Polygon Homes will soon get started on their Bryant Heights project by demolishing the single family homes along NE 68th. On Tuesday, May 13th, the Seattle Fire Department will burn the single family home at 6556 32nd Ave NE as a training exercise for their recruits and staff. The others will be there for the rest of the firehouses in the area for practice such as cutting holes in roofs, dragging fire hose lines inside but will NOT include any burning whatsoever. Captain Brian Maier has said he “wants this to be a great experience for everyone in the neighborhood and for them to see THEIR fire department in action.”
In preparation for these training exercises, these single family homes on NE 68th have been evaluated and tested for any household hazardous materials such as asbestos. As many of the neighbors can attest, it is not uncommon (as an example) to find low levels of asbestos in some of the floor tiles in homes/buildings of this era. This environmental investigation has been completed and a certificate from a professional hazardous material contractor has been provided to the Seattle Fire Department evidencing that the homes are free of any such materials. With these certificates in hand, the homes are now being disconnected from the existing overhead and underground utilities consistent with the underlying demolition permits that the City has issued for these single family homes. The homes are scheduled to be disconnected on Monday, April 28th with the work being completed by Seattle City Light, Garner Electric and BDZ Construction.
In conjunction with this effort, the Seattle Fire Department will be delivering portable toilets and making preparation to the houses for the training exercises. This effort will include some reinforcement to the existing structures to allow the Fire Department Recruits to perform repeated training exercises on the property with a variety of Recruits and insure that all of the training exercises can be completed safely. The preparation efforts are anticipated to commence on May 6th with the actual Recruits arriving on the morning of May 13th to begin the drills. With this effort, Captain Brian Maier from the Seattle Fire Department has canvassed 50+ houses and businesses in the neighborhood to inquire about any health issues with particular neighbors and distribute informational flyers. Please email Sarah Swanberg (RBCA Land Use Committee Chair) at rbcasarah@gmail.com, should you have further questions for Captain Maier to limit the number of inquiries he will need to deal with directly.
In the meantime, the schedule for the 3.7 acre project on 65th between 32nd and 34th is generally following the original timeline. The larger structures should be removed in August of 2014. With the demolition effort of the larger structures, Polygon Homes also hopes to be building the Alley Improvements (installing underground power conduit to serve the future single family homes and townhomes) off of NE 68th Street in August of this year. Construction could start as early as November 2014. The new single family homes on the north end of the property will be used as model homes, so they would be the first place the neighborhood will see vertical building construction. The sale of the Theodora is also set to close in late Fall of 2014, so please check back at www.ravennabryant.org for updates as they become available.