WalMart Building Soon in the Neighborhood

And the bad news follows the good:

The Bellevue Reporter announced the news last month: WalMart comes to Factoria.  Be sure to scroll down to the bottom for comments.  It will be in the Mervyn's at Factoria Mall, just down the street from our gathering space we built last summer.

Interesting fact:  the markings left by the old Mervyn's sign are called labelscars.

New Dominion

Another empty big box near the Chuck E Cheese on 148th.
I parked in front of a puff ball centurion, tiny starlings flitting between the shrubs standing guard over their new dominion. Mwha ha ha!

Bug Update

Bug Update: Blue Bug is still there.

On April 25 this will be the site of the 1st annual Blue Bug Swap Meet and Earth Day Fair.

Earth Day Event

A Newport Hills Earth Day event is in the early planning stages for Saturday April 25. The idea is to promote a community garden in the business center during the transition from gigantic parking lot to thriving focal point.

We plan to have people bring containers from home and have soil, seeds, plants and demo models on display for the purpose of raising neighbors' awareness of the importance of sustainability. Recycling, composting, saving water and decreasing pollution and runoff, as well as raising food are all going to play a part.

One possible site includes the highly visible and sun-drenched (when it's not raining) south end of Stod's across the street from a small Metro Park n' Ride.

Signboard Haiku and Skate Parks

A few posts back we lamented the loss of the Red Apple signboard. And prematurely blamed it on what we thought was a turf war between shrubbery gangs. Now we know it was sold off in the Red Apple auction. Who would have thought our beloved signboard would fall into the hands of outside interests?


But seriously, we were sad to see the Red Apple signboard auctioned off with all the rest of the shelves, counters, market paraphernalia, etc. As a suitable memorial/neighborhood landmark I thought it would be fun to acquire a new signboard and make available a set of letters for the public to use in a weekly haiku. If you have any ideas for poems I'd be happy to post them here until we can locate a new signboard.


Meanwhile, Sean was allowed in to take photos after the auction. It's amazing to think of all the possible uses a giant space like this could become. Go-Kart raceway? Puffball gymnastics? How about a display space for artists or the Bellevue Historic Society? How about a Classic Car Museum? Dance Hall with 50's era diner? Movie house? Rehearsal space for dramatic productions? A branch for BCC classes--they have a north campus--how about a southwest one? Crafts market? Holiday bazaar? Community center with art classes?

Of course, this doesn't take into account the multiple uses a large space can be divided into: grocery store/cafe/tutoring center/hardware store/bookstore/space for small concerts and open mic nights.

Indoor skatepark/teen center anyone?

TOADS

Going out of business, as of last weekend.




Many "big box" retail stores have found new life once the original goes out of business. Julia Christensen has a book, a wiki, and a website here: http://www.bigboxreuse.com/
devoted to the subject.



BIG BOX REUSE : THE BOOK
BY JULIA CHRISTENSEN . MIT PRESS . NOW AVAILABLE

Problems remain, however. Like what to do with this massive parking lot?

Trucks and miles of fencing move in--people move out. What the neighborhood is left with is a TOAD: a Temporary, Obsolete, Abandoned or Derelict site. In her book A Field Guide to Sprawl, Dolores Hayden quotes the great journalist, Grady Clay: "TOADs owe their on-ground existence to the use, abandonment and reuse of real estate as exaggerated by a capitalistic system."

In other words, TOADs are probably here to stay. In the meantime, the parking lots are not only ugly, they're hazardous to the environment, representing acres and acres of impermeable surface shedding storm water pollutants into the region's watershed.

Lesson 5: Reduce impermeable surfaces

A Photo Gallery in Newport Hills

I've long believed that if you find something ugly you're just not looking closely enough.

These stunning photos are by Sean Bentley. a regular (the only, so far) contributor to Red Apple Elegy. It's time for your close-up, Midlakes K-Mart! Click on the image to enlarge