The Montlake Community Club extends a huge thanks to all in Montlake (and beyond) for donating $29,000 to cover legal fees to help save the Montlake Boulevard Market. We especially thank Montlake resident Hans Kehl who volunteered to lead the neighborhood’s legal effort and attended our court hearing.

You might have read in the paper Flyer last month that unfortunately, on September 6, a King County Superior Court judge ruled against the MCC and the property owners and granted WSDOT approval to move forward with the condemnation of the market and gas station. The MCC and our attorney, Dave Bricklin, argued that WSDOT did not consider the environmental impacts associated with closing the Montlake Market. By intervening in the case, the MCC hoped to strengthen the argument for saving the market and force WSDOT to consider alternatives.

The judge’s decision means the future of the Montlake Boulevard Market and the gas station are in doubt. WSDOT claims they need the properties for a variety of reasons that include re-routing traffic and staging. The “Montlake Phase” of the 520 project begins next year and then the “Rest of the West” portion will begin after that, so WSDOT could occupy the property for the next 12 years.

The fight is not over yet. After paying our legal fees to date, the MCC has a small amount of money remaining to help launch an appeal. We are still accepting donations to cover court fees and legal bills. We have filed a notice of appeal in the case and are preparing to appeal. Opening briefs are due at the end of this month, and the case would likely be heard in January of next year.

If WSDOT wins, it still must go through the process of determining value and fairly compensating the property owners, which could take some time.

Donate to our efforts either on our GoFundMe page: https://www.gofundme.com/save-the-montlake-market

Or by clicking the Donate button on the right side of this page to give through Paypal. Make sure to note your donation is for Saving the Market.

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Before Thanksgiving dinner get outside with your neighbors and move your feet! 

Join in the fun for this 2nd annual Montlake Community Club event.
All proceeds benefit the University District Food Bank.

Early Bird registration until Nov. 5!

SIGN UP NOW at Turkey Trot Registration

The Thanksgiving morning 5K run goes through the Washington Park Arboretum, followed by a one mile Kids Run through the Arboretum Pinetum.

• 5K Turkey Trot (9:30 am): Participant (adults, teens, kids) entry fee $30 until November 5th, then $35 until November 21st at noon when online registration closes. Race day registration (space permitting) is $40.
• Kids Fun Run (10:30 am): Entry fee for kids ages 2- 12 is $15 from now until November 21st at noon, when online registration closes. Race day registration (space permitting) is $20.

Thinking of volunteering? We’d love to have you join the almost 100 folks who make this great neighborhood event happen. Click here for information and volunteer sign up

Some fun photos from the 2016 Turkey Trot & Kids Fun Run

Last year the inaugural Montlake Community Club 5K Turkey Trot & Kids Fun Run raised $10,000 for the University District Food Bank— our 2nd annual Turkey Trot goal is to more than double our donation!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Neighbors needed!
The Montlake Community Club is looking for volunteers to help organize the 2nd annual Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. Volunteering is a terrific way to meet Montlake neighbors, and help the University District Food Bank. Last year, the Montlake 5K Turkey Trot & Kids Fun Run raised $10,000 for the Food Bank– we hope to more than double our donation this year!

Volunteer Sign Up HERE

There are many ways to help: choose one or more shifts either on Thanksgiving morning (race day) or prior to the event.

For Turkey Trot race information, visit Montlake.net
Questions? Email us at turkeytrot@montlake.net

We are grateful to our ever growing list of 2017 Turkey Trot Sponsors!

If you or your employer are interested in event sponsorship please Click here for more info.  Net proceeds benefit the University District Food Bank.

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The Arsove Family home, at 2035 E. Newton Street, is for sale, and the Arsove children have written a lovely piece about the history of the family.  Although the home will be changing owners, the spirit of the Arsoves will live on in Montlake through their efforts to keep our neighborhood a great place to live.

If the Walls Could Talk – by Priscilla Arsove

This house is the former home of Maynard and Germaine Arsove and their four daughters. Maynard, a mathematics professor at the University of Washington, first saw the home in 1959 and proclaimed to his wife, “Germaine, I’ve found our dream home!”  Indeed the house stayed in the family for 58 years hence.

Maynard and Germaine became pillars of the Montlake community and both contributed immensely to its improvement.  Maynard became president of the Montlake Community Club in 1968, a pivotal time in the community’s history.  The proposed R.H. Thomson Expressway, a freeway that would have run roughly a mile parallel to I-5, was looming.  It would have destroyed thousands of homes in its 15-mile path, including many homes along 26^th Avenue E. in lower Montlake.  More than a dozen homes  in the area that is now the  Arboretum Pinetum were removed by 1965 to make way for the freeway.  For years the “Ramps to Nowhere” have stood as a reminder of the freeway that never happened.

By 1969, communities across Seattle had coalesced in opposition to the R.H. Thomson Expressway and Maynard became president of Citizens Against the R.H. Thomson (CARHT), a grassroots organization dedicated to stopping this freeway.  Countless CARHT meetings and fundraisers were held in the Arsoves’ living room.  After an intensive, three-year effort, Seattle voters defeated the R.H. Thomson and the Bay Freeway (which would have run along the shores of South Lake Union) in 1972 referendums.

During his term as president of the Montlake Community Club, Maynard led fundraising efforts to convert what had been an unkempt plot of land at 20^th Ave. E.  and E. Louisa streets to the beautifully landscaped triangle it is today. Germaine, for her part, led the Club’s “Beautification Committee” that helped arrange for planting of numerous trees throughout the community, converting streets with barren parking strips to tree-lined streets some 40+ years later.

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