Process FAQ
This section should answer frequently asked questions about the Sunset Park/Boeing Creek Open Space project process.
A: Sunset Elementary School closed at the end of the 2006-2007 school year due to declining enrollments. The school site was then boarded up and decommissioned by the Shoreline School District (District).
In the months following the school closure there was a growing interest in the community with regard to the future of the school site and the adjacent playground and open space. This interest led to the creation of a citizen’s group known as the Friends of Sunset Park (Friends). The purpose of the Friends was to energize the community and have a broad based planning effort to look at the creative re-use of the former school site and playground.
Q: After the Friends of Sunset Park was started, what happened next?
A: On November 17, 2008, the Richmond Highlands Neighborhood Association submitted a mini-grant application to the Shoreline City Council. The funds were to be used to support a professionally facilitated community visioning process to develop a long-term plan for a public park at the closed elementary school site. The total dollar request was $5,000; the value of the neighborhood match was estimated to be $19,625 in both cash contributions and volunteer time. The City Council graciously approved the grant request, which really got the process moving.
A: In early spring 2009, the Friends approached the City of Shoreline to gauge the City’s interest in participating in the Sunset Park project. Staff from the City’s Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Department (PRCS) began discussions with the Friends to see if they were amenable to including the undeveloped 4.5 acre Boeing Creek Open Space site into the planning process for Sunset Park.
The Friends were supportive of the idea of combining both sites in the planning effort and the City’s commitment to add funds to the planning process would benefit both sites.
In April, 2009, the Friends and city staff began discussions with the Shoreline School District to better understand the Districts position on developing a plan for the Sunset School site. The District was amenable to having the site developed for park purposes, but wanted to retain ownership of the property and retain the long-term right to re-use the site for school purposes should demographic conditions dramatically change in the future.
A: It was determined that a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the District and the City would be appropriate to lay out the roles, responsibilities and expectations of each party in the visioning process for the joint study and subsequent development of the Sunset School park site. A preliminary draft was prepared by the City and the District made modifications for discussion. Following subsequent meetings between the District, the City and the Friends, a final MOU was prepared for City Council and School Board review. The MOU was adopted by both the School Board and the Shoreline City Council in October of 2009. MOU
A: Representatives from the Shoreline School District, the City of Shoreline and the Friends met with The Pomegranate Center to discuss the parameters of a visioning process for the combined Sunset Park and Boeing Creek Open Space sites. A scope of work for the visioning effort outlined a seven month long process beginning in November of 2009 and terminating with a concept plan proposed for adoption by both the Shoreline City Council and the Shoreline School Board in May of 2010. The City of Shoreline executed a contract with The Pomegranate Center in October of 2009 in the amount of $49,990.50. The Friends contributed $15,000 to the contract amount with the City providing the balance of $34,990.50 from the Boeing Creek Park Capital Improvement Program (CIP) project.
A: The Pomegranate Center recommended the establishment of two groups to oversee the visioning process. The Leadership Team is composed of a representative from the Friends, City and District staff, Parks, Recreation & Cultural Services (PRCS) Board and Pomegranate Center. The Leadership Team serves as a policy and decision-making group to the process in setting project goals, ground rules and overall direction to the effort. The Steering Group is composed of fifteen community members who represent various interest groups both in Shoreline generally and in the communites adjacent to the two properties. The process includes three community meetings and a day-long community design charette, which was held on March 6, where residents shared their design ideas for Sunset Park and the Boeing Creek Open Space, assisted by volunteer design professionals.
A: The first Steering Group meeting was held on November 10, 2009. The visioning process was explained in detail by Milenko Matanovic, the executive director of The Pomegranate Center. Draft ground rules provided by the Leadership Team were reviewed and adopted by the Steering Group and the Group discussed how promotional efforts for the upcoming Community meetings could be best coordinated. At the second Community Meeting on February 23, 2010, more than 80 Shoreline citizens broke into small discussion groups to again express their preferences for site development and to sketch these preferences on aerial photographs of the two sites provided by the City. Each small group was given an opportunity to present their development proposals to the audience and discussion ensued about commonalities and priorities for development (minutes).
At the day-long Design Charette on March 6, 2010, more than 50 people toured the two sites and then gathered again in small groups to further develop design ideas. Volunteer professional designers sat in on these sessions to provide guidance and graphic support to the citizen planning effort (minutes). The Steering Group meets after each community meeting to review meeting outcomes and work to reconcile possible conflicts between design proposals, ground rules and project goals for the Sunset Park and Boeing Creek Open Space sites.
A: More than 180 people have participated in the process so far. For a scatter map of the participating households, click here. We had great participation in general, and from the area closest to the site in particular. We were unable to map folks who did not sign in, or who signed in without and address or home phone number - but we think this is pretty accurate.
A: Progress briefings on the visioning project are scheduled with both the Shoreline City Council and the Shoreline School Board in early April, 2010. The last Community Meeting is scheduled for April 6, 2010 where the design proposals will be presented and an effort will be made to initiate “early success” projects that will flow out of the visioning effort. This may take the form of volunteer-made “Gateways” or other design features for the two sites.
The PRCS Board was briefed on the Sunset Park and Boeing Creek Open Space project in both January and March of this year and individual members of the Board have attended each of the community meetings for the project. Because of the Board’s involvement with the project it is anticipated that the Board will review and adopt the concept plan for Sunset Park and Boeing Creek Open Space Park at its April 22, 2010 meeting.
It is anticipated that staff will recommend that City Council adopt the concept plan for Sunset Park/Boeing Creek Open Space in early May, 2010. Similarly, it is anticipated that the Shoreline School District Board will review and adopt the plan in early May, 2010.
A: The next step in moving the concept plan for Sunset Park and Boeing Creek Open Space towards reality is to make an application to potential funding sources in the State.
To that end, in early February, 2010 the City of Shoreline solicited Requests for Qualifications (RFQ) for landscape architecture services to create the necessary project drawings and cost estimates to fulfill the application requirements. The City received nine proposals on the February 19, 2010 deadline for proposals. Three design teams were interviewed by the Sunset Leadership Team on March 10, 2010. Following deliberation by the Sunset Leadership Team, JGM Landscape Architects was selected to prepare the design documents for the RCO Grant applications. The timeline to complete this work is very tight and JGM Landscape Architects is committed to provide design development level drawings and cost estimates by the end of June, 2010. Negotiations for the design contract for this work are currently underway. Design work would be split into two phases:
- Phase 1 provides design development drawings and cost estimates for the RCO Grant application.
- Phase 2 provides construction documents and construction observation services if funding is successful.
The project budget for a Phase 1 contract is $30,000. It is anticipated that a contract for the Phase 1 work will be in place in early April, 2010.