By Ann Bowden, Development Director, Phinney Neighborhood Association
It’s been years in the making but the Phinney Neighborhood Center’s historic headquarters are now fully accessible, thanks in part to funding from Seattle Department of Neighborhoods. In early November the Phinney Neighborhood Association celebrated the completion of a major construction project that included adding an elevator to the Phinney Neighborhood Center, major seismic improvements, new Gallery walls and a new entryway and community plaza that serves as the community center’s new “front porch.”
The PNA launched a Capital Campaign for both purchase of the site and major improvements in early 2008. Purchase was completed in early 2009 but the economy slowed fundraising for the improvement projects.
In 2011, the PNA applied for and received a DON Large Project Matching Fund Grant that helped build the new entryway and community plaza. The plaza offers a more gracious entry to the building and created a new community gathering space with benches, planter boxes and a soon-to-be-installed artistic bike rack.