treasures and meet the neighbors at sale sites all over the Hill! The Community Council's Open Space Committee, Unpaving Paradise, is sponsoring the CHCGS again this year and we'd love it if you came to visit our booth at the big community sale site on 500 E Pine St. between Summit and Belmont.

Unpaving Paradise is accepting donations of goods to sell to raise funds for the upcoming John and Summit Park and P-Patch. Please consider donating. Not only is it a great way to pass on your wonderful stuff to other people, the funds go to support a fantastic community garden and green space. Even better, the donation is a tax deductible contribution!

Unpaving Paradise is seeking:

• Tables and chairs for sale day
• Groundcoverings for sale day
• A canopy for sale day
• Volunteers to help with staffing the sale (It'll be fun and you can meet the neighbors!)
  

If you have items to donate or would like to help out at the day of, please email us at unpaving.paradise@gmail.com.

To sign up and participate in the selling good times: Register your sale for free at capitolhillgaragesale.com and be included on the Official Garage Sale Map. Sign up for an affordable $20 community space in the empty lot at Belmont and Pine. (Hurry! Space is limited.)

Groundbreaking and more groundbreaking - Pictures!

First, I want to post a picture of the actual groundbreaking of the park that started just last week!


After two years of work and waiting, this is so exciting to see! (thanks to Shawn Brinsfield for the great picture :)

Now, here are some pictures from our groundbreaking party back in April. While we (sadly) weren't allowed to actually break ground, we did get to celebrate the imminent start of construction for our very own park and P-Patch at John and Summit.







Here's to a quick construction and a park by the end of the summer!

4/17 - Groundbreaking Party for John and Summit Park

After almost two years of hard work, Unpaving Paradise is happy to announce the Groundbreaking Ceremony for the park and P-Patch at John and Summit.

Details will be out next week, but we wanted to give members of the community an opportunity to participate in the celebration by offering a chance to perform. We're looking for a few variety acts, we won't have access to amplification for this event, so bands can't be taken, but if you have a great juggling act or other type of non-electricity needing act, or know someone who would be interested in performing, please contact us at unpaving.paradise(at)gmail.com by Monday, April 12th.

The Groundbreaking is scheduled from 2pm-3pm on Saturday April 17th. Hope to see you there!

Buying the next park on Capitol Hill: Federal and Republican Acquisition

As you may know, the Parks Dept. has been working to acquire the empty lot at Federal and Republican in order develop it as a park. The site is near Lowell Elementary and has been empty for at least two years - it was cleared in expectation of a townhouse development that never occurred. The acquisition of Federal and Republican by Parks Dept. will go forward as long as it is approved by the City Council. The bill for the proposed acquisition will go to a vote in the full City Council session on Monday, March 29 at 2 p.m (you can see the meeting agenda here).

The Open Space Committee of the Capitol Hill Community Council/Unpaving Paradise supports the acquisition of this site for the following reasons:

• The site is at a good location on a quiet residential street that is near the main thoroughfare of Broadway Ave. E.
• The site is 12,000 sq.ft., larger even than the 9,600 sq.ft. park and P-Patch to be at John and Summit.
  
• This acquisition will help fill a need for open space in the Capitol Hill Urban Village area (see Gaps in Usable Public Space - Capitol Hill map).
• The site is flat, accessible, with good sun exposure, and is located where there are “eyes on the park” in order to discourage inappropriate activities.

We encourage community members to either attend the City Council meeting on Monday to give public comment or send emails encouraging City Council to pass this measure and authorize the purchase of the land at Federal and Republican. Public comment will take place during the first 15 minutes of the City Council meeting; you may want to come early in order to sign up for 2 minute slot to speak.

Emails for the Seattle City Council:

sally.bagshaw@seattle.gov
tim.burgess@seattle.gov
sally.clark@seattle.gov
richard.conlin@seattle.gov
jean.godden@seattle.gov
bruce.harrell@seattle.gov
nick.licata@seattle.gov
mike.obrien@seattle.gov
tom.rasmussen@seattle.gov

John & Summit Update: Bidding is open and Diamond Parking Lot is closed!

