Gift will enable Lake Union Park construction to move ahead at faster pace

Lake Union Park, and the Wing Luke Asian and Northwest African American museums will get $1.5 million in grants, the Safeco Insurance Foundation announced Monday.

Each will receive $500,000 toward capital campaign goals, Safeco representatives said.

For Lake Union Park, the funds mean a long-sought bridge across the park's west waterway can be completed, and much earlier than planned -- possibly in January. The bridge will provide access to a planned Northwest Native Canoe Center and connect two sides of the developing park, said Karen Daubert, executive director of the Seattle Parks Foundation.

The gift brings private funding for the park to $18.4 million, just $1.6 million short of the $20 million the Seattle Parks Foundation has pledged to raise. The city of Seattle has provided $9.6 million, including pro-parks levy money, to build a new sea wall and other infrastructure improvements.

The park is starting to look like one. The northwest bulkhead, terraced steps and boardwalk are completed, as are boat-shaped planters. New sod was laid recently, transforming muddy terrain into a smooth greenscape. Joggers use a gravel trail on the park's west side, and new sidewalks now form the park's southern border. On Dec. 12, the new South Lake Union Streetcar is expected to debut.

"We have no doubt in the world that we'll be able to raise the rest," Daubert said.

The United Indians of All Tribes Foundation, which is developing the canoe center, made a presentation to the Seattle Design Commission Thursday. The Seattle landscape architectural firm Jones & Jones is designing the center.

Estimated to cost about $3.8 million, the center will include two "green" buildings, featuring high-glass walls, huge wooden logs and "living roofs" with plants such as camas, a blue flower prized by many Native Americans, said Noel Franklin of the Tribes Foundation, the project's manager.

The foundation also hopes to use the site to "provide socio-economic development opportunities for native people," said Phil Lane Jr., chief executive of the Tribes Foundation. There are an estimated 60,000 Native Americans living in the Seattle area, representing 300 tribes -- but many youths are falling away from their own culture and losing valuable skills and trades in the process, he said.

One building will be a canoe-carving house, with apprentice programs to teach Native American youths and demonstrations viewable by the public.

The other building will be a "potlatch house," a gathering place for salmonbakes and clambakes and other native events open to the public. The foundation also hopes to use the potlatch house for special-event catering, helping to train native youths to prepare food.

"The canoe center will be the fulfillment of a long-time vision of Bernie Whitebear," Lane said, referring to his predecessor, who died of colon cancer in 2000.

Whitebear envisioned a place, Lane said, "where we would be able to share the spiritual, cultural and physical heritage of Northwest indigenous peoples" and to access the water.

He said plans also include grading the site to create a beach from which to launch canoes. Three ocean-going canoes already have been purchased from Canada, he said, both to teach youths canoeing skills and take the public out on Lake Union.

"I think the canoe center is one of the most important things that is happening in this park," said Betsy Davis, executive director of the Center for Wooden Boats, which is collaborating with the Tribes Foundation to develop carving and other educational programs.

"It's incredibly unique; it's important to tell the story of the native people of this region, past and present," Davis said. "And we share a common mission: education, fun, and getting people out on the water."

Representatives from the two museums also were optimistic about their projects.

Carver Gayton, executive director of the Northwest African American Museum, said the $500,000 grant will make a long-held dream a reality. The museum, in the former Colman School in Central Seattle, is slated to open in March 2008, he said.

"This has been in the minds of people for generations," Gayton said, adding the grant "will ensure that the stories and contributions of people of African descent from the Northwest will be celebrated for many generations to come and bind our various cultures and communities for the betterment of us all."

The Wing Luke Asian Museum in the Chinatown/International District will use its grant to complete its remodel, said Ron Chew, executive director of the museum. The museum is slated to open this spring.

The grants are the first funded by the Seattle-based Safeco Insurance Foundation, a non-profit endowment fund established by Safeco Corporation in 2006. The fund's total endowment is $90 million, through its parent company contributions.

For Virginia Anderson, president of the Safeco Insurance Foundation, the grants help bind Seattle's various cultural and ethnic communities -- a passion she pursued during her 18 years as director of the Seattle Center. Anderson joined Safeco's foundation last May.

"I really believe democracy depends on blending diverse cultures, but we can't do it by forcing things or by bashing people over the head. We can by coming together in public gathering places like these museums and Lake Union Park."