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City approves $50,000 for ARC site analysis on church property Tax records show property worth $8.8 million, city expects to pay $15-20 million BY TJ MARTINELL tmartinell@kirklandreporter.com
T
he city of Kirkland is currently examining a church property in the Totem Lake neighborhood as a potential future location for the Aquatic, Recreation and Community (ARC) Center. The City Council
approved $50,000 in funding at their June 16 meeting for a site analysis of the Christ’s Church property located at 11725 NE 118th St, across the Kirkland Justice Center. According to Parks Director Jennifer Schroeder, the site analysis will examine the utility services on the 12-acre property, as well as assess
the foundation system, all of which impact the costs of construction. The site analysis would also allow them to determine what amenities could be included in the ARC. City Manager Kurt Triplett said that although there has been no formal offer or price given by the church congregation, so far the discussions be-
tween the city and church representatives have been positive. If they were to purchase the property, Triplett said they estimate it would cost between $15-20 million. According to the King County Tax Accessor, the property is valued at approximately $8.8 million. “That’s a big chunk,” he said. “I think that’s
what the council is working through. They really want to be responsible with the public’s money and weigh the tradeoff between cost and benefit.” In the meantime, the site analysis will help them decide whether the property will be ideal for the ARC. “It looks extremely promising,” he said. “We just have to spend a little more money to see what would the layout of the property be…basically
everything we know it should be a great site, but we need to make sure there’s nothing missing.” Another aspect of the property they will look at are the three acres of forested hill on the property and whether it would be useable. It is the largest property the city has considered for the ARC. Juanita Beach Park, by comparison, was nine acres. “The good news is the [ more ARC page 3 ]
Kirkland resident helps new superhero business take flight co-founded by Keri Andrews, Alesia Glidewell, and Douglas Jordan. It’s every child’s dream Chief Marketing Offito be an action figure. cer and Kirkland resident Now, thanks to You Kick Tracey Northcutt said Ass, that dream the founders first can now be a came up with the reality, not just idea after Glidefor kids but adults well was used as as well. the model for the Recently, the main character in Seattle area-based the Portal video company landed game series and a Shark Tank deal Tracey Northcutt was later turned with billionaire into an action businessman and figure. investor Mark Cuban, “After that, they were who has agreed to help talking about how it take them to the next would be cool to give level. You Kick Ass was other people the opBY TJ MARTINELL
tmartinell@kirklandreporter.com
Kirkland resident Brian Toba shows off his action figure made by You Kick Ass. Kirkland resident Tracey Northcutt, left, is the chief marketing officer for the new business that allows people to purchase an action figure of themselves. CONTRIBUTED portunity to be their own action figure hero,” Northcutt said. “That was where the concept was born.”
As they began working on the idea, they started working on a business plan and conducted consumer research to
determine what type of superhero people wanted to buy. Although they had their own ideas for the type of product they
wanted to sell, she said they looked at what people were interested in buying. [ more FIGURE page 8 ]
City considers allowing employees to park on Lake Avenue West BY TJ MARTINELL tmartinell@kirklandreporter.com
Now that the city of Kirkland is trying to make better use of available parking downtown and giving residents access to the City Hall lot to meet demand, it is looking toward long-term solutions for increasing the supply. One of the ways it may do this is by opening up
Lake Avenue West, one of the few streets in the city to have permit-only parking, to both resident and downtown employees as part of an effort to make more parking availabile for customers. The Kirkland City Council voted at its June 16 meeting to have city staff come back with options for their July 7 meeting to allow such permitting at all times,
seven days a week. Meanwhile, the city is implementing solutions approved by the council in May in an effort to increase use of existing parking stalls in places where drivers either don’t know they exist, such as underground parking, or at the Kirkland Library parking garage by adding signage. They have also signed off on mainte-
nance work inside the library garage. The city has also opened up the City Hall parking lot during the evenings and weekends and by July 6 will extend the paid parking times at the lot on Lake and Central near Marina Park to between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. Previously, the paid parking time started at 5 p.m.
The Kirkland Alliance of Neighborhoods (KAN) has also established a task force to tackle the issue of parking that spills over into residential neighborhoods. Among the places where the city might add more parking is at one of their properties south of City Hall. According to city of Kirkland Transportation Engineering Manager David Godfrey,
if the city were to make it a paved lot rather than just gravel there would be minor differences in what the city would have to do, though city staff have recommended retaining a consultant to study it more thoroughly before taking any action. The council’s vote on Lake Avenue West came after a presentation by [ more PARKING page 6 ]