East Prospect Street end restoration underway

Madison Park resident Gene Brandzel believes the hardest part of his East Prospect Street end restoration has been cleared, thanks to nearly 30 volunteers who came out in late April to remove invasive vegetation.

“It was a fantastic turnout, and people just worked their butts off,” he said.

There are more than 140 shoreline street ends in Seattle, some of which are used by private property owners and industrial companies for a fee, but many are open to the public for recreation or simply some respite from city life.

Efforts by the Madison Park Community Council to rehabilitate the East Prospect street end in 2015 were stymied by protests by a property owner to the north of the site. That property recently sold $12.5 million, Brandzel said, which means the street end property is a public amenity worth millions.

Like most shoreline street ends at the start of restoration, the 11,000-square-foot East Prospect site has been overrun by blackberries, ivy and other invasive species, which kill off native vegetation.

“What we found were wild roses along that [north] edge that were planted many, many years ago,” said Brandzel of the first work party’s many discoveries. “At the moment, those wild roses are the only thing I know of.”

Once the street end is cleared of invasive species, Brandzel plans to design the space for new native plantings with a pathway for people to walk and enjoy.

Sections of a large tree that came down will be integrated into the design, as will a rock wall smothered by blackberries.

Another work party is planned for 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, June 15, to remove the root system in the area volunteers tackled back in April 27.

“I actually thing the worst is over,” Brandzel said. “The ivy is much easier to take on than the blackberries.”

Further west, toward Lake Washington, there is more ivy than blackberries, but Brandzel said no work will take place until after nesting season.

“It may very well be that there are nests in here that we don’t want to disturb,” Brandzel said of the overgrowth.

That section of the East Prospect Street end Brandzel expects to have finished by late September, and then planting can start in October.

“I’m going to have to raise money privately, and I hope that SDOT finds some money to complement that,” he said.

Among the interesting items found dumped along the bushes and ivy were luggage, slabs of concrete, rebar and what is believed to be an old Comcast utility box.

“We start clearing and we never know what we’re going to find,” Brandzel said.