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Large crowd says no to jail

September 11th, 2008 · Comments

Magnolia and Queen Anne residents made it very clear that they don’t want the city to put a 445 inmate jail in Interbay.

At a public hearing that packed the Blaine School cafeteria, the crowd of over 250 people grilled City Councilmen Tim Burgess and King County Councilmen Larry Phillips with questions regarding the process of choosing the location for the jail that will be built in 2013.

Tim Burgess (photo above) said he believes the Interbay site and the South Seattle site are the most likely of the four possible locations to meet the criteria for the new jail. Burgess told the crowd he does not endorse any site yet. Previous printed reports indicated that Burgess favored the Interbay site.

The crowd had many questions about traffic and the impact of putting the jail that would house misdemeanor inmates at the Interbay location. City officials admitted that the Interbay site is the most expensive location of the four jail sites.

The crowd broke into applause following a number of questions from the audience. One Magnolia man asked why the city would put a jail in a location that is close to two major residential areas.

The process of picking the final site is far from over. The City Council is not expected to make a final decision until early 2009.

The proposed site (marked by the X) is located right across from the new Whole Foods complex (arrow) that is being built on 15th Ave.

If you want to share your concerns, you can contact City Councilmen Tim Burgess office via his website. And stay tuned to Magnolia Voice for continuing coverage on this important issue.

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  • Adrian
    One of the sites is next to the courthouse, downtown. That makes the most sense. It should also be noted that the Interbay site is next to the train lines, harbor and Carter's car repository - and most of those cars have fuel in them, btw. It's also near a major bike/jogging path. Oh yeah, it's also close to two elementary schools.
    Someone should also ask why did the Seattle gov hire a consulting firm from Tennesse? People who have spent no time living in the areas they're assessing are recommending what's best for our community.
  • HL
    Why not put the jail in the SODO district near all of the warehouses and industrial areas? A jail should not be placed in anyone's neighborhood.

    From a cost perspective the SODO area would cost less than trying to plant it near residential areas.

    Most importantly it would keep crime rates and impact on the residents to a minimum. Public safety to should be the number one concern.
  • M
    Actually, I believe they were meaning ANY neighborhoods, including the SOUTH! Why would you imply that affluence was suggested? Simmer down. No residential neighborhood makes sense.
  • M
    Didn't that person mean "why would they build a jail so near 2 large upper class mostly white residential neighborhoods?" Seriously. The South end is struggling to build community and gets everything dumped down there.....newsflash: there are residential neighborhoods in the south end too. Interbay makes a lot more sense considering proximity to the downtown courthouse.
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