According to the White Center Community Development Association, funding is available for facade improvements in Downtown White Center.
Local businesses based in the “downtown” area of the Dub-C can get up to $10,000 to re-design or improve their storefronts, and/or up to $2,500 for new signage or awnings for their business.
The program aims to:
- Beautify Downtown White Center
- Strengthen our local businesses
- Increase public safety
- Build pride in our community
The WCCDA announcement continues:
The White Center Façade Grant program is designed to improve the appearance of the business district by encouraging property and/or business owners to make physical improvements in their storefronts. The White Center CDA will offer a grant to help offset the costs of the improvements. In some cases, the grant may pay for the majority of the work. This program will take place from February 2010 – July 2010. The program is administered by the White Center CDA.
Program Goals :
- Stimulate economic activity and increase business viability through good design visible to customers, neighboring merchants and residents.
- Renew or improve the exterior of businesses in a manner that recaptures the integrity of the buildings’ design and character.
- Enhance the shoppers’ experience of the commercial district.
- Improve neighborhood safety.
- Encourage investment in the neighborhood.
Eligible projects include: Non structural building improvements such as new signs, new awnings, painting, replacement of doors and windows, new lighting or lighting improvements, removal of bars on storefront windows.
For more information, download the Application by clicking here (PDF file).
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King County’s Department of Transportation will be closing the South Park Bridge daily from 7am to 7pm beginning Wednesday, Feb. 10th, and continuing through Saturday, Feb. 13th.
Workers will be conducting a “test pile operation,” and closure of the structure will be required. The 78-year old bridge is suffering from deterioration, and needs to be replaced.
In technical terms though, King County’s website clears it all up by saying that it’s going to…
Conduct a NEPA/SEPA EIS to study design and construction alternatives for the bridge.
The EIS will include an historical resource survey and documentation.
Conduct engineering design of the preferred bascule bridge alternative. Bridge replacement will follow the EIS and design if construction funding for this project is secured.
King County says they’re doing this work because the condition of the bridge “warrants major rehabilitation or replacement.”
If you’ve ever driven over it, or passed under it, we’re sure you’ll agree.
| Dec ’09 |
| 18 |
| 10:30 am |
Aerial view of the South Park Bridge courtesy King County.
Federal, state, and King County officials will meet Friday morning at 10:30am next to the crumbling South Park Bridge to mark the final step in the pre-construction planning to replace the 78-year-old span over the Duwamish River.
In September, King County submitted an application for a Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant to the U.S. Department of Transportation. The county and its project partners are requesting $99 million toward the replacement cost of the bridge. The grants will be awarded early next year.
According to a press release:
“…representatives from King County, the Federal Highway Administration, and the Washington State Department of Transportation will sign off on the final environmental review and talk about what’s next for the project.”
Right there next to the bridge.
Rain or shine.
Supposedly.
Here are the details if you want to go monitor ‘em:
WHAT: A bunch of officials doing a photo op next to the South Park Bridge
WHEN: Friday, Dec. 18th at 10:30 a.m.
WHERE: Southwest side of the South Park Bridge, 14th Avenue South & South Orr Street, Seattle
According to this Craigslist Ad, the semi-provocative restaurant chain Hooters is opening a brand new casino just 1.8 miles down the hill from White Center at 9635 Des Moines Memorial Drive in South Park:
“Hooters Casino is now hiring for all positions at multiple locations. Dealers, Cashiers, Security and Surveillance. Please apply in person @ Hooters Casino 9635 Des Moines Memorial Drive, Seattle WA 98108.”
Another Ad, posted on Aug. 30th, reads:
We have a brand new Hooters Restuarant and Casino opening up in South Park! If you are fun & outgoing and fit the Hooters Gils image of the All American, Girl Next Door, Cheerleader we need you! We have several spots to fill still and as a Hooters Girls you could be in the position of a server, bartender, cocktailer, hostess, or even a dealer!
We will be accepting applications at the new location starting this Sunday 8/30 located at 9635 Des Moines Memorial DR, Seattle WA 98108. If you think you have what it takes to be the next South Park Hooters Girl hurry and come apply, you don’t want to miss this opportunity! You can also apply at the Seattle and Tacoma Hooters as well!
For any further questions give us a call at our Seattle location (206) 625-0555, and we will be glad to help! See you soon!
According to various Hooters websites:
“Hooters was appropriately incorporated on April Fool’s Day, 1983, when six businessmen with absolutely no previous restaurant experience got together and decided to open a place they couldn’t get kicked out of. Soon after, on October 4th of that year, the doors to the first Hooters Restaurant opened in Clearwater, Florida.
The name “Hooters” came from a popular comedy sketch by one of the nation’s hottest comedians of that time, Steve Martin.
The first Hooters Girl, Lynne Austin, was hired on a bet. One fine day in sunny Florida, one of the Hooters Six anchored his boat off Clearwater Beach to swim in and catch the Jose Cuervo bikini contest. After failing to convince the subsequent winner to join the troop right then and there, he told her that if her job as a telephone operator didn’t work out, she should call them. Weeks later, Lynne tried to get off work at GTE to attend yet another bikini contest. She quit the job when they refused. The next day, she called Ed to join the Hooters team.”
Here’s a map to the new Hooters Casino for those of you um…interested in “researching” this further (wink wink):
View Larger Map
So…what do you think of having not only a Hooters nearby, but one that includes gambling? Please take our poll or Comment below…
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This is King County’s first capital project funded by federal economic stimulus money.
The King County Road Services Division project is a small piece of the larger White Center neighborhood plan and supports the vision identified and promoted by the White Center Community Development Association and dozens of community groups and participants. It estimated that 20-30 jobs will be directly created from this construction project.
