Renton’s 300-seat Carco Theatre was flooded in December, after Renton leaders initially downplayed the NOAA forecast that predicted we could see the worst flooding ever (see screenshots below). Nearly a year after the flooding of Carco, nothing has been done to reopen the theater. A local non-profit that leased space from Renton and helped community groups prepare programs for public access TV, Puget Sound Access Television, has also been displaced by the flooding.
Renton residents that would like to try Tai Chi walking can enjoy doing so for free in the heart of downtown Renton. Art Commissioner and Tai Chi instructor Scott Douwes has been leading some fun and well-attended sessions every Sunday morning at 9:00. Everyone is welcome to join in, and no experience is necessary.
You can find more information and sign-in in advance at Scott’s website, thesanctuarycommons.org.
You are sure to enjoy Scott’s informative and entertaining teaching style. He brings impressive experience with Tai Chi and physical fitness to these exercises, complimented by his mastery of art, affection for teaching others, and outstanding sense of humor.
Scott’s been a very active member of our Renton community for many years, and has designed beautiful murals and other media for our city in the past. His wife Jennifer is a writer who also manages the office of Renton Historical Society.
On Sunday the City of Renton and Gravity Sports hosted a 25th birthday celebration for Renton Skate Park. It was a great skate party with a band and perfect weather, and I caught up with some old friends.
I vividly remember the opening of the skate park in 2001. We located it at the site of the former Henry Moses Pool after determining we would build the new Henry Moses Aquatic Center on the other side of the freeway. Residents had petitioned the Council to build a skate park, and I thought is was a great idea. In time, all of Renton’s officials were on board, and we created one of the best skate parks in the Northwest at that time. In 2000, when I was Council President, we held workshops using clay modeling to enlist public involvement in the design (see the document at the end of the photos). The Skate Park has received steady use ever since.
Residents are asking Council to consider expanding it and potentially building a second park in a covered area under the freeway, and I think these are great ideas.
I posted a few pictures from Sunday’s Skate Park birthday party, and some fun never-before-seen historic photos of the opening of the Skate Park
A recent press release from the City discussed the impending purchase of the Stoneway Site for extension of Cedar River Park, but did not mention the environmental remediation challenges that will come with it.
I support the city purchasing this site as long as Renton gets it for a fair price and we get assistance from the Department of Ecology, State Fisheries, and others to help fully clean it up.
According to the Department of Ecology, there is still formaldehyde, petroleum residue and potentially other industrial waste on the site that is acceptably capped and monitored so long as none of the soil, concrete, and buildings are disturbed. Any digging on the site requires Department of Ecology approval and likely a new environmental remediation plan. The site is also subject to continuous monitoring for chemical movement, and carries liability for whoever owns it.
Renton published a press release this week saying plans were underway to purchase the former Stoneway Concrete site, next to Cedar River Park, consistent with the “Tri-Park Master Plan” that was developed in 2006. The purchase would increase the size of Cedar River Park by about 12.5 acres.
An information display was set up in the Community Center for Renton River Days, giving ideas of what the expanded park system might look like under the Tri-Park Master Plan. As my wife Cathy and I reviewed the display, my wife asked me “Would they seriously consider tearing down Carco Theater?”
“No, of course not” I said. But then Cathy pointed to the poster, and I was not sure what it was depicting– it appears that Carco was to be replaced by an outdoor amphitheater. And then I noticed a sticky note someone else had left on the “Concerns” board asking the city NOT to get rid of Carco Theater, along with another commenter “Seconding” the comment.
Getting rid of Carco Theater was most definitely NOT what the 2006 Tri-Park Master Plan envisioned. The approved plan called for an expanded lobby of Carco Theater, as well as other improvements to Cedar River Park:
In a post last week I described my hopes that we could preserve our beautiful Piazza fountain. But on Monday night, Renton Council announced plans to turn this fountain into a planter.
The plans also eliminates the Piazza’s other water feature, the babbling brook featuring Renton’s “Summer Breeze” sculpture of a young girl stepping gently into the water.
