Should city give $1 million for PEAK? – Neighbors of teen center project concerned with traffic

Published 4:38 pm Monday, November 24, 2008

By Katherine Sather

Staff at the Mercer Island Boys & Girls Club plan to ask the city to contribute $1 million for a new teen center and field house on school district land near Mercer Island High School.

The money would be an advanced lease on space the city could use for athletics and other public activities, and would help with construction costs on the project, called PEAK, which planners say would cost about $14 million.

The city previously agreed to pay $1 million for use of the new gym when the Boys & Girls Club planned to renovate its current location on West Mercer Way. It opted out of the agreement when the Boys & Girls Club failed to meet a targeted fundraising goal last year, but promised to set aside the money until the end of 2005 for youth activities. It could still be designated for PEAK.

“The council did vote to approve that previous agreement at the West Mercer site,” said Rich Conrad, city manager. “That might be an indicator they’d be willing to look at it for the new PEAK project.”

Discussions about the $1 million began during a PEAK presentation at City Council last week. It was the first time organizers had met with the council since December, when they announced plans to construct a new facility on school district land. Todd Bale, executive director of the Mercer Island Boys & Girls Club, said his group plans to formally request the $1 million from the council before December.

“At some point the money could be competed for by other agendas,” Bale said.

Island residents at the meeting voiced concern about increases in traffic congestion and parking that the new facility could bring. The School Board recently approved a building site north of the district transportation building and bordered on the west by 86th Ave. S.E.

“We already have a certain amount of spillover parking by students out in local streets during the school day,” Conrad said. “We’re trying to work with the district to resolve that.”

Islanders were worried that PEAK would amplify the problem, bringing activity on weekends and evenings, when the high school is usually quiet.

“Concerns are basically that the area is already overloaded,” said council member Dan Grausz. “This just adds to the problem and increases duration of the problem.”

PEAK architects plan to begin a traffic and parking study this fall, and until then details are uncertain, Bale said. He said that at the club’s West Mercer location, traffic congestion only occurs after Friday night dances. The site has about 70 parking spots that are rarely full. He doesn’t think the PEAK project will cause new parking or traffic problems in the high school neighborhood.

“We won’t contribute to that problem,” he said. “It already exists. This is an opportunity to address it.”

PEAK organizers said they soon plan to address city codes that prohibit further development at the high school. The school district has already exceeded codes that allow 40 percent of land to be covered by facilities like parking lots and sidewalks known as “impervious surfaces.” The PEAK organizers plan to either ask for the code to be amended, or for an individual code exemption.

“I’m willing to bet that most churches, schools and facilities don’t meet the code,” Bale said.

He said the PEAK facility will be between 50,000 and 60,000 square-feet when finished. In addition to a teen center and Boys & Girls Club, it will provide four gymnasiums that would be used by MIHS wrestling and possibly gymnastics. If the city leased space at the site, Bale said the gym’s multi-purpose floors would accomodate athletic activities like indoor softball or pickleball.

“I feel like we have a much more compelling space to offer,” Bale said. “It’s going to give the city more value for its money.”

Currently the city provides educational and athletic classes at locations scattered around the island, including churches, schools and the VFW Hall. However, Conrad said that when the city’s Community Center is finished in December, it will provide a centralized location and more space for activities.

Grausz said the community could benefit from space at PEAK as well.

“A big problem we have on the island is gym time,” he said. “There are a lot of athletic activities that are not able to happen.”

The council would have to work out a schedule of specific day-time hours the public could use the facility. In its prior agreement, the $1 million paid for 20 years of use