Here’s a roundup of neighborhood news.

West Woodland Elementary is one of three schools that will receive a combined $800,000 as part of the Safe Routes to School project. Beacon Hill and McGilvra are the other two schools. Mayor McGinn made the announcement at West Woodland on Wednesday. The funding comes from the City’s Real Estate Excise Tax. The money will be used to upgrade a half-signal to a full signal at NW 58th Street and 8th Avenue NW, and install new marked crosswalks and curb ramps.

The Phinney Neighborhood Association will now manage all of the facility rentals for the Sunset Hill Community Association in Ballard. The SHCA clubhouse is at 3003 NW 66th St.

Because PNA and SHCA are both nonprofit organizations with similar missions to connect neighbors and foster community, this partnership is a good fit for both organizations. PNA has a history of success in managing rentals and programs at the Phinney Center and Greenwood Senior Center and welcomes the 1929 meeting hall into the rental options. PNA’s staff will promote, rent and provide custodial services for the SHCA clubhouse.

Questions regarding rentals for both the SHCA and the Phinney Center can be directed to Margaret Pai by email margaretp@phinneycenter.org or 206.783.2244 x 42.

A Community Project CrossFit, which moved into 7216 Linden Ave. N. less than two months ago, is moving to a larger space a few blocks away. ACP CrossFit will be closed Saturday through Monday for the move, and will reopen Tuesday at 7622 Aurora Ave. N. (a former Kung Fu studio). The new space is much larger and has locker rooms and showers.

The Phinney Ridge Community Council will host an informational meeting about Woodland Park Zoo’s new annual “Wildlights” holiday event, a nightly light display with live entertainment from Nov. 19 through Jan. 1. The meeting is set for 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday at the Phinney Neighborhood Association, 6532 Phinney Ave. N., Room 6. Zoo staff will address plans for traffic, parking and other neighborhood impacts.

Seattle Parks and Recreation is holding its second public meeting on the renovation of Woodland Park Playground at 1000 N. 59 St. The meeting is from 7-9 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 3, at the PNA, 6532 Phinney Ave. N., Room 1. Landscape Architect Shwu-jen Hwang will present three play area options for community discussion. Construction is planned for fall of 2013.

And the Rotary clubs of greater Seattle are seeking business and professional people ages 25-40 for a month-long cultural and vocational exchange program in Russia in April and May 2013.

The Group Study Exchange is a longstanding program of Rotary International. It offers an all-expense paid experience with home stays with Rotarian host-country families, vocational visits, and an opportunity to exchange ideas and customs with Russian counterparts. Applicants must live or work in Rotary District 5030, which covers all of King County and the communities of Edmonds, Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace and Mill Creek in Snohomish County. The exchange is not open to Rotarians or their lineal descendents.

Applications for team members are due by October 22,2012. Complete information and application forms are available at www.gse.rotary5030.org.

Seattle Parks and Recreation plans to replace the lighting system for the ball fields and tennis courts in Lower Woodland Park, but first it wants community input.

A public meeting is scheduled for 6-7:30 p.m. next Tuesday, Sept. 4, at the Green Lake Library, 7364 E. Green Lake Drive N.

This project provides for demolition of the existing outmoded lighting system and replaces it with a state-of-the-art system. Parks goal is to eliminate as much objectionable glare and light spill into the neighborhood as possible while providing safe and efficient lighting for the field and court users.

The project is funded through a 2006 ballfield lighting upgrade program from the Cumulative Reserve Fund and the Parks and Green Spaces Levy. It provides for planning, design, and construction of the park lighting improvements.

Parks is working with an expert in the field of ballfield lighting who has extensive knowledge of the latest technology. The community is encourage to come to the meeting, meet the design team and learn more about the project.

Thanks to the 2008 Parks levy, $15 million was allocated for communities to develop new parks. $7 million has already been allocated, but another $8 million is available in the 2012-13 cycle.

Project proposal letters are due by 4 p.m. on Monday, June 11, and full project applications are due by 4 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 17.

Parks Department officials will help applicants at a workshop from 6-7:30 p.m. on Tuesday at the Greenwood Library, 8016 Greenwood Ave. N.

Check out the Parks Department’s online application system, which includes templates for proposal letters and applications, a detailed timeline, criteria, and analysis maps.

