The Department of Finance and Administrative Services (FAS) has considered the input received from the community and City departments, and has completed its preliminary analysis of the options for what to do with the property where the old Fire Station 39 sat, at the northwest corner of 30th Avenue NE and NE 127th Street.
FAS will recommend to the City Council that former Fire Station 39 property be redeveloped as housing for homeless families and families earning less than 30% of median income, with ground floor space used for programs serving the broader community and building residents.
A Public Involvement Plan (PIP), outlining the remaining steps for review, community input and decision-making, is included in the Preliminary Report. The Preliminary Report and PIP are available online at http://www.seattle.gov/realestate/fs39.htm.
Comments received by June 30, 2011, will be incorporated into documentation presented to the City Council before it reviews and approves the Public Involvement Plan. Any final decision by the Council will be made after the next round of public involvement, likely in late 2012 or early 2013.
Please send comments to Rich Gholaghong by phone (206- 684-0701), by e-mail at richard.gholaghong@seattle.gov or by regular mail to Rich Gholaghong, FAS Real Estate Services, P.O. Box 94689, Seattle WA 98124-4689. All comments received become part of the public record and will be incorporated into future public involvement reports.
In my opinion, this would be a great use of the property, and one more step toward “A Roof Over Everyone’s Head”. Hopefully these residents will be pre-screened for criminal offences and gross misdemeanor/malicious activity, and there will be units for families and an outdoor play area/lawn even though the Library Park is nearby. A medium sized meeting and area should be in the design in order to build community and make group presentations/classes/festivities easy to have. A kitchenette would also facilitate these ideas, as long as there is a resident advisor to help keep it general use and not taken over by one or another group. Perhaps it could tie into the services groups on the ground floor.
Could a ‘pea patch garden be designed for the roof area? Makes good use of the roof, and helps encourage healthy foods – Washington State University Extension runs a great set of programs for youth gardening and food choice. They also provide nutrition support (their primary cause) by hosting seasonal cooking recipes, which the participants make and eat. Made a very large difference in the eating habits of my school’s students and families. nutrition.wsu.edu/foodsense/
Opps – this wasn’t the forum for the response, but I’ve sent it to the proper person too.
What about using the Lake City Community Center for some of these activities? It is less that a block away and already functioning.