Photos courtesy City of Burien
The City of Burien held a rededication ceremony for the recently-rebuilt ‘Downtown Burien’ Arch in the 100 block of SW 152nd Street on Friday morning, Sept. 15. Several Burien notables were present, including former Mayor Wing Woo, who served as Mayor of Burien from 2002-2003 and was seriously injured in a tragic accident in Maui in June, 2016. City Manager Brian Wilson introduced Mayor Lucy Krakowiak, who gave the following speech:Thank you to each of you for being here. I’m Lucy Krakowiak, the Mayor of Burien, and I’m honored to celebrate this special occasion with you. We stand here today to re-dedicate the Burien Arch, which welcomes people to our downtown commercial district. The arch was first built in 2003. A lot has changed in downtown Burien in the last 14 years. The arch was built as part of the streetscape redesign of SW 152nd Street, which converted a four-lane road into a two-lane road with street parking. This streetscape design kickstarted the economic revitalization of downtown Burien. Walk down 152nd today and you will see dozens of new shops and restaurants, anchored by our newly finished Town Square. I would like to acknowledge my fellow Councilmembers who are also here: Councilmembers Debi Wagner and Austin Bell. Former Burien Mayor Wing Woo, who was here to dedicate the arch when it was first built, is also here. Thank you to the nearby business owners who were very patient with the City for the few days they had to close 152nd for construction. I would also like to acknowledge the contractors who helped rebuild this arch:They first unveiled the original plaque which was installed on the column on the north side of the street. The present Councilmembers then unveiled a new dedication plaque, which has current Councilmembers listed. It was a nice symbolic gesture showing Burien’s progress. Both Woo and Clark spoke briefly about what Burien was like in 2003 and the work it took to get the Town Square vision off the ground. They spoke about how the original arch represented the new downtown Burien vision, which included Town Square and a thriving downtown economy. Now we see what Burien has become, and how so much of that vision is being realized (this is a paraphrase of their speeches). Their words echoed much of what Mayor Krakowiak said. The road was closed for about 15 minutes. Councilmembers (current and former) in attendance:Thank you for bringing our welcome sign back!
- KPG, Inc.
- CTS Engineering
- Road Construction Northwest
- Trade-Marx Corporation
- Mayor Lucy Krakowiak
- Deputy Mayor Nancy Tosta
- Councilmember Austin Bell
- Councilmember Debi Wagner
- Former Mayor Wing Woo
- Former Deputy Mayor Rose Clark
- City Manager Brian J. Wilson
- Public Works Director Maiya Andrews
- Deputy Public Works Director Brian Roberts (he was also the project manager of the arch restoration project)
- Various staff from economic development and public works
- Andrea Reay, Seattle Southside Chamber of Commerce
- Debra George, Discover Burien
So fitting that Wing was in attendance. He looks great!
I am so pleased to see Wing Woo back in action. Many of us have been concerned about him since his tragic accident. Welcome back to Burien, Wing! I hope we see more of you!