The Crown Hill Playground Project Committee, comprised of parents, community members and Small Faces board of director members, are hard at work on an initiative to build a new playground at the Crown Hill Center.

"Small Faces is teaming with the community to provide a welcoming outdoor environment that connects families with play space opportunities” said Lynn B. Wirta, who recently retired after nearly 30 years as the center’s director and now leads this initiative.

The planning to build a play field as part of the Pro Parks Levy, which provides funds to create new parks in Seattle neighborhoods, started in 2005.

In 2006, the fundraising began and the Crown Hill Playground Project Committee applied to the city for a grant, which they will find out if they will receive this month.

Parents and community members have weighed in through a survey of what the playground should include, and though it is still a work in progress, the committee has decided on a climber and a rock wall for approximately $20,000.

Other possibilities for the playground include monkey bars, a tire swing, basketball courts, a volleyball net and an amphitheater for outdoor movies.  read more »

In November, the Greenwood-Phinney Historical Society launched a contest to find the oldest house in the neighborhood. On Feb. 18, the society announced a winner.

Anna and Scott Sturgeon won the contest with their 1902 Phinney Ridge home.

While their house is not truly the oldest in the neighborhood, the Sturgeons completed the required research, including obtaining their building permit from 1902, and fulfilled the spirit of the contest – researching and treasuring our architectural heritage, the historical society said in a press release.

The Sturgeons received breakfast for two at Mae's Phinney Ridge Cafe and an autographed copy of "Seattle's Greenwood-Phinney Neighborhood" by Ted Pedersen.

Whether most east Ballard residents know it or not, the identity and future of their neighborhood is being shaped in a large part by two women whose disparate personalities and skill sets have fused together to create a formidable community-organizing team.

In the past two years, Dawn Hemminger and Shannon Dunn have worked together under the banner of the East Ballard Community Association to spearhead projects, such as installation of planter's on 14th Avenue Northwest this April, and events, such as last summer's East Ballard Walking Tour.

Hemminger, after her involvement with the 14th Avenue Visioning Project, took over the East Ballard Community Association's seat at the Ballard District Council. Set met Dunn in early summer 2008 and found they shared similar goals and desires.

They shared an important connection, Dunn said.

"We both want to live in a certain kind of world," she said.  read more »

The East Ballard Community Association and 14th Avenue Visioning Project are awaiting potential funding from a number of sources to complete a two-block demonstration park boulevard on 14th Avenue Northwest.

Volunteers submitted an application for money from the city's Opportunity Fund in early February and a second application for money from the Parks and Green Spaces Levy is due in April.

"We told Parks we don't care where the money comes from, we just want it," said Dawn Hemminger of the East Ballard Community Association.

At the Feb. 10 Ballard District Council meeting, Peter Locke, an east Ballard resident and the vision behind the 14th Avenue park boulevard, said the purpose of the project is to create open space in an area that is lacking it while improving safety for pedestrians and vehicles.

The plan for 14th Avenue from Market Street to Northwest 65th Street, which was conceived five years ago, is to move traffic on the 100-foot wide street to one side, get rid of the parking median, and create a park on the east side of the street.  read more »