On March 18, Magnolia Manor Park moved up the list to become one of 12 park projects around the city to potentially receive Park Levy funding through the 2008 Parks Opportunity Fund.
“This will be the second and final round of disbursements of that money,” according to Seattle Parks and Recreation spokesperson Dewey Potter. “It’s likely, but not certain, these projects will be funded.”
The funds would be used to fulfill the Manor Park Site Plan worked on by community members and Site Workshop for nearly three years. These funds would allow the parks department to create a landscaped “front porch” on the west side of the Manor Park, develop the piece to the north of the dog park, open up more land by removing fencing and add a path joining the dog-park and the p-patch.
Susan Casey, chair of Friends of Manor Park, was excited by the news: “It has become very obvious — since the dog-park completion and with the p-patch scheduled to have its grand opening April 14 — this funding will serve to make possible the park becoming a more total park experience. This ‘missing piece,’ as it is called in the funding proposal, needs to be done. Right now, we are lacking a way to transverse the two sections though Magnolia Manor Park. This addition will expand the park size for public use and make it a unified whole.”
The preliminary recommendations by the Parks Levy Oversight Committee, if adopted, will move the $402,500 needed for the completion of the plan to the next round.
The Park Site Plan’s addition of the connection behind the park to the apartments and condos below and the boulder climb — the last section of the plan — will wait until more monies are available.
There will be a public hearing on the recommendations on April 22 at Miller Community Center (330 19th Ave. E.), starting at 6 p.m.; sign up at the door to give two minutes of testimony.
Written testimony, which is given equal weight, should be sent via e-mail to susan.golub @seattle .gov or mailed to Susan Golub, 100 Dexter Ave. N., Seattle. WA, 98109.
MONICA WOOTON is a longtime Magnolia resident. To comment on this story, write to QAMagNews@nwlink.com.