featured – Page 11 – Alliance for Pioneer Square

Neighborhood Hero: Jane Richlovsky

Throughout Pioneer Square, there are heroes working to make the neighborhood a great place to be. GiveBIG and the Alliance for Pioneer Square honors our neighborhood heroes.

Jane Richlovsky is the founder of ’57 Biscayne, a 13-studio artist space on the corner of 1st Avenue & Cherry Street in Pioneer Square. Jane is a former tenant of the 619 Western art building which was shut down due to seismic safety concerns. The 619 Western was legendary for its contribution to Pioneer Square’s First Thursday art walk and many were sad to see it go, but Jane wanted to create something positive out of her eviction. She took her relocation funds from the Washington State Department of Transportation, gathered a few of her compatriots from the 619 Western and created a new space in the neighborhood that was safe for artists to work in. Best of all, she helped keep artists in the neighborhood.

Thanks Jane Richlovsky, for bringing ’57 Biscayne to the neighborhood and for keeping art and artists in Pioneer Square! In addition to running the art studios, Jane has stepped up to be on the Pioneer Square BIA Board. What a hero!

You too can be a neighborhood hero on May 6th during the Seattle Foundation’s GiveBIG event. Make a donation to the Alliance for Pioneer Square on our GiveBIG page on May 6th and have it matched by a percentage of the stretch pool fund. You’ll help continue our revitalization efforts to make Pioneer Square the place to be for everyone.

Historic South Downtown Funds South Downtown Study

Back Alley Bike Repair, located in a historic brick building — Residents and small businesses located in historic buildings both in Pioneer Square and Chinatown-ID are vulnerable in the event of an earthquake. Recent city policies addressing this and other issues may impact both neighborhoods.

Historic South Downtown is pleased to announce a funding partnership with the City of Seattle in support of the Seattle Chinatown International District Public Development Authority’s (SCIDPDA) RRIO/URM study that we believe will be of great value to South Downtown neighborhoods.

The City of Seattle has adopted a Rental Registration Inspection Ordinance (RRIO) and an Unreinforced Masonry Retrofit (URM) ordinance to require seismic retrofit of URM buildings is anticipated later in the year. Pioneer Square and the Chinatown/International District (CID) will be particularly impacted by these policies. Together, the neighborhoods contain approximately 15 percent of all unreinforced masonry buildings in the city and are particularly vulnerable in the event of a major earthquake. Both also contain significant affordable housing for low-income individuals and families with children, seniors, and recent immigrants, as well as affordable commercial space for small businesses.

Much of the neighborhoods’ historic building stock may be subject to at least one of the new policies, and many buildings will be affected by both. In the CID alone, at least 700 affordable housing units (half of which are occupied) need work to comply with URM retrofit requirements; 600 of those will also require upgrades to meet rental inspection standards. Dozens of small businesses—largely located in mixed-use URM buildings—will also be impacted and potentially displaced.

SCIDPDA will conduct outreach in both neighborhoods as a practical way for property owners and city agencies to anticipate the work required to comply with the new policies, estimate associated costs, and create a sustainable, targeted financing mechanism for improvements. The pilot will explore the work required to rehabilitate 5 to 7 case study buildings for URM compliance, including needs assessments and cost estimates by professional consultants, and exploration of potential funding mechanisms to fund retrofit work. Community engagement will be conducted throughout the process. For more information, contact project manager Paul Mar at 206-838-8233 or PaulM[at]scidpda.org.

Walking Audit Identifies Opportunities in PSQ

Two years ago more than 40 people – residents, businesses, property owners and city staff gathered in Occidental Park. Our goal: to understand what make Pioneer Square a great place and to identify the opportunities to make it better. You came up with a list then, and ISI, working with the Alliance, has brought in more than $1 million to make those changes.

So, we plan to repeat our success, with the help of Feet First, the Alliance and you at the annual Spring Clean, to see how our neighborhood has improved and where we still need improvement. We’ll set out on routes with map, clipboards and cameras to cover nearly all of Pioneer Square.

Your work is all the more important now. Pioneer Square faces major construction projects ranging from the Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Project to the First Hill Streetcar. Your work will help us get things put back in better shape than when all the digging started. We’re thinking active public spaces, an integrated transit system and a network of streets, parks and alleys that make people want to wander through the Square and its shops all day long.

Learn more about the Pioneer Square Active Streets Strategy. With the help of the Strategy we have a guide for thinking carefully about how to get full value of these investments to make a vibrant place for everyone.

Are you a keen observer of streets, sidewalks and alleys? Do you notice a freshly painted crosswalk, confusing pedestrian signage or missing curb ramps? Are you interested in making Pioneer Square more appealing? You could be part of the International Sustainability Institute’s audit of Pioneer Square’s streets, sidewalks and alleys to help us update our list of infrastructure improvements. Sign up for this or many other activities during the Pioneer Square Spring Clean on Saturday, April 19^th.

Liz Stenning

ISI/Alliance for Pioneer Square