Join with Seattle Parks and Recreation, Carkeek Watershed Community Action Project (CWCAP), Seattle Public Utilities’ Restore our Waters initiative, and the Carkeek Park Advisory Council to clean up Carkeek Park on Earth Day, Saturday, April 21.

The work party starts at 950 NW Carkeek Park Rd., and goes from 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. For more information and to register, call 206-684-0877.

Volunteer activities include storm drain stenciling, general park cleanup, and community education in the park and surrounding watershed.

At Carkeek Park, home to Piper’s Creek where salmon return year after year, visitors can explore the secrets of this northwest Seattle watershed where 220 acres of lush forest, meadows, wetlands, creeks, and beach are formed by the magic of water and time. Walk the Piper’s Canyon Story Trail, play on the unique salmon themed play area, or touch time at the historic Piper Orchard. In Carkeek Park, years of hard work by neighbors and volunteers have restored major portions of the forest, built miles of trails, created sustainable gardens, educated visitors, reclaimed a unique historic fruit orchard, and created habitat to bring salmon back to Piper’s Creek.

Seattle Parks and Recreation’s Lifelong Recreation Sound Steps program is offering training for people to get in shape for a 5K, 10K or half-marathon walk. It’s open to all ages, but is designed especially for people “50 and better.”

One of the kick-off events is from 1-3 p.m. next Wednesday at the Greenwood Senior Center, 525 N 85th St.

Each participant will receive a training packet, discounts on walking shoes, and information about staying healthy while training. Training begins at 9 a.m. on Sat., Feb. 4 with free, volunteer-led group walks from Jefferson Community Center (3801 Beacon Ave. S), Ballard Senior Center (5429 32nd Ave. NW), or Ravenna Eckstein Community Center (6535 Ravenna Ave. NE).

To participate and to get more information, please call Mari Becker at 206-684-4664 or email her at sound.steps@seattle.gov.

Update Thursday, Nov. 10: In response to numerous comments, I asked Seattle Parks Department Acquisition Planner Chip Nevins whether the three businesses would be getting relocation assistance. Here is his response:

The relocation assistance provided by the City is enough to allow the businesses to find a new space, move and set-up their business at the new location. This would happen either when we are ready to develop the park, or if they decide to move after their lease expires.

Earlier: The Seattle Parks Department has signed a purchase and sale agreement to buy the land directly north of the Greenwood Library — which currently houses Greenwood Quickstop, Aloha Ramen and Manna Teriyaki – for a future park site.

Acquisition Planner Chip Nevins said Parks expects to close on the property sometime in early January. The current owner of the site is also the owner of the Greenwood Quickstop.

But, the quarter-acre site at North 81st Street and Greenwood Avenue North won’t be turned into a park right away. Nevins said the Parks Department doesn’t have the money yet to develop the site, and there’s no time frame yet for that to happen. So the businesses that are currently there will remain for the time being.

The purchase money comes from the 2008 Parks and Green Spaces Levy.

Seattle Parks and Recreation is hosting 27 public meetings all across the city, to get your input on activities and hours for community centers. While Greenwood-Phinney doesn’t have any city-run community centers, nearby neighborhoods do. Here are the meetings closest to us:

• Ballard Community Center: 6:15 p.m. Wed., Oct. 19, 6020 28th Ave. NW, 206-684-4093.
• Bitter Lake Community Center: 7 p.m. Thurs., Oct. 20, 13035 Linden Ave. N, 206-684-7524.
• Green Lake Community Center: 7:15 p.m. Tues., Oct. 18, 7201 E Green Lake Dr N, 206-684-0780.
• Loyal Heights Community Center: 6:30 p.m. Wed., Oct. 26, 2101 NW 77th St., 206-684-4052.

Seattle Parks and Recreation and the Carkeek Watershed Community Action Project (CWCAP) will celebrate the 1972 Clean Water Act at a special public gathering from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 15, at Carkeek Park, 950 NW Carkeek Park Rd.

Special activities include:

• Join groups doing water monitoring at Piper’s Creek for World Water Monitoring Day
• Tour the Salmon to Sound Trail and the imprint pond
• Learn about how to get involved in feeding the chum salmon at the park
• The kids’ table will have fun activities and materials to take home that explain “How to help make clean water happen”
• Cake and juice

Meet in front of the Carkeek Park pump station in the middle of the park. For more information, call Nancy Malmgren at 206-363-4116.