When it is completed, residents from the 1,000-plus units at Greenbridge will be able to walk, or ride to more than 130 businesses and the transit hub in the White Center business district.
The new pathway will be constructed at the intersection of SW 98th Street and 12th Avenue SW. Currently, a steep wooden stairway connects the Greenbridge development with SW 98th Street. The stairway will be replaced, and the county will build an accessible paved ramp that gradually slopes down the hillside. Both feature safety lighting, landscaping, and artistic elements composed by local artist Andy Cao.
The walkway builds upon county efforts to spur private investment and foster a vibrant, healthy, mixed-income community at Greenbridge. It also supports King County’s Healthscape objectives by reducing automobile dependency with more opportunities to be physically active and improve air quality.
Total construction cost for the project is $1.4 million, with $1.27 million coming from federal stimulus dollars. Construction should begin this week, and take approximately four months to complete.
The project plan was initiated and overseen by a community steering committee. Design and preliminary engineering for the project was made possible by contributions from King County Road Services, King County Parks and King County Water and Land Resources Division, King County Housing Development Authority, 4 Culture, and Feet First.
The revitalization of the White Center community received a major boost Thursday morning (May 28th) with the groundbreaking for White Center Square, an $11 million retail plaza in the neighborhood’s business district that utilizes a $6.25 million federal loan.
Here’s a photo slideshow of the ceremony as shot by Photographer Michael Brunk:
“There is very tight competition for these federal funds. This project won support from a review panel that includes representatives from across King County—and for several good reasons,” said Metropolitan King County Council Chair Dow Constantine, who represents the White Center neighborhood. “This project will create new retail space and new jobs, while providing a new home for a longtime community business, the Vong family’s Asian market.”
The White Center Square project will bring 60 new jobs to White Center.
Legislation approved by the King County Council in March authorizes the Executive to borrow $6.25 million from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and re-lend those funds to the White Center Investment Fund, LLC. The legislation also pledges the County’s Community Development Block Grants funds as additional security for the loans. The White Center Square project will also benefit from a federal tax credit.
The investment Fund will use the loan to leverage the additional funding needed to complete a new 26,500 square foot retail/office plaza near Greenbridge. Greenbridge is a mixed-income community built on the site of the former Park Lake Homes, the King County Housing Authority’s oldest and largest public housing development
“We have seen major public investments nearby—most notably in the form of Greenbridge project, White Center Heights Elementary School, and White Center Heights Park,” said Constantine. “King County has been a big part of this effort. I am proud to celebrate another step forward for the White Center neighborhood.”
| May ’09 |
| 28 |
| 10:00 am |
Thursday morning (May 28th) at 10am, King County Council Chair Dow Constantine will join the owners of the White Center Square development for a groundbreaking ceremony at the new White Center Square site, which is located at the intersection of 15th Avenue SW and SW 100th Street.
This new retail project was funded through a $6.25 million loan from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The $11 million project, which will provide 60 new jobs for the White Center neighborhood, was authorized on March 30th by the King County Council.
Here are the details:
WHAT: Groundbreaking ceremony for White Center Square retail project
WHEN: Thursday, May 28 at 10am; Dow Constantine will speak around 10:30am
WHERE: The new White Center Square site, which is located at the intersection of 15th Avenue SW and SW 100th Street
| Nov ’08 |
| 5 |
| 11:00 am |
The brand spankin’ new 2,500 square foot Greenbridge Library and 10,000 square foot YWCA Learning Center will be having their grand opening on Wed., Nov. 5th, starting at 11am.
Everyone’s invited to help celebrate this new community building:
WHAT: Greenbridge Library and YWCA Learning Center building grand opening
WHEN: Wednesday, November 5, 11am
WHERE: 9720 Eighth Avenue SW in White Center
INFO: Call 425.369.3275 with any questions, or visit the Greenbridge Library website.
The White Center Blog is more than happy to welcome on board our latest Advertiser: Center Tool Rental!
They are located in the increasingly thriving Delridge Triangle, where West Seattle meets White Center at Roxbury, at 9444 Delridge Way SW (map below).
Their phone is 206-762-5057, and they happen to be located right across the street from one of our original and ongoing sponsors, White Center Glass and Upholstery.
Center Tool Rental’s slogan is “We Rent Most Anything.”
And they’re not kidding – from plumbing equipment, lawn and garden tools, to items for basic home improvements, there’s plenty to choose from.
“The list of what we have to rent out is pretty long,” owner Doug Stevens said. “Our rental book has 37 pages.”
“About 70% of our rentals are for around-the-house projects, and about 30% goes to light contractors,” Doug said.
While not available for rent, a friendly birder dog named Zoe will greet you at Center Tools.
But more than a healthy inventory, it’s the personal touch that Doug and his staff have to offer over big box competitors.
“My parents, Jack and Stella, started Center Tool Rental 35 years ago,” Doug said. “And I started working here when they first opened their doors. My parents were really good at the personal touch, asking people about their kids, and giving them advice on how to complete a project.
“Some of my current customers are the grandkids of Mom and Dad’s first customers.”
“I like to think I carry on the neighborly feel and that I impart helpful information to people who come in,” Doug said. “And you know, I generally learn something new every day.”
Stop by and give a big White Center Blog “Hello” to Doug Stevens and his staff:
Center Tool Rentals
9444 Delridge Way SW (at Roxbury)
Phone: 206-762-5057
Hours:
Monday through Saturday 8am to 6pm
Sunday 10am to 4pm
King County Library’s brand spankin’ new Greenbridge Branch Library will be opening soon, and here’s a sneak peak photo slideshow of the progress being made:
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.
