Nearly seven years of planning and construction will finally pay off when the brand new $1.2 million Crown Hill Park opens Saturday.

 Seattle Parks and Recreation announced the project to renovate the park at the corner of Holman Road and 13th Avenue Northwest back in 2005. But, those plans were put on hold when Seattle Public Schools, which owned the land as part of the old Crown Hill Elementary, decided to sell it.

When Small Faces Child Development Center purchased the Crown Hill Elementary building, the renovation project was back on with a series of public meetings in 2010 and the start of construction last August.

Al l that time and work comes to an end when Seattle Parks and Recreation will take down the temporary fences, and the neighborhood can check out Crown Hill Park’s new baseball diamond, lawns, play features, skate park, pathways, seating and more.

The number of native bees, such as bumblebees, in the city is plummeting. And, that’s a bad thing, according to University of Washington scientists.

“Native bees do a lot of important pollination work,” Dr. Jeff Riffell said in a press release. “Up to 75 percent of crop species benefit from bee pollination, and much of these benefits stem from native bees.”

To track and research urban bees, the University of Washington Department of Biology started the Urban Pollination Project.

But with the rapid increase in urban gardens in Seattle, UW scientists need some help. Well, P-Patchers to the rescue.

On May 13, scientists handed out specially selected tomato plants to P-Patch gardeners, including those from Greg’s P-Patch at 14th Avenue Northwest and Northwest 54th Street, and taught them how to collect and submit data. Even gardeners from Ballard High School have gotten onboard.

Attention, hungry Windy City natives (are there any other kind?) living in Seattle: Benito’s Chicago Eatery has finally opened.

The restaurant started moving into the former Mailbox space at 6201 15th Ave. N.W. last summer and originally planned to open in September 2011.  But, after a handful of the false starts, Benito’s had its soft opening May 11.

Chef and owner Benjamin Kulikowski, a Chicago native, is serving up hot dogs, deep-dish pizza, Italian beef sandwiches and more with a focus on locally sourced ingredients.

Why not stop by today and let me know how it is? And, remember to send restaurant tips to mharthorne@komonews.com, so I help spread the delicious news.