We could be living in Monroe Park

If you were paying attention earlier this week and cared to do so, you could have celebrated the 259th anniversary of the birth of James Madison, fourth President of the United States, born on March 16, 1751. It’s unlikely that many of us regularly reflect (if ever) on the fact that Madison Park was named—at least indirectly—for the Father of the Constitution. Though our connection with the President is a fact, it certainly didn’t have to be that way. We could just as easily be living in a lovely lakeside community named for the author of the Monroe Doctrine. Here’s the story of why this is Madison Park.

As all the histories of the area confirm, Judge John J. McGilvra (that’s him below) built the first homestead in what is now Madison Park. In 1864, during the Civil War, McGilvra either built or substantially improved a road from downtown Seattle to his 420-acre estate on the Lake, which he called Laurel Shade. According to McGilvra’s biography on Wikipedia, the road was known then as the Lake Washington wagon road, and from the beginning it was the only direct route from the salt water of Elliott Bay to the fresh water of the Lake. That’s still the case today.

But it’s not true, although many website histories make the claim, that McGilvra named the road that he had built “Madison Street.” The naming was actually done by Arthur Denny, a City founder and its first surveyor. According to photographer and historian Paul Dorpat, author of the “Seattle Then and Now” series, Denny needed another “M” street after having already named a Seattle street for his brother “Marion.” As longtime Seattleites know, the convention for remembering downtown East-West street names is the mnemonic “Jesus Christ Made Seattle Under Protest.”

This method for remembering the order came later, certainly. The naming came first; and it was Denny’s idea to pair Seattle’s streets by the first letter of their names: Jefferson, James, Cherry, Columbia, Marion…” But then what? After naming these first five, Denny needed another “M” in order to keep the alliteration going. He had already used one president, Jefferson, for a street name. Why not another? Two possibilities existed at that time: Presidents Monroe and Madison.

Dorpat says that the answer was “obvious.” But I don’t see why. There is a SW Monroe Street in Seattle, but that clearly came along much later (it is far south of downtown). Denny could have easily chosen Monroe. But for whatever reason, Madison it was. And Denny was able to go from there to complete the string: Marion, Madison, Spring, Seneca, University, Union, Pike and Pine.

About sixteen years after the building of the road, McGilvra deeded about 24 acres for a park at the end of the road. In early pictures, the park is captioned “Madison Street Park,” and that was apparently how the Park got its name: the park at the end of Madison Street. Eventually it became simply Madison Park, and the growing community that surrounded it became the Madison Park neighborhood.

So that’s the story of why we’re not living in Monroe Park. Now you know.

[John J. McGilvra picture courtesy of the Museum of History and Industry, middle picture of Laurel Shade courtesty of the University of Washington Libraries collection, lower picture of Madison Street in 1932 courtesy of the Seattle Municipal Archives. Compare to the 1939 picture posted earlier on this blog.]

Butt ugly? You be the judge

We have a suspicion that for many civil engineers, the above illustration of what the new SR 520 floating bridge might look like as it transverses Lake Washington represents a thing of beauty. For it’s well known that civil engineers are more likely to be in the “function over form” camp than the other way around; and the new bridge does, after all, accomplish its principal mission of moving more vehicles from east to west and then back again than is true of the current bridge. So on that score alone, we suppose, it’s a job well done.

But here’s what the bridge looks like today, as viewed from the same Madison Street pier location:

Though it’s not a bridge deserving of any design awards, at least its profile is a relatively low one. But what about that new bridge? Is it likely to be a blight upon the water, as some opponents believe? And then there’s the bigger issue of whether the new bridge will even accomplish the purpose of improving cross-Lake transportation in the long term.

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We’ve covered the 520 issue in some detail on this blog, but there’s much more to come. Since our last report, the bridge’s proponents have ramped up their efforts to convince the public that the project in its present form is a grand thing (see posterous), while the opponents have been equally vociferous in their outrage (although they apparently took their website down). The Legislature has also gone on record with a recent action approving a bill to allow tolling on 520 to begin in 2011. The majority of State lawmakers, apparently, would like to see work begin on the eastside approaches to 520 even if the design of the west side has not been finalized.

