Neighborhood Notes

Drive carefully, please. The victim (and, sounds like, cause) of a fatal car crash on MLK near Jefferson was a carpenter who lived on Beacon Hill. From today's P-I:

Jackson, 43, was driving a Mazda MX-6 on Martin Luther King Jr. Way near East Jefferson Street about 8:20 a.m. when he tried to make an illegal turn onto Temple Place and collided with a pickup, police said.

Jackson and his daughters were taken to Harborview Medical Center, where he died of his injuries.

The girls were upgraded to satisfactory condition Friday, hospital officials said. The driver of the pickup was treated for minor injuries, police said.

Relatives say Jackson — a carpenter who lived on Beacon Hill — was rushing to drop off his daughters, ages 10 and 7, at school in Madrona.

Christian Restoration Center: just one big retail space? From a 2/26/08 e-mail from Jon Hager, the property manager:

The square footage as of now is just the entire bottom at just over 6,000 sq ft. To my knowledge there has not been discussions with anyone in regards to leasing out the space. We are still in the early stages as you know so the main goal is to get approval from the city on everything first.

With that said when submitting the paperwork with the city one thing is to set up a community meeting, I hear that there is one in the works, but the exact date hasn't been set. When I hear of it I will for sure pass it along to you.

Theater in the works at 13th and Shelton? I've been told there's a story in the latest Beacon Hill News about the development of a theater space at the old deVos corner store at 4951 13th Ave. S. Here's the MySpace page about it. The Beacon Hill News website doesn't seem to have last week's edition online yet, and I don't have a paper copy -- sorry!

Cerveza coming to El Quetzal? According to Jennifer, rumor has it that the El Quetzal owners have decided to make the world a better place -- apparently they're applying for a beer/wine license. I don't see them on the list of King County liquor license applications from the last 30 days, but maybe they applied some time ago.

What's up at Beacon and Hanford? Jennifer reports that the Soleil salon at Beacon and Hanford has closed (and that her cool neighbor has already emailed the Pagliacci's, Spiro's, and Mad Pizza joints asking them to look into moving into that space). What would you folks like to see there?

Seattle City Councilmember Tim Burgess coming to the North Beacon Hill Council meeting on Thursday at 7 at the library. I really should go to this -- I owe Tim Burgess an introduction at least. A few months ago, I was standing in front of him in a lunch line and he looked so familiar to me that I automatically said hi to him as if I actually knew him. Then I realized who he was, and that I'd never met him before, but I didn't bother explaining myself until later, over e-mail. Anyway, here's Judith Edwards's agenda for the meeting:

Tim is the chair of the Council's Public Safety, Human Services and Education committee and V. Chair of the Planning, Land Use and Neighborhoods Committee. I've asked him to tell us what his vision and goals are, and also to be available for Q&A. Following Tim's presentation is your opportunity to input to the Park's Department's selection of playground equipment for Jefferson Park. All our welcome, so come let your voices be heard! Thursday, March 6, Beacon Hill Library Community Room, 7:00 - 9:00 PM.

Knitting classes at Buggy. The cute little kids' store on Beacon is hosting a series of knitting classes, including a beginners class, for making cute little kids' things. Check out their website for full details, including price and dates.

In other girly class news... Alaska Silk Pie Co., just south of the Tully's headquarters on Airport Way, is offering a dessert-making class on March 8, at their bakery. The cost is $75, and everyone brings home a dessert. Read more about their offerings (and make yourself hungry) at their website, www.alaskasilkpie.com.

And an administrative note. Sorry I haven't been good about posting or returning mail. I've been really horribly sick since Wednesday, when I missed the Manny's celebration at Jules Maes. (Which is why I didn't stop by FTB, either, Erika!)

Prostitution on Beacon Hill, Then and Now

I was just browsing HistoryLink and came across this South End story.

On August 13, 1951, a B-50 “Superfortress” bomber develops engine trouble immediately after taking off from Boeing Field. The plane glances off the Sicks’ Seattle Brewing and Malting Company and slams into nearby Lester Apartments on Beacon Hill, killing 11 people and injuring 11 others.

Sicks' Seattle Brewing and Malting Company is, of course, the Rainier Cold Storage complex on Airport Way.

[Correction: The picture of the Rainier Cold Storage Stock House on the HistoryLink page led me to believe that the bomber grazed that one of the buildings in that complex. However, Jim Harmon of Sabey Corporation (current owners of the property) and other commenters have posted that they believe the plane hit the building that is now Tully's roasting plant, up the street.]

And Lester Apartments? Apparently it was once the world's largest bordello, right here on Beacon Hill.





From the same HistoryLink essay:

Unbeknownst to many, the tragic crash also brought an end to a piece of Seattle’s more infamous past. The Lester Apartments, for years a home for working-class families and fixed-income residents, had an unseemly history that was rarely discussed by the few who remembered it.

In 1910, Hiram Gill (1866-1919) was elected mayor of Seattle in an administration rife with corruption. Gill’s chief of police, Charles Wappenstein, cut a deal with two vice-lords wherein he received $10 a month for each of the approximately 500 prostitutes in Seattle. Business was so good that the men began building a 500-room brothel on the western slope of Beacon Hill to further pad their bank accounts.

