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neighborhood news
ZANDER BATCHELDER still wants a community center Belltown Deserves Better 
GOOD OLD DAYS: CELEBRATING THE LIHI BELLTOWN COMMUNITY CENTER on September 8, 2006 with free Jones BBQ, city councilman Peter Steinbrueck, and the music of Miles & Karina. According to Tim Gallagher, the new parks director, the Belltown Community Center has been "canceled". He laid out his reasoning during a meeting with the Project Advisory Team on April 23 His first point was that the original 1999 levy approving the project was not well thought-out or adequate for the listed projects.  $1.91
million doesn't go far in Belltown real estate. That was the case in 1999; and the dollar, as we all know, is now worth less than it used to be
His second point is that the overall city budget is not looking good. Parks specifically will likely face a $5 million shortfall. Parks will not have the means or resources to plan or staff up another facility.
Budgets, as we all know, are a matter of matching resources with priorities. It follows that since Belltown is not a priority, it will not get any new resources. This begs debate.
Thirdly, he believes any community center must meet a threshold of viability. There is a critical mass of sorts that justifies the creation of the site and the ongoing expense of maintaining it.
His template for a successful community center includes a large public gathering space, a catering kitchen, police office space, and a neighborhood service center. Altogether, this would require a space of 5,000 to 10,000 square feet and cost around $6 million to realize. Perhaps this is so.
Since neither the money is available or is likely to become so, he recommends "a change of scope." He thinks the money earmarked for Belltown in the 1999 levy should be used to renovate the dilapidated Parks Department headquarters in Denny Park at Dexter and Denny. That building could then be converted into an area community center after the parks staff moves offices at some vague point in the future. I pointed out to him that Denny Park would still not be in Belltown in the future.
As the mayor suggested, I met with the parks director and heard him out. After listening to his thinking I have to say I strongly disagree.
The City approved the idea of a Belltown Community Center with the adoption of the Belltown Neighborhood Plan on March 30, 1999. Since then, there have been a lot of meetings and more waiting. I am very tired of the city's excuses that have now been running on now for a decade. Belltown deserves better.
Beyond money, there is more to the story of why Belltown still does not have its community center.
In 2000 there was a series of neighborhood meetings to help decide what kind of community center Belltown needed. At these meetings, Belltowners basically set one condition for the project: If you do it, do it right. That turned out to be a deal breaker for the Parks Department.
Also, from 2002 to 2006 there was a hope of co-locating the project inside of a new Low Income Housing Institute project. That plan fell through and Parks' plan B has not bothered to find an equal alternative. Instead, the department finds it much easier to cancel the project altogether. What is worse, we are expected to salute this cop-out as some sort of leadership. Belltown deservers better.
Let's talk about the money. I get that $6 million is a lot; but I think it would be very well spent. Especially when compared to other city expenditures. The city has spent $5 million for the now-canceled, infamous automated public toilets. It will spend $14 million on the umpteenth reconsideration of the Mercer Mess. This is just a down payment on a project that could cost as much as $201 million. The city also recommends spending $33 million to keep a flood area in Madison Valley from flooding. This is for 17 homes. Belltown has more than 6,000 homes. Belltown should be a greater priority. Belltown deserves better.
The City currently runs 26 other community centers at Alki, Ballard, Bitter Lake, Delridge, Garfield, Green Lake, Hiawatha, High Point, the International District, Jefferson, Laurelhurst, Loyal Heights, Magnolia, Magnuson, Meadowbrook, Miller, Montlake, Northgate, Queen Anne, Rainier Beach, Ravenan-Eckstein, South Park, Southwest, Van Asselt, and Yesler. If they really are not worthwhile, why does Parks run 26 of them? If these centers are worthwhile and improve their communities, why does Belltown not have one yet? Belltown deserves better.
Since 1999, Seattleites have approved nearly $1 billion for city improvements. The $1.91 million earmarked for the Belltown Community Center represents a whopping .0019 percent of the money raised in these levies. Even though Belltown represents about 2 percent of Seattle's population, our share of the pie is one tenth of that. Our share is less than one fifth of one percent. The adopted City budget for 2008 is $3,653,735,000. In this budget there is an $800,000 allocation for a Seattle Center skate park. Apparently, Belltowners rank well below the powerful and important skateboard lobby. Belltown deserves better.
One has to ask what Belltown gets for all the property and sales taxes that it pours into the city coffers. Given our tax base, you would think we would get a little back besides the good feeling that we are subsidizing the rest of the city. If we cannot get the amenities we were promised, can we get a tax holiday until they are delivered? Belltown deserves better.
While many neighborhoods have resisted density, Belltown has welcomed ever-greater density. While many neighborhoods cringe at hosting social services, Belltown has welcomed the tired and huddled masses of our city. And how are we rewarded by City Hall for our civic mindedness and compassion? We are offered zip, nada, and/or diddly-squat. The choice is ours. Belltown deserves better.
To me, Belltown has always been more than just another
neighborhood. It is a place where, warts and all, the future of Seattle will be realized, for better or worse. One way or another, the days of the sprawling West will come to an end. As time goes by, more and more of us will call dense urban neighborhoods like Belltown home.
The question is how successful and livable those neighborhoods will be. Will they be places well-rooted in community, or somewhere to flee from?
A city that prides itself on being green ought to cultivate its urban neighborhoods. Abandoning Belltown abandons the fight for a sensible and livable tomorrow. Belltown deserves better. We deserve to have our own Community Center.
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