Original FAQ
Here are the answers to our most frequently asked questions.
A: Friends of Sunset Park (FoSP) is a grassroots Shoreline citizens' group formed to support the development of a community-led-and-supported plan for a community park and gathering place at the site of the recently closed Sunset Elementary School. FoSP was first formed by parents of former Sunset Elementary School students.
A: The community fundraising campaign will help pay for the facilitation of the community visioning process for the Sunset site. By having a plan in place, the project will be poised for future budgeting processes, public and private grantmaking, and broad community support.
Pomegranate Center, a well-respected local non-profit organization that specializes in facilitating community visioning processes and developing community gathering spaces, will facilitate the Sunset Park visioning process. More information about Pomegranate Center, with examples of their many successful projects, is available at www.pomegranate.org.
A: Yes, both the School District and City are supportive, and have worked closely together with FoSP to move the process forward. In September 2009 an agreement was passed by both the school board and city council that establishes the parameters under which the two parties will proceed. You can read that agreement in the documents tab. The City of Shoreline is covering a major portion of the costs of the visioning process, and both the City and the School District will be active participants in the community visioning process.
A: At this point the building presents a challenge: it is an expense and liability for the school district and an unattractive part of the neighborhood. The current agreement allows the school district to rent the building while the park development process is underway. The option of removing the building is also being explored. While no decisions have been reached, it is a priority for the school district to reduce their expense and liability on the site.
A: Send an email to sunsetparkfriends@gmail.com to be added to our mailing list. Click on the "Home" button for a listing of the community meetings, and mark your calendar!!
A: The Shoreline School District and the Shoreline Historical Museum recently reached an agreement that allows the Museum to support passage of the February 9, 2010 School Bond Proposition #2 and assures the future of the Shoreline Historical Museum in the Ronald School Building.
The Museum agreed to purchase property near its current site and the School District agreed to relocate the old Ronald Elementary School, which houses the museum, to the new site.
As part of that agreement, the School District agreed to allow the Museum to use the Sunset School building for its operations and storage during the structural relocation of the Ronald School Building.
While the details will not be worked out until after the passage of the bond, both the School District and the Museum anticipate that the Museum will not occupy the Sunset site for an extended period of time so that construction of the new high school can move forward toward completion by 2013 and the Museum can be in its new location in time for its 100th anniversary celebration in 2011.
In the meantime, community visioning for the Sunset Park/Boeing Creek Open Space can (will) move forward as planned, with the understanding that the Museum’s use of the site is temporary and that park development plans will be implemented in stages over time.
To read the School District and Museum agreement, visit Shoreline School District and Shoreline Historical Museum agreement: http://www.shorelineschools.org/news/release.php?releasesid=953