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Welcome to Groundswell NW |
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For more than two decades, Groundswell NW has accomplished major goals for community parks and habitat. Yes, Groundswell NW is about PROJECTS, lots of individual projects (neighborhood parks, tot lots, playfields, pocket parks, p-patches, streetscapes, traffic circles, greenbelts, salmon habitat and a lot more) that improve our quality of life. Projects don't just happen. These improvements to the places where we live, work and play come from PEOPLE in the community. People step forward with ideas and get together with neighbors and coworkers. They ask for help and resources from government and business. People work together to get projects done.
Good things happen when people PARTICIPATE in their communities. Whether you are just starting or have been involved in community activities a long time, there is a place for you in Groundswell NW. |
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Hazel Heights P-Patch Campaign |
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Groundswell NW thanks all who accepted our challenge to match up to $5,000 for contributions made through Groundswell to the new Hazel Heights P-Patch at NW 42nd St and Baker Ave NW. As of the end of 2009, over $5,000 had been received. The combined donation was matched by Seattle's P-Patch Trust, so the compaign generated over $20,000 for this unique new P-Patch.
While our match challenge has ended, the Friends of Hazel Heights are still collecting donations to complete the poject, and Groundswell would be happy to pass yours on. Thanks!
While Fremont is ranked as the ninth most densely populated neighborhood in Seattle, there is currently no community garden west of Fremont Avenue.
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Salmon Bay Events Beautify the Neighborhood |
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Sculpture Progress
Marvin Oliver, a renowned artist of Quinalt heritage, is creating a welcome figure for the Salmon Bay Natural Area (SBNA) to celebrate the transformative powers of the salmon life cycle and to remind all of us of the stories, history, and creativity inherent in local indigenous cultures.
Our recent Adopt-A-Street community event cleared the planter bed at SBNA to make room for the 16' sculpture. Groundswell NW and the Office of Arts & Culture (OAC) will work with an engineer to coordinate the structural foundation that will be concealed within the sculpture base. We recently visited Oliver's work in progress that offered a glimpse of how the textures on the sculpture will mimic local artistry. We took some great photos that can be viewed below. A variety of textures carved in the sculpture with clay and wax recall weaving techniques in textiles and basketry. Once the sculpture is fully formed, it will be moulded and cast in bronze. Oliver will work to finish the sculpture with a bold geometric patterning on the tunic.
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Troll's Knoll Clean and Green - Many Thanks! |
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Thank you all for coming out to Saturday's Clean and Green at the Troll to clean up what will soon be ‘The Troll's Knoll'. This was a fun and encouraging event as we had over 30 volunteers who all worked very hard to clean up this space and give us feedback on other ideas to better this space.
Thanks also the Fremont Universe for reporting this event and to Mayor Nickels for coming out to support us!
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Succesful Work Party, Ice Cream Social and Outdoor Movie at the New Park on 9th Ave NW! |
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Over a hundred neighbors turned out for a full day of activities June 18 at the New Park on 9th Ave NW. A morning work party was followed by an Ice Cream Social, and the day was capped off by a showing of Wall-E after dark, as reported by MyBallard.com - http://www.myballard.com/2009/07/18/big-turnout-for-movie-at-new-park/
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Sunset Substation Study Underway |
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Groundswell NW has joined forces with the Sunset Hill Community Association on a Neighborhood Matching Fund project to study potential public uses for the Sunset Substation, 3209 NW 65th Street. The project will gather community input on how the site could be used and hire a team of experts to analyze potential uses, including the prospect of a solar array mounted over a neighborhood gathering space. A kick-off meeting was held on December 19, with over 50 neighbors attending to learn about the project, see examples of other pocket parks and solar installations and give their ideas on possible uses of the site. A second meeting will be held at 6:30pm Feb. 23 (PLEASE NOTE the CHANGE IN DATE) at Sunset Hill Community Association, 3003 NW 66th St. Read the latest news from the Sunset Substation website.
To indentify qualfied consultants to help with the study, a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) was issued. Three excellent responses were received, and a team led by CAST architecture was selected.
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Ballard Corners Dedication and Groundswell 20th Anniversary Celebration |
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A large crowd gathered at Ballard Corners Park on October 10 to celebrate its (near) completion and Groundswell's 20 years of reating community parks and habitat. Kudos to Friends of Ballard Corners Park co-chairs David Folweiler and Rebecca Carr, the entire steering committee, and all the neighbors who have worked so hard to create this magical new park. See details and photos at the Ballard Corners website.
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FUNGI to Clean Stormwater? |
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Belltown Transforming Streetscapes into Green Space
In an effort to support long-term downtown livability, Belltown community and the City of Seattle have proposed a "green street" project to convert 5 blocks of Bell Street from traffic lanes to landscaped open space with pedestrian amenities.
On July 16, Seattle Great City Initiative invited teams to transform parking spaces on Bell Street to interesting, engaging places that align with the community's vision for green space. Groundswell NW participated by sharing an innovative park treatment that supports sustainable stormwater management with landscaped elements that unite concepts of ecological function, education, and art. The ecological function of the rain garden is augmented with permeable surfaces and trench drains that convey water into the garden. Once intercepted in the garden, the water interacts with plants and soil while soaking into mushroom mycelium mats that are embedded underneath the rain garden. The Bell Street project is an example of how the new Parks Levy funds could be used for projects like our 14th Ave NW Vision, and some of the techniques could also be employed in the Ballard Green Streets project.
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Edible Garden Tour |
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 Groundswell NW and the gardening guild of Sustainable Ballard thank all participants in our successful Edible Garden Tour, "When Times Are Hard, Eat Your Yard."
On Saturday June 27, over 100 participants visited some or all of 14 gardens, all with different features to encourage new gardeners, gardeners with kids, gardeners with friendly neighbors, gardens in tiny areas, gardens with fruit trees, just a great assortment.
One of the exhibiting gardeners, Lydia Marshall, writes "I thought it was really wonderful - the community building, neighbor to neighbor garden hint exchange aspect of it was great. Lots of enthusiasm, lots of folks doing the tour on bikes. The 3 gardens I got to sneak out and see were really great and all different."
Click here for more information. |
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