Seattle Parks & Recreation is presenting possible models of operation for Seattle’s community centers, in the wake of budget cuts. The first public meeting is from 7-8:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Bitter Lake Community Center, 13035 Linden Ave. N., north of Greenwood.

A second public meeting is from 7-8:30 p.m. Thursday at the Jefferson Community Center, 3801 Beacon Ave. S.

Seattle Parks and a Community Center Advisory Team spent six months examining current uses at community centers and came up with nine options, including raising fees, reducing staff and hours at some community centers, and even closing some centers.

Seattle Parks and Recreation is trying to figure out new ways to operate community centers, and it now wants to hear from the public on several options suggested by a citizen advisory team.

One of two community meetings is in our neck of the woods: 7-8:30 p.m., Wed., June 15, Bitter Lake Community Center, 13035 Linden Ave. N.

The draft options for changing community center operations will be available June 8 at all community centers and on the Seattle Parks and Recreation web page: http://seattle.gov/parks/centers/operations.htm.

Those who are unable to attend the meeting are invited to complete an online survey that will be posted on the web (same site as above) beginning June 8.

For more information, please contact Susan Golub at susan.golub@seattle.gov

Seattle Parks and Recreation has canceled its annual Old Timers Picnic at Woodland Park Zoo because of budget cuts. This would have been the 39th year of the Old Timers Picnic, which brought senior citizens to the zoo for a special day.

From the press release:

Co-sponsored by Seattle Parks and Recreation, the Human Services Department’s Mayor’s Office for Senior Citizens, and Senior Services, the picnic provided a hot dog lunch, an outdoor experience at a park, live music and entertainment, information from the Mayor, civic leaders, and service providers, and a social experience on an August day almost guaranteed to bring fair weather.

In recent years the picnic has taken place at the Woodland Park Zoo, where picnickers could wander the exhibits after lunch. Each agency brought in-kind resources to the event, so the only real expense was the food. In 2010, the sponsor providing funding for the food ended its support, and the cost of the food fell to Parks. Parks has experienced a 10% reduction in its operating budget in 2011 and can no longer support the event.

“I’m terribly disappointed to have to end this great tradition,” said Acting Parks Superintendent Christopher Williams, “but we just don’t have the funds to pay for it. When financial times improve, we’ll try to put together another event that celebrates the energy and wisdom of our seniors.”

Youth sports are getting underway for the spring and summer. Here are two with upcoming registrations.

Woodland Soccer Club will open registration for fall soccer on May 1. WSC fields recreational soccer teams for kids U6-U19. Club boundaries are south of 85th Street to the Ship Canal, and NW 8th Avenue to I-5.

For more information and to register, click here.

Seattle Parks and Recreation’s play-based tennis league for youth with little to no experience takes place at 14 community centers across the city.

The USTA (United States Tennis Association) developed QuickStart tennis, after decades of refining an introductory program, to get youth playing tennis. Last year Seattle was at the forefront of this initiative and created one of the largest leagues in the country with almost 150 youth and 25 volunteers, using age appropriate rackets and balls and shorter courts.

The league will consist of two age brackets: 7-8 year olds playing on a 36’ court (standard court is 78’ long) and 9-10 year olds playing on a 60’ court. Parks provides all equipment and supplies. The league fee is $35 per person for the eight week program. Practices start June 28, and signups begin May 24. Practices and matches take place from 6 – 8 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Parks highly encourages parent participation, as this is a family game!

Parks is looking for volunteer managers, which helps keep league fees very low. Volunteers can be tennis aficionados, parents, fans, or anyone who loves helping kids succeed. No tennis experience is required! There will be a free QuickStart volunteer training session on May 7 at AV Performance, 13203 NE 16th St in Bellevue, and on June 11 at The Racquet Training Center, 6310 NE 74th St. (Building 30 at Magnuson Park) in Seattle. Both are sponsored by the USTA and Aces Tennis, with National US Professional Tennis Association/US Professional Tennis Registry-certified trainer Tracie Mitchem.

For more information, call Carl Bergquist at 206-684-0780, or e-mail him. Click here for more information about QuickStart tennis.