MEETING NOTICE: We will have another opportunity to hear about all of this at an upcoming community meeting to be held at Park Shore on Monday, March 22, from 7 to 9 pm in the chapel. The speakers will be Fran Conley, Coordinator of the Coalition for a Sustainable 520, and Ethan Raup of the Seattle Mayor’s Office, where he is Director for Policy and External Affairs. Meanwhile, you can learn more about the anti-Option A+ position here.

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[As an aside, it is interesting to note that the beautiful and still utilitarian Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco was not designed by a civil engineer, but rather by a liberal arts major! The story is told in an excellent book, The Gate, by John Van Der Zee, which I highly recommend.]

Beavers beware! Broadmoor to dredge

Though they’ve been given a couple-week reprieve so they can finish out their breeding season, the Madison Park beavers may soon be in for a rude awakening. Broadmoor’s plans to dredge around the golf club’s water intake pipe (shown above) have been approved by the City with the only restriction being that the project may not begin before April Fool’s Day. As reported previously on this blog, Broadmoor has a longstanding right to take water from Union Bay. The golf course utilizes pumped water from this source to help keep the grass green during the summer. The intake pipe for the irrigation system is located just off the pier at the 37th Avenue E. road end, within 40 feet or so of a beaver lodge which appears to be inhabited. As many neighbors have reported, beavers are very active in the vicinity.

To be fair, Broadmoor’s dredging plans have been scaled back significantly from what was originally proposed. The golf course had asked to be allowed to do a deep dredge within a twenty-foot radius around the intake site. After public complaints about the potential disruption to the natural habitat, Broadmoor agreed to limit the project's scope. Under the revised plan dredging will occur only in the area up to 17 feet to the west of the intake, up to five feet to the south, and up to six feet to the east. The depth of the dredging will be limited to six feet. There will be no dredging to the north of the intake so as to minimize the impact on the beaver population.

As noted in the City’s “analysis and decision” concerning Broadmoor’s dredging proposal, beavers are a protected wildlife species under Washington State law. However, “restrictions on development activity within the vicinity of a beaver lodge are not regulated,” according to the Seattle Department of Planning & Development’s analysis. Under terms of the State Environmental Protection Act (SEPA), the City issued a “Determination of Non-Significance,” thereby allowing work to go ahead. Broadmoor’s contactor must still obtain several other permits, including one from the State's Department of Fish & Wildlife, before dredging can commence. I was unable to get a return call today from the contractor to confirm whether all of these permits are now in place.

Residents of the area, including the beavers and herons, can expect to endure two to three weeks of construction activity once the project gets underway. A barge-based crane will utilize a clam-shell dredge to collect dredge spoils from around the intake site. The spoils will then be dumped onto a shuttle barge which will convey the residue to a storage barge located in the Lake, about a third of a mile to the east. The dredge spoils will ultimately be trucked to a new home somewhere in Maltby, Washington.

Gene Brandzel, one of the neighborhood activists who oppose Broadmoor’s dredging plans, is unhappy with the City’s decision. “After declaring the beaver a protected animal under Washington State law, today's decision has no scientific information that confirms that the revised dredging plan protects the beaver,” Brandzel told me. He notes that while the City said it would consult with “experts” concerning the potential impact on the beavers, there is no indication in the approval who was contacted and what those experts may have said. He questions whether the Washington State Department of Fish & Wildlife has decided the plan protects the beavers. Unless that is the case, he said, “What alternative is left other than to appeal the City’s ruling? Someone has to step up for the beavers.”

Arboretum to remove 34 mature trees as prelude to constructing the “Gateway to Chile”

Described by the Seattle Parks & Recreation Department as “the first major new exhibit in the Arboretum in almost 50 years,” The Pacific Connections Garden is an ambitious 14-acre project that will eventually feature five eco-geographic “immersion” forests within Washington Park: one each for Australia, New Zealand, China, “Cascadia” and Chile.
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Located at the south end of the Arboretum, the Garden is about to enter Phase II, with construction to begin late this spring on the “Gateway to Chile” section. A significant number of existing trees will be removed in order to make way for the 72 Chilean trees that will be part of the new garden, located on the east side of Lake Washington Boulevard E., just inside the entrance to the Park.

