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posted
03/20/09 02:31 AM
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updated
03/24/09 02:51 PM
Before and after and after images of 1111 E. Pike
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what was there before?
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Sheesh, I only left town in 2007, and I hate not being able to remember what was torn down to make way for the big bright shiny new. Thanks to the Google Map feature I know WildRose is to the West across 12th St., so the brick building directly West must be that salon/spa place. Was this address the GLBT Community Center? |
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Comment by
joyjoy
8 months ago
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RE: what was there before?
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| If there's only one reason for neighborhood blogs, it will be to help answer the question "what business used to be there?" Useful. But will also kind of ruin the fun (like ebay ruined collecting anything) | |
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Comment by
jseattle
8 months ago
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One of my favorite city blocks... with more to come.
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I'm a huge fan of the redevelopment that has taken place on this block. Well, minus the new section of Trace Lofts with its cheap looking details. I've written a few of my own posts about 1111 and the block, one of which you can see here: http://www.abollendesign.com/blog/2009/02/pike-pine-triangle Is there going to be a retail space next to the garage opening, or is that just a lobby? |
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Comment by
Matthew Bollen
8 months ago
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RE: One of my favorite city blocks... with more to come.
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| Yo Matt, the ground floor will be retail and Cupcake Royale has announced that they will be moving in there, which I think is pretty sweet. I used to wonder how these artisan cupcake shops stayed in business but I went to Cupcake Royale in Ballard and its pretty much like a Top Pot but with a different sugary treat. Great afternoon hang out locale. | |
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Comment by
JoshMahar
8 months ago
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Pike St. stuff
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The Community Center was in the building to the east, still there and recenly remodeled, owned by the developer of the present site. She charged them 5,000 per month rent, which is one of the reasons they collapsed, great location, very expensive space rent. The present space where the new building is located was once a gay bar, The Pen, in the mid 80's .... it was a wooden building with levels down not up. The Pen was an early leather bar, and very rustic. It had a fire, gutted the building, which was then torn down. The site then became a deep hole going down about 40 - 50- feet from the sidewalk.... full of interesting local weeds and blackberry vines. The current construction is an excellent site use, and well designed. The Pen only operated for a relatively short while, had a good late crowd and went after hours. The party was downstairs after hours. That area of Pike back then was old and run down and had few thriving enterprises, street retail or shops, and little night life. The Pen dates to about the same era as when the Wild Rose emerged in a former working class tavern, one or two blocks west, former name I can't remember. Lesbians were delighted, a second social drinking place, without pretensions, cheap beer and good food, and early on the Rose kept the very rustic feel of the old place.... pool tables and bark and pine wood interior. There were three early owners at the Rose, sort of collective style, one was named named Briar. Any one else remember The Pen? It is interesting how often Gay and Lesbian history notes are glossed over, even in Seattle and on C. Hill. Sound Transit in its new line thru the heart of the world famous gay area, Broadway/Seattle's Capitol Hill (heart of the famed Swish Alps), makes no real mention of queer history or influences in its art projects or otherwise. One can only wonder if memory is so short, or if it is selective glossing over. Thank god the Seattle Gay News led the charge to name a park after Cal Anderson... Washington's first gay legislator. SGN urged its readers to vote in an informal poll, and the Anderson name won handily. George, SGN, Seattle Gay News |
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Comment by
George B.
8 months ago
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RE: Pike St. stuff
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| Thanks for sharing this George. I'd love to do more to document the recent histories of the Hill. Sites like Historylink are great -- but they leave you with feeling that this world was defined by what happened up through 1927. By the time you start to look for information about Capitol Hill in the 70s, the information thread goes thin and weak. I don't know what explains this gap but in many cases it doesn't even seem to be a matter of "preserving history" but of getting it written down at all. I know your memories -- and the pages of Seattle Gay News, for one -- have a lot to tell us. The 70s, 80s and even the 90s have a lot of gaps that need to be filled in before the Internet created an explosion of documentation. | |
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Comment by
jseattle
8 months ago
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RE: Pike St. stuff
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The Northwest Lesbian and Gay History Museum Project created maps of Seattle's 20th century gay history a few years ago. I can't find an online version of the map, so they may only be available for purchase. I've seen the Capitol Hill map in person and it's pretty awesome. http://home.earthlink.net/%7Eruthpett/lgbthistorynw/map.htm |
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Comment by
final answer
8 months ago
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RE: Pike St. stuff
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| Thanks, George! I remember that bit hole well -- always hoped something well-designed would find a home there. | |
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Comment by
joyjoy
8 months ago
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The Pen
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George, Did the Pen really make it to the mid 80s? I moved to Seattle in 1983, and don't recall it. The hole in the ground, I do remember . . . Jack |
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Comment by
Jack
8 months ago
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TAVERN
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| What I wouldn't do for that awesome, giant TAVERN sign on that building now... | |
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Comment by
Diana
8 months ago
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