Noteworthy this week

Big Arboretum plant sale this weekend

The annual FlorAbundance spring plant sale to benefit the Arboretum Foundation will take place this Saturday and Sunday in, of all places, the Arboretum!  The spring sale has for many years been held at Magnuson Park, but restrictions this year on use of that site forced the sale back to the Arboretum.  This change of venue may have implications for local traffic, since this is the largest plant sale in the region and it attracts hundreds of people each year.  Attendees can not only see and buy plants but can talk plants with representatives of the many specialty nurseries and vendors who set up booths at FlorAbundance.

This is what the Arboretum Foundation has to say about the traffic situation: "It'll most likely be a tight squeeze, with shoppers parking and driving one-way along Arboretum Drive East, cars turning out onto Lake Washington Boulevard from the south end of the Drive, and (in some cases) shoppers looping back into the Arboretum for pick-up of large plant purchases."  So take note. The sale happens on Saturday, April 28, from 9 am to 5 pm and on Sunday, April 29, from 10 am to 2 pm.


520 closed again this weekend

This weekend construction crews will be setting 42 girders across 520 to support four different lids being built above the roadway on the Eastside, as well as installing drainage pipes and finishing demolition of the old Evergreen Point Road overpass. Mainline 520 and all connected ramps between Montlake Boulevard in Seattle and I-205 in Bellevue will be closed from Friday, 11 pm until Monday, 5 am. Information on the project is available here.


Calling all local artists

The dates and theme have been set for this year's Madison Park Art Walk. "A Walk in the Park" will kick-off Friday night, September 7th from 6-9 pm, and art will be on view in various neighborhood venues through September 30th. The deadline for artists to apply to be part of Art Walk is May 15. Application forms can be requested by emailing Barbara Clark (blclark007 at gmail.com) or phoning  Terry Short (206- 697-0555) or Heidi Randall (206-681-7261).


Chiropractic returns to the Park

It's been a couple of years since VanQuaetham Chiropractic moved out of the basement below what is now the KeyBank branch---and since that time there have been no chiropractors practicing in Madison Park (although there are certainly plenty of psychiatrists).  The space recently vacated by Spa del Lago (1929 43rd Avenue E.) is currently undergoing renovation, however, and later this spring NW Sports Rehab is planning to move in.  This will apparently be a second location for the group, which operates a clinic in Federal Way.

Meanwhile, there are rumors of what may soon be happening at the Ropa Bella space across the street. We'll let you know about that when the news is official.

[Photo courtesy of The University of Scranton Memorial Library, via Flickr.]