This construction phase also includes the restoration of an existing park feature, the Holmdahl Rockery, which has become overgrown.

The Japanese Garden was the last major new exhibit to grace the Arboretum, so The Pacific Connections Garden, which is a large component of the Park’s twenty-year master plan, is much anticipated. It’s purely coincidental that the Chilean garden will be developed in the wake of the massive earthquake which recently hit our South American neighbor. As the Parks Department notes, the timing of the tragedy “imbues the project with special meaning to Seattle as we respond with the rest of the world to the crisis.”

Funding for the project comes from both public and private sources. The Arboretum Foundation contributed $290,000 toward the $450,000 construction cost, with additional funding provided by the Parks and Green Spaces Levy.

“Gateway to Chile” will display Chilean species such as Fuchsia magellanica, Chilean Fire Bush, and Pilgerodendron uviferum, a tree that can grow to be 500 years old--or so we are told. The Arboretum is inviting those interested in learning more about the project to tour the site tomorrow, Wednesday, March 10 at 5:30 pm (meet at the south end of the parking lot of the Washington Park playfield, 2500 Lake Washington Boulevard E.). There will be an additional opportunity to hear about plans for the project at a public meeting next Tuesday, March 16, at 6:30 pm in the Graham Visitor Center. More information about the project can be found here.

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[Illustrations provided by the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation and the Arboretum. Map by the PI. Upper illustration by Mike Kowalski, courtesy of The Berger Partnership. Lower illustration courtesy of The Berger Partnership.]

The crime stats were not so bad

The Seattle Police reported the City’s 2009 crime statistics a few weeks ago, and the numbers were not good. Violent crimes were up 12% year-over-year, while property crimes increased by 7%. But what’s the story for our part of town?

The short answer is that the trends our Charlie 3 beat of the SPD’s East Precinct appear to run counter to the City as a whole. This, in spite of the fact that I’d been reporting during the year that crime here was actually on the rise. That was true for the January through September period, but the fourth quarter showed a substantial decline, reversing the earlier trend line.

In line with the overall trend for major crimes, both burglaries and car thefts were down in the fourth quarter relative to the third quarter numbers:

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Our area has very few violent crimes in any given year, with only 90 such crimes (homicide, rape, robbery and assault) reported during 2009. But this was actually a 16% decrease from the 107 reported in 2008 for our beat. There were no homicides and only one rape reported in each year.

The total number of reported major crimes in Charlie 3 was down during 2009, with only 571 reported versus 639 in 2008, a 19% decline.

Here’s a comparison of the major crime trend lines for Charlie 3 for the past two years:

So, while the crime situation did appear to be headed in the wrong direction during much of 2009, the cycle of crime last year was not that different from 2008’s. And the news for the year as a whole actually turned out to be fairly positive.

I’ll try to resist posting anymore “the sky is falling” crime reports (unless absolutely warranted).

[Photo of March 3 arrest on Capitol Hill by D G H on Flickr.com]

A road end in the raw: what will we make of it?

At 9:15 on the morning of August 31, 1950, the ferry Leschi pulled out of the Madison Street ferry dock for its final run to Kirkland. For 35 years there had been scheduled ferry service between Madison Park and Kirkland, but the opening of the Lake Washington floating bridge in 1940 had made the ferry route redundant. Now, after ten years of competition with the bridge, the run had finally succumbed to economic reality. When the Leschi tied up at the Kirkland ferry dock after her final twenty-minute crossing, it was the end of an era. Neither she nor any other car ferry would ever call again at Madison Park.

In the months following the last sailing of the Leschi, the Madison Street ferry dock was demolished; and what had once been a trans-Lake connection point was transformed into simply a dead end. And not a very attractive one at that.

In spite of its prime waterfront location, its historic significance, and the fact that the land is owned by the City of Seattle Department of Parks & Recreation and the State’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the Madison Street road end has been preserved for sixty years as nothing much more than a concrete-paved parking lot and holding area for apartment-building garbage containers.

