Morgan Junction All-Wheels Association – aka MJAWA – says there’s some good news about the plan they’ve long worked on, to include a “skate dot” area in the Morgan Junction Park expansion. (Above is a photo of the expansion area, where grass continues to grow so that it can be opened for interim public use before the addition is built.) MJAWA’s Matthew Lee Johnston and Josh Radick talked with Seattle Parks this week and report that a community meeting is still expected this spring – as mentioned at the last Morgan Community Association meeting – mostly as an update on where the project an design stands. Other points from MJAWA:
*The design is close to being revised and most features from the original plan have been retained, including the All-Wheels Area.
*The play area and hilltop feature have flip flopped in position.
*Skatedot may possibly need to be nudged to the south to accommodate for the Eddy street easement requirements, but they do not anticipate any design changes as a result.
*They need to extend the storm main to the north end of the site per SDOT requirement, but this also does not affect the skatedot.
*Due to the design being mostly unchanged, they should not have to go back through Design Commission. If it did, the schedule could be extended another six months.
*There is currently no need for additional funding.
*Grindline has been added back to the design team to work on integration and any tweaks needed.
In the January update, Parks said construction of the park expansion is expected next year; MJAWA says they were told this week that Parks is finalizing a schedule and budget update. (Regarding the site’s interim use, Parks has said they don’t expect to bring the fences down before “mid-spring.”)