A “friendly” City Council cut the builders some slack and gave them a 15-year lease. By the time construction was complete, the local citizenry had had enough of such blatant debauchery at such a high level of office, and a recall petition was circulated against the mayor. Gill was turned out of office -- he was elected again in 1914 after vowing to crack down on vice -- and Wappenstein was sent to the state penitentiary.

What was once proclaimed the largest bordello in the world fell into disuse. Later, the 500 “cribs” were combined into multi-room apartments, and the building’s proximity to Boeing Field led many workers to take up residence there, especially during World War II. Few knew of the building’s history. At some point, it was renamed the Lester Apartments. They were destroyed in the maelstrom on August 13, 1951.

In more recent Beacon Hill prostitution news, the Beacon Lights blogger posted yesterday about the "angels of the morning" who live in our neighborhood.

Neighborhood Notes

Full Throttle Bottles is open for business! The grand opening event won't be held for another week or so, but Full Throttle Bottles, a new beer and wine shop, has soft-launched. Come by and say hi to Erika, Mike, or Aimee (but not today, as they're closed on Mondays). 5909 Airport Way South.

What's up at 13th and Shelton? Has anyone heard about a little cafe and theater that will be going into the old deVos corner store at 13th and Shelton? Do tell!

Whatever happened to Rainier Valley? A reader points out that the P-I has renamed it.

Grow in Georgetown. The Oxbow P-patch has Oxbow P-patch, right by the Hat and Boots, has a few open spots. Sign up for one.

Swing and eat in Georgetown. Somewhere in Time, Unlimited (SITU), a local historic costumed group, will host a 1920's Prohibition era dance with potluck dinner Sunday, March 30th, 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM, at the Georgetown Ballroom, 5625 Airport Way S, Seattle, WA 98108. Music to be provided by Chicago 7 (of Beacon Hill), and dances will include the Charleston, tango, Lindy Hop and other early swing dances. Dinner will be potluck, and guests are encouraged to bring a dish fitting the theme. Come in your best flapper dress or zoot suit, as a movie starlet or gentleman in disguise. Cost is $20 for SITU members and $25 for non-members. Non-members may join SITU for $10 per person or household, per year; check the website www.SITUSeattle.com or call Rita Harris at 206-720-7606 for a membership form and instructions on where to send it.

9 Lb. Hammer has a little sister in South Park. The 9 Lb. Hammer folks have just opened Loretta's, a steakhouse and bar at 8617 14th Avenue S. The Seattle Weekly likes it.

Conceptual Drawing of the Christian Restoration Center Replacement

Here's the first published conceptual drawing of the condo/retail development that will replace the Christian Restoration Center at 15th and Oregon. From the Rudeen website:



The architects are H+DLT Collaborative, whose past projects aren't particularly inspired, but at least do not make me want to break down in tears. The H+DLT designs are certainly several steps up from the designs that Rudeen has typically worked from in the past. I'm not knowledgeable enough about design and construction to guess how well a standard big-box developer might work with a higher-end architecture firm, but I do have hope this could be a good thing for the neighborhood. (Especially if an independent restaurateur starts serving dinner and drinks in one of those retail spaces, please God.)

The scale of this structure seems out of place if you compare it to the low-built (and dilapidated and dirty and depressing) structures at Beacon and Columbian, but not so much if you compare it to the large (and dilapidated and dirty and depressing) residential developments down the road by the I-5 and West Seattle Bridge onramps. Or the nearby VA Hospital. It seems inevitable that our commercial thoroughfares will get a little taller.

As long as we don't end up with tanning/nail salons, FedEx centers, check-cashing places, chain food, or malt liquor quickie marts on that retail level, I'm actually kind of excited to see what happens here. Since I don't golf or throw weddings or dry-clean my clothes, and since I discovered that the Vietnamese sandwiches at Fou Lee don't hold a candle to the fresh ones in the nearby I-District, and that you can't drop in and get a cold six-pack at the Seattle Supermarket, and that the MC Foods gas station fails my can-I-just-fill-my-tank-outside-and-go test, I honestly have no interest in any of the stuff at Beacon and Columbian. But some of this new stuff could be useful to me.

I don't know. What do you guys think?

P.S. Jim Claeys, who's been discussed in the comments of some of these posts, is a partner in the property's ownership group (as is Rudeen Development). The group is called Beacon Hill Ventures LLC.

Lola's South City Bakery & Cafe

Georgetown is directly west of Mid Beacon Hill, and Hillman City is directly east. So we're thrilled that Hillman City is now home to Lola's South City Bakery & Cafe, which not only serves their own fresh-baked bread, pizza, and sandwiches...



...but homemade ice cream as well. It was all I could do to stop after my grilled caprese sandwich and salad and not finish my mid-afternoon snack with some nectarine ice cream as well.



Another time, for sure.

Pictures from South Orcas Street

This is my part of Beacon Hill.



I'm on my way to the bus stop.



Chain-link fence is ubiquitous down here.



I could roll down the hill to Seward Park.



But I won't. I'm taking the loathsome 36 to the Northwest Garden Show. See photos at my new plant blog.

Morning in Georgetown

I'm taking the day off today, to go to the garden show and just screw around. Started with breakfast in Georgetown.

Guess where I'm headed.



I finally meet Justin, who tells me about a Dine for Darfur event they're participating in on March 4. He hasn't created the menu yet, but if I find out what it is, I will tell you.