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Dearborn PacMed - Amazon Mountains to Sound Greenway Trail Lander Festival Street |
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Lander Festival Street |
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The Lander Festival Street project addresses the combined needs of the Beacon Hill community and El Centro de la Raza. As El Centro expands and other nearby blocks all around the light rail station become built out to their maximum, open space will be worth a premium. In addition, Beacon Hill lacks a defined center and gathering space for its business core, and needs an expansion of retail and commercial spaces to create a viable urban village. The project idea originated many years ago with the 1994 neighborhood plan, which explicitly described the creation of a pedestrian plaza and "mercado" adjacent to El Centro. Pedestrian improvements and the creation of a genuine town center were also requested in the 1999 Urban Village Neighborhood Plan. With the design of the Light Rail Station there were further calls for a pedestrian plaza, and a small one is included in Sound Transit’s design. However, with the closure of Lander Street for Light Rail construction, community members noticed that it was not needed for automobile traffic flow in the neighborhood, and presented many potential hazards to pedestrian safety. Beacon Hill Pedestrians, an independent citizens group, began by working closely with El Centro's leadership to assess their needs and concerns. El Centro has been an enthusiastic backer of the project and has always desired a space for a market. The leadership is currently developing plans for improvements to be constructed next to the plaza area, to create a vital and active urban space. In addition, there is an entire block that will be redeveloped across the street and behind the light rail station. Many nearby business and property owners attended the design charette held in September 2006, establishing a basis for further involvement and input. Community organizations that have collaborated or explicitly supported the Beacon Hill Pedestrian Plaza include the North Beacon Hill Council, Beacon Hill Chamber of Commerce, Beacon Alliance of Neighbors, Beacon Ridge Improvement Community, Jefferson Park Alliance, and Feet First. After the charette, a follow-up community meeting was held in fall 2007. OTAK, a civil engineering firm, was contracted to create construction drawings. A second urban planning charette was held April 21, 2008, attended by property owners, community activists, developers, and city officials. Beacon Hill Pedestrians has also received a grant from the Dept. of Neighborhoods for a community planning meeting/pancake breakfast to be held in October 2008. |
To date, Beacon Hill Pedestrians has received two grants that will go toward construction of the project: $18,500 from the Department of Neighborhoods and $15,000 from the Office of Economic Development. The project proposes to create a pedestrian plaza in the one block of Lander Street between 16th and 17th Avenues South. With the creation of a public gathering space as a new town center the community hopes to spur economic development and improve social health. The plaza is located immediately between Beacon Hill's light rail station and El Centro de la Raza, and matches closely what has been requested in both neighborhood plans and guidelines for pedestrian oriented development. Several years of organizing and outreach have already gone into this project, and a consensus has emerged among the community and city staff that it is both highly desirable and possible to implement. The created open space will be used for fairs and farmer’s markets, outdoor seating and dining, and daily neighborhood interaction. The immediate proximity of a day care with playground and gardens, a food bank, a cultural center, a light rail stop and soon a vastly expanded retail base makes the creation of space for greater community purposes essential to the development of our neighborhood and city. A design is currently being developed by SDOT, the owner of the right-of-way, and potential funds have been identified at SDOT and SPU, as well as Sound Transit. The Department of Planning and Development has also been involved due to the complexity of the many development issues in the area. Construction of the project may begin in early 2009. Anyone with questions or wishing to assist in the development of Beacon Hill's new town center can contact Robert Hinrix at 323-1792 or robphin@yahoo.com. Recent Articles: Rising
from the light rail, a gathering place -
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