Two notes of note from the Parks Dept. concerning John and Summit Park:

From Kelly Davidson, our John and Summit Project Manager

Bids opened yesterday for John & Summit. We received nine bids, four of them where below the engineer’s estimate with all additives. This means that we will award all additives; sidewalk repair, ROW planting and retaining walls for the p-patch area.

We are working with DEA to determine that the current low bidder meets all of the qualifications necessary to initiate the contract. Once that is complete we will move forward with the contract and narrow in on a Notice to Proceed Date.

I’ll provide updates as I have them. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

~ Kelly Davidson (kelly.davidson(at)seattle.gov)

From Joelle Hammerstad, Parks Dept. Communications:

Seattle Parks and Recreation will permanently close the parking lot at 200 Summit Ave E. on Friday, March 26, 2010 at 3 p.m.

Parks purchased this .21 acre property in 2007 with funding from the Pro Parks Levy and is happy to announce that construction is moving forward for this new park on the western slope of Capitol Hill.

The park project develops the existing parking lot into a park that includes a terraced walkway and P-Patch gardens.

Click here for the website with details of the park development project.

~ Joelle Hammerstad (joelle.hammerstad(at)seattle.gov)

A name for John and Summit?

First of all, I'm delighted to write that John and Summit P-Patch is to be named "Unpaving Paradise P-Patch" in acknowledgment of the work we have all done to make this community garden space happen. Unfortunately, the naming of John and Summit Park is going to be a little more complicated.

Earlier this week, Parks sent out a press release announcing that John and Summit Park would be named "Perugia Park" after Seattle's sister city in Italy. About a day after the naming press release went out, Parks decided that would not be the official name for John and Summit. This was due to community concerns about the naming a park after Perugia on the heels of the recent verdict in the criminal case in that same city involving Seattle resident Amanda Knox (you can read the whole story here).

Unpaving Paradise is going to use this episode as an opportunity to do two things. First, we will petition the Parks Naming Commission to consider a name that is more connected to the Capitol Hill community. While Perugia is a fine city and a fine name for a park, at present the only thing community members associate it with is murder and scandal. We'd prefer that the Parks Naming Commission use our entry for a name, "Paradise Park" after Unpaving Paradise, in order to associate the space with all the dedication and hard work the community put forward in order to make the full John and Summit park design a reality.

Next, we will reach out to the Seattle-Perugia Sister City Association (proponents of the name "Perugia Park") to see if we can work together on the next green space that Parks is to acquire on Capitol Hill. The next set of Pro-Parks acquisitions are set to occur in the next year or two, with planning and development to follow in a year or two after that. In a few years time and with the partnership of the Seattle-Perugia Sister City Association, the name "Perugia Park" will bring to mind the work that the SPSCA does with the Capitol Hill community to build a great park rather than the site of a contentious murder trial.

If you'd like to support our proposal to name John and Summit "Paradise Park", please email a letter of support to Parks Superintendent Tim Gallagher (timothy.gallagher@seattle.gov) and Parks Naming Commission liaison Paula Hoff (paula.hoff@seattle.gov).

Rundown of this week's meeting about John and Summit Park

Hong and I met up with Kelly Davidson (Parks coordinator for this project), Craig Skipton (consultant on this project from Mithun) and Casey Hildreth (our Seattle Dept. of Transportation point person for possible street vacations) earlier this week to talk about how the John and Summit project has progressed over the last few months. Here's the exciting news:

* According to Casey Hildreth of SDOT, there are many different ways that we can improve and pedestrianize John St. in order to better incorporate it into the park. Some possibilities include roadway narrowing/closure, parking removal, and the installation of a landscape strip for use as further gardening space.

Any work on John St. would need to be a second stage of the development for the park - this WILL NOT be covered by the planning or budget that Parks has currently for John and Summit. However, it is still an excellent opportunity to pursue in the next year. If anyone is interested on working on this, please email Unpaving Paradise at unpaving.paradise@gmail.com.

