<< Previous   of   Next >> Enterprise/CHRIS FYALL  (click to enlarge) Residents listen as two groups of Edmonds-Woodway High School students explain their three-dimensional design proposal for the Harbor Square/Antique Mall redevelopment site at Edmonds' April 1 City Council meeting. In the foreground, Evan Langendorder, left, and Grant Roeter discuss their Brackett's Village proposal.

ADVERTISEMENT

ADDITIONAL ITEMS

• Statement from Edmonds2030.com ( PDF)

Related Stories

• $2,000 raised for student architects 6/3/08

CONTACT THE ENTERPRISE Jocelyn Robinson, Copy editor jrobinson@heraldnet.com

Design contest stiffs its few entrants

Although $15,000 was initially promised, no money to be awarded

By Chris Fyall
Enterprise editor

Onlookers curious about who would win Al Dykes’ $15,000 design contest for Edmonds' waterfront need no longer ponder.

No money will be awarded.

Although $15,000 in prize money was initially promised to contestants in the Edmonds2030.com competition, none of it will be distributed, according to a May 13 statement from contest officials.

Jilted entrants were upset.

"(Edmonds2030.com) used and posted our submissions on their Web site, with, I believe now, no intention of meeting their obligation to compensate," said Tim Stensland, an Edmonds-Woodway architecture teacher who had two student groups compete. "This is blatant fraud."

Edmonds2030.com's statement blamed community apathy, and said no questions about the awards would be answered. The contest Web site has been taken down, and replaced with a contact phone number.

Ultimately, the contest drew just three submissions, the statement said. The contest was sponsored by Edmonds Shopping Center Associates, which is managed by controversial developer Al Dykes. Dykes is not mentioned in the statement.

As the competition neared its close in January, contest rules outlining payment were updated. It was the second time the rules changed.

That wasn't fair, Stensland said.

The last set of rules required that at least half of Edmonds2030.com’s registered users vote on the various submissions. Only one person voted, although entries couldn't be seen until weeks after the contest ended.

"(The) excuses are lame and apathetic themselves as these are two viable proposals, both of which the public are enthusiastic about and would support," Stensland said.

Students in Stensland’s architecture classes put on a roadshow of their proposals after entering them in February. At an April 1 Edmonds City Council meeting, the proposals drew rave reviews from the hundred-plus people who attended.

The students also traveled to the Port of Edmonds, talking about their design proposals, and fielding questions.

The presentations hadn’t gotten any feedback at all from Edmonds2030.com’s staff, student Robert Edgar said in April.

The contests’ coordinator, Roger Harman, with UBI Business Services, stopped answering media inquiries many months ago.

“It is unfortunate that apathy (The Nothing) resulted in the loss of a realistic, unbiased and democratic learning and income earning opportunity for Edmonds’ students as well as citizens,” Harman said in the May 13 statement. “In a democracy, voters get what they put into the process, what they vote for with their ballot, their time and their participation.”

Reporter Chris Fyall: 425-673-6525 or cfyall@heraldnet.com