But perhaps that’s an advantage. A lot of things could have been done with the road end over the years that weren’t. As longtime Madison Park resident Dan Clancy puts it, perhaps we’re lucky that previous generations never got around to “developing” this jewel in the rough. Just imagine, he asks, what they might have decided to do with it in the fifties or sixties. Instead, the opportunity that the road end represents has been preserved for our generation to exploit. “We now have a chance,” he says, “to do the right thing.”

This may, in fact, be the decade in which our underachieving road end is finally transformed into a Madison Park amenity. That’s certainly the goal, at least, of those involved in LOLA (“Love our Lake Access”). Named in honor of Madison Park Hardware owner Lola McKee, LOLA is a special project of the Madison Park Community Council (MPCC). As we reported last summer, the community, the City, and the DNR all seem to be on board to having the road end dedicated to some higher purpose than parking and trash collection. The question, however, is this: what do we want to make of this prime waterfront location?

According to Kathleen Stearns, who heads up the LOLA committee, the idea of “Lake access” is only part of the equation. The opportunity exists to create something other than just extending the existing park north into the road end, she says. In fact, it now seems clear that what’s wanted by most of the people involved in the project is something that’s distinct from both the city park and the beach.

The objective of LOLA is to create a community focal point, a place where many things might happen. Among the different (but not necessarily mutually exclusive) ideas floated at a recent focus-group meeting were these: 1) an outlook with seating for viewing the Lake and Mount Rainier, 2) a civic gathering area for small group meetings (at least in good weather), 3) a garden spot or natural sanctuary, 4) a promenade, and 5) an artist exhibition area with opportunities for permanent or temporary installations (or both), and perhaps even artists working or performing (musicians or dancers, for example).

Whatever the details of the final plan, it’s evident that both green space and art will be essential elements. Last month the MPCC hired a local landscape architectural firm, Murase Associates, to assist in the development of a design concept for the project. The firm has a lot of experience in creating interesting urban parks. Among their most successful efforts in designing an “urban oasis” is Counterbalance Park on Queen Anne (shown below):

Another Murase project that has drawn a lot of positive notice is Vera Katz Park in Portland, where a relatively small sidewalk area was transformed with natural elements (stone, water, and grass) into an “inviting urban outdoor space” which has since become the site of performance art:

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The stair climb at the Benaroya Hall was also designed by Murase Associates:

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Murase’s Liz Wreford Taylor cautions that the Madison Park project may look significantly different from any of these examples. The design will be developed from the input of the community and will also depend on what is possible on the site.

The process of obtaining community input has begun in earnest, with a series of six focus groups so far this year, one on each of these topics: history, gardens, and art; and one for each of these special interests: the business community, the immediate neighbors (of the park site) and service providers (such as police, fire, utilities, transportation, and parks). According to Stearns, most of the focus groups were well attended. “We are continuing to contact people who have expressed interest in giving us input and advice regarding the park development,” she says. “This is exciting for us because it is feeling more and more like a collaborative effort with many people in the Madison Park community.”

In addition to the focus groups, community meetings are being planned for March 18, April 15 and May 26 so that a wider range of the public opinion can be solicited. Everyone involved agrees it will be a long process from conceptual design to realization. But as was noted in one of the focus group meetings, it’s taken us 60 years to get to this point, so the community can certainly afford to spend some time to do this right.

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[Top photo: the Madison Street ferry dock 1939, courtesy of MOHI. Bottom photo: the Medicinal Garden (Seattle), designed by Murase Associates. All other pictures, except for current picture of the dead end, are courtesy of Murase Associates.]

Seventy years ago in Madison Park

I don't know about you, but I am fascinated by history and find old photos of Madison Park particularly arresting. This is a 1939 photo looking westward up E. Madison Street from the area of the Village. While the trolly tracks are clearly visible, traffic is certainly not.

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If you have old photos of the Park that you think Blogger readers would be interested in seeing, please send them my way. I will be presenting historic photos on the site from time to time. This one is courtesy of the Seattle Municipal Archives.