* John and Summit park is at 95% design, and will go through the Parks Dept. 95% design review very soon. Once that's finished, Mithun will be able to complete the design for the park and p-patch, and then the project will be ready go out to bid. The John and Summit project will likely go out to bid in January or February 2010, and groundbreaking is anticipated for March.

* One of the final design details that was presented to us was the addition of a recycled steel border around the P-Patch area to delineate it from the lawn and landscaping areas - up until now the construction of any bed borders would be left up to the community. This border would be included if the John and Summit project comes in under bid, which is a distinct possibility since the bad economy makes bidding a lot more competitive on good sized projects like this one. The use of recycled steel is a good sustainable and aesthetic choice: it is a good reuse of a long lasting material and it matches the steel support walls already in the design along John St.

I don't know about you, but now I'm certainly looking forward to March!

~ Jen Power
Chair, Unpaving Paradise
Capitol Hill Community Council

unpaving.paradise.blogspot.com

Park(ing) Day Seattle Prize Winners!

Tastiest prize: Zen Cakes and Zines (Park(ing) Day Central Park, Bluebird gift certificate)

image courtesy of gravitysalad

Most Multi-Modal: Bike Works (Columbia City, ZipCar gift certificate)

Most Playful: 4-PLAY (Park(ing) Day Central Park, games from Gamma Ray Games and Bucephalus Games)















Greenest Park: Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (Wallingford, gardening books from Spine and Crown Books)

Best Execution: Park N Play by Perkins + Will (Downtown, Victrola coffee and shirt)

Most Original (Grand Prize): air.stream by Signal to Noise (Park(ing) Day Central Park, $200 and custom trophy)

image courtesy of gravitysalad

Congratulations Park(ing) Day Seattle prize winners! More pictures to come!

(If not otherwise attributed, pictures are courtesy of the lovely Jen Power, Unpaving Paradise's fearless leader/photographer)

Paradise Unpaved - UP at Park(ing) Day Central Park

Friday, September 18th was a fabulous day to spend in the park. I could write all about it, but the best way to show you is in pictures:

Here's our lovely garden, and below is our fine and upstanding park activity: picking out new sites for parks on Capitol Hill, courtesy of the Parks Department and acquisitions money from the last Pro-Parks Levy.

image courtesy of gravitysalad

Also, the lovely model of John and Summit Park, courtesy of Mithun, set to become a reality late next year :)

Kicking it with the Zen Cakes - Jacob Sayles of Office Nomads fame chats up the women of WorldChanging.com.

image courtesy of gravitysalad

Web Crowell, Renaissance Man: animator, Capitol Hill Community Council representative, and now founder of Under Pressure Seltzer Works.

Cookies (and moocher) courtesy of Seattle Arts and Lectures.

And look! We made it into the news! If you look closely, you can see Capitol Hill Community Council President Jen Power walking behind Denise Whittaker and she talks about John and Summit Park.



If you'd like to see more, you find more pictures about Park(ing) Day Seattle at People's Parking Lot (of course), the Slog, CHS Blog, and Flickr (thanks gravitysalad!).

Tabling at the Cap Hill Farmer's Market - 9/6

Spend time with the delicious organic veggies and talk up Unpaving Paradise this Sunday, Sept. 6th at the Capitol Hill Farmer's Market. If you're in town, it's not a bad way to spend your Labor Day Sunday. We need volunteers from 10:45am until 3:20pm - if you're interested just email us at unpaving.paradise(at)gmail.com with the hours you can volunteer.

Park(ing) Day Posters and Prizes

Our event partner People's Parking Lot has an update on prizes that have been donated thus far for the Park(ing) Day Seattle Prize...and have we mentioned that first prize is $200 plus a magnificent and super-secret trophy?

They've also come up with the nifty poster you see to your left. If you'd like to help spread the word about Park(ing) Day and Park(ing) Day Central Park, print out a passel of posters and put them put them up around the neighborhood.