City may tack on $4.2 million to park to replace sea wall

A fiscal curve ball has been thrown to the Seattle City Council, which must decide whether to fund an estimated $4.2 million to fully replace South Lake Union Park's sea wall now -- or put it off until after the long-awaited park is completed.


		Paul Joseph Brown / P-I
	The aging bulkhead at South Lake Union Park will need to be replaced as the city of Seattle moves forward with the new park.

Common sense dictates doing the former, even though it is an unexpected cost, says Councilman Richard McIver, chairman of the council's Finance and Budget Committee. His committee was to make a recommendation after a hearing today, but the decision has been rescheduled for April 19. The full council would then vote on the matter.

Seattle Parks and Recreation had hoped to take the less costly route -- simply fortifying the aging bulkhead at the park's northwest corner with large boulders, a method called "riprap." But park officials said that although an engineering study shows riprap as the cheaper choice, it would also necessitate design changes for the park -- something City Council members, the neighborhood and private donors do not support.

A sloping riprap configuration would mean the loss of about 27 feet of park space, a planned boardwalk and boat moorage.

"The riprap solution compromised the park too much," park Superintendent Ken Bounds said. "Losing 27 feet of the park, moorage and part of the boardwalk is not OK."

The present sea wall is 46 years old; its life expectancy is 50 years, Bounds said.

"If we don't do it right now, we'd have to do it in five years, ripping up the new park to replace a sea wall," Bounds said. "That doesn't make sense. We're pretty confident they'll appropriate the money."

McIver agrees, with a few conditions.

"I think we're pretty close to something; we'll try to take action," McIver said. "We clearly agree we need to fix the bulkhead and that it needs to be done first."

But because South Lake Union Park is becoming a hub of neighborhood, housing and business development -- and the destination for the city's recently approved streetcar -- the council wants assurances the park will be completed.

McIver said to protect the city's investment, he will ask the Seattle Parks Foundation, a private fund-raising organization, to demonstrate that by the end of 2007 it has raised $6.2 million out of a city-required $10 million.

The city estimates the total cost of the park at $20 million; about $10 million has been pledged by Vulcan Inc., Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul Allen's development company and a major landowner in South Lake Union.

The Seattle Parks Foundation, with headquarters at South Lake Union, has raised $3 million to date in cash and pledges, said Hilary Mohr, foundation spokeswoman.

"We're pretty confident we can raise the $10 million," Mohr said. "But needing over $4 million for the bulkhead was a curveball; we were shocked that it needed to be replaced and that it was going to cost that much."

McIver said Tuesday he's taking more time to ensure all the involved parties are in agreement on what needs to be done.

"I want to be reasonably assured that the Parks Foundation can raise the $10 million they've committed to," McIver said. "Otherwise, do we have to cut the scope of the park?"

City officials are also pondering the delay of key design elements, notably a bridge from the park to Westlake Avenue.

But that could create a Catch-22 for fund raising, Mohr said, because past -- and future -- donors need to be reassured the park will proceed according to the agreed-upon design and the council-approved plan. Any modifications could undermine the city's credibility as well as fund-raising efforts, Mohr said.

Furthermore, she said, the estimated $500,000 bridge is widely considered a key component of the park design, a link to the west side of the lake as well as to additional parking. The foundation does not want it delayed or discarded, Mohr said.

"The bridge was extremely important to the community design process and all the neighborhood stakeholders; it's a very fundamental feature because it connects Westlake to the park and makes the neighborhoods feel a lot more connected," Mohr said. "It's really critical to the park, from our perspective. In terms of joining the whole area, it just has to be built."

The foundation will continue to work with the city to finish the park, Mohr said.

"The only way to be fair to those who have already contributed, and to those who live here and have contributed to the design process, is to build the park as it was intended," she said. "We're committed to having the park built, but each and every feature is critical to the park as a whole ... We need to get this issue resolved before we can move forward."

If all parties agree and the funds are approved, the first phase of park development could get under way as early as June, said park department spokeswoman Dewey Potter.

The first phase would spiff up the entire northwest corner of the park, including grading, preparing the site, replacing the sea wall and building a terrace so people can step down to the water, as well as constructing a boardwalk and moorage.

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