Together, these two lovely water features have visually anchored the Piazza since the early 2000s. And the splashing water features incorporate generous bench seating which provide critical cool resting areas for scores of visitors on hot days.
Renton’s Piazza Fountain has welcomed visitors to Renton’s downtown since the Piazza park was built 24 years ago. In addition to making downtown more inviting, The fountain and surrounding Piazza are a gateway to Renton for everyone arriving by bus through the adjacent transit center.
The beautiful fountain is dedicated to beloved Renton resident Marge Richtor, who served our community for decades in numerous roles including on Renton Parks Board. She was a friend and inspiration to all of us who knew her. A plaque on the fountain commemorates the dedication.
In recent years, the fountain has not been maintained as well as in the past. And this year, even though temperatures are in the 80s and people are out and about, the fountain has been entirely neglected.
This should not be allowed to go on for long. It’s time to clean the fountain and get it flowing again. As in the case with our broken clock tower, the public notices when these community centerpieces are neglected.
Just as importantly, the city has been making plans to revise the Piazza landscape. If they do so, the fountain should remain the inviting centerpiece that it has been for the past two decades.
If you share my view that this fountain should be cleaned, maintained, and preserved you can let the Mayor and Council know by emailing mayor@rentonwa.gov and council@rentonwa.gov.
Coulon Beach Park swim area was closed on this sunny Memorial Day weekend because of high bacterial counts. It was one of only two beaches on Lake Washington closed for this reason. Unfortunately this has become more common in recent years, with Coulon’s swim area sometimes closed for weeks at a time.
While it’s clear that ducks and geese are contributing to the problem, it’s less obvious to Park visitors that storm drains in western Renton Highlands, the Landing and even I-405 are also contributing to the problem by adding pollution to “Johns Creek” which empties next to Coulon’s swim beach.
Renton has been working for decades to improve the water quality in Johns Creek, and a Stormwater Management Action Plan (SMAP) is in place to improve it. Renton Stormwater utility fees, along with grants when they can be obtained, pay for this work.
Johns Creek is not the only creek that carries Renton’s surface water into Coulon Park; Kennydale Creek deposits Kennydale’s surface water about a mile to the north. But in addition to emptying further away from the swim beach, Kennydale Creek flows mostly in a natural creek bed open to the sun and air, which helps reduce bacteria levels. Johns Creek flows through many pipes and culverts, only in open air as it nears Coulon Park.
So to keep our swim beach open, businesses and residents in Renton Highlands, the Landing, Paccar, Southport and parts of North Renton should help keep our street gutters clean and spread the word that whatever flows into storm drains can flow right into the Coulon Beach Swim area.
The following photos and maps give more information about this little-known creek and the plans in place to improve it.
Our new Eastrail hiking and biking Trail on the former Burlington Northern Santa Fe Eastside Line is a wonderful new amenity in our city. If you have not yet discovered it, you are in for a treat. With amazing views of the lake, streams, trees and nature at a grade of less than 1%, the trail is a delight for travelers of any degree of mobility.
The trail is a successful example of “railbanking,” where an otherwise abandoned rail corridor is preserved intact under a long-term agreement between the railroad and government agencies, allowing the corridor to become a public trail with the proviso that it could potentially be used by rail again in the future.
I was a longtime member of the I-405 Corridor Executive Steering Committee and Eastside Transportation Partnership when we learned the rail corridor would be abandoned. Working with King County, the Port of Seattle, the DOT, and others, we protected the corridor to assure multimodal transportation options up and down the corridor. I was a founding member of the Regional Advisory Committee for the new Rail trail, which we ultimately named Eastrail as it blended “Eastside Rail” and trail.
As someone who appreciated railroads, I was very pleased we could preserve the original trestles on the trail, and make them safe for pedestrians.
Several smaller trestles have already been converted for pedestrian use, and the plan is in work for the magnificent 1000-foot-long Wilburton Trestle in South Bellevue. Funding issues are being worked to upgrade the trestle across I-90, and build a pedestrian/bike bridge across I-405 in the Wilburton area where the original tunnels used by the train were dismantled during the previous I-405 widening.
