District 7 Seattle
City Councilmember Andrew Lewis came to his New Year’s Eve
swearing-in ceremony with good news for Uptown gardeners.
During transition
meetings in November and December, the new councilmember said he’d
negotiated an agreement with Mayor Jenny Durkan and Deputy Mayor Mike
Fong to keep the UpGarden P-Patch in place.
Gardeners learned in
late October that the P-Patch atop the Mercer Street Garage was
slated for removal in fall 2020 to restore the roof for parking and
accommodate visitors to the new Seattle Center arena.
Lewis pledged to
fight that decision, speaking to UpGardeners at their last meeting in
November. A number of them joined him at the UpGarden for the Dec. 31
swearing-in ceremony.
“The 1962 World’s
Fair rejuvenated Seattle’s cultural identity. It gave us the Space
Needle, the monorail, the KeyArena, and yes, this parking garage,”
Lewis said. “In the spirit of the creativity of that fair, our
neighbors reclaimed a portion of this garage as community open space,
establishing the UpGarden.”
The UpGarden started
in 2012 as part of the 50th anniversary celebration of the World’s
Fair in Seattle and under a memorandum of agreement between Seattle
Center and the Department of Neighborhoods, which manages the P-Patch
program. The MOA anticipated the garage eventually being replaced
with redevelopment, at which point the P-Patch would need to be
moved, but the agreement left open the right to take back the rooftop
space for any reason.
While Lewis used his
incoming council position to push for the UpGarden’s preservation,
he said the gardeners who campaigned and petitioned to save the
P-Patch did the heavy lifting.
“This garden has
grown not just produce, but community, literally from the
grassroots,” Lewis said. “One hundred and fifty gardeners work 93
plots, sending over 1,000 pounds of produce a year to local food
banks, and host public celebrations of the equinox, New Year’s Eve
and the Fourth of July. The Center School, my alma mater, teaches AP
biology in their own dedicated garden here. In October, children
paint pumpkins for Halloween.”
A news release from
the mayor’s office states the extension of the existing memorandum
will ensure the P-Patch remains as long as the Mercer Garage exists.
The parking structure was already undergoing a seismic retrofit when
gardeners received news of their impending eviction.
"Our community
P-Patches are some of Seattle’s most treasured resources for
building community and connection,” Durkan said in the news
release. “We will continue to preserve and maintain critical green
space in our City so all our residents, regardless of neighborhood or
income level are able to garden and grow healthy food.”
According to the
city’s agreement with ArenaCo. LLC, “Mercer Garage will be
maintained as a parking facility until light rail is designed and
planned for Seattle Center,” according to the news release. A
Seattle Center light rail station isn’t expected to open until the
Ballard extension is completed in 2035. The existing MOA also states
the city wouldn't demolish the garage earlier than Jan. 1, 2035 or
when a light rail station opens within a half-mile of Seattle Center.
“As long as I am a
member of the Seattle City Council, I will fight for our public green
spaces,” said Lewis, who divulged he’d gone over the terms of the
new P-Patch lease with Fong the day before.
UpGarden lead
coordinator Robert Grubbs said he did not get a heads-up about the
decision. He learned the news during the Dec. 31 ceremony.
“He told no one,”
Grubbs said. “It was a total surprise. We are just over the moon.”
UpGardener Norm
Roberts said he’s looking forward to doing some heavy mulching in
the near future. He’s been gardening at the P-Patch for the past
five years.
“I thought it was
the best thing I’ve heard in a long time,” Roberts said.
Lewis said he’ll
be focusing on fulfilling campaign promises once he officially starts
on the council next week, which includes finding a way to fund a 1:1
replacement of the Magnolia Bridge and renovating the Queen Anne and
Magnolia community centers. He said he will also be focusing on how
the city addresses homelessness under a newly formed regional
authority.
“That’s going to
be something that’s going to be a big focus of mine,” Lewis said,
“to make sure that it’s not just Seattle contributing resources,
but use that regional framework to bring in other partners and really
have a truly regional response.”
The new
councilmember said it’s also important to have a quick and nimble
staff that can respond to district issues, such as UpGarden, when
they arise.