My Ballard

Here’s something you don’t see every day at the Ballard Farmers Market.

“The woman was stunning,” said Mary, who snapped the photo. “I watched her maneuvering through the crowds throughout the early afternoon, appearing and disappearing, doing her shopping. When she bought armloads of lilacs, the moment was perfect for a snap.” Great shot. You can see more of Mary’s photos from Ballard and the market here.

Thank you for the over 100 T-shirt ideas submitted to My Ballard last week. We’re sifting through them all to find one (or more) to print up. In the meantime, here’s one that would not get our vote:

Says OhNobody in Flickr, who shot the photo: “Thank you, Bartell’s, for creating something absolutely no one needs.”

If you’ve been wondering about those two empty spaces next to The Dish on Leary just east of 8th, two new signs have appeared with the answers.

On the corner, a new restaurant called “Anita’s” is under construction. It’s the creation of Anita Ross, the chef behind “Anita’s Crepes,” the very popular food stand at the Ballard Farmers Market. She was putting in some landscaping this morning, and she told us that the restaurant will feature her favorite creations — more than just crepes — but with a French spin, of course. She also plans to have outside seating, and she says she’s aiming to open in a month to six weeks. (For the record, this is the second success story from the Ballard Market: Veraci Pizza is opening its first restaurant, too.)

Next door to Anita’s is “The Traveler,” a new bar that’s moving into the same space occupied until recently by Harvey’s Tavern. “We want to have good food, mussels, different styles of frites. We’ll have a TV on showing the game. We want it to be a neighborhood place, but with a more contemporary feel,” Scott Laney told the PI back in January. The Traveler was slated to open on May 1st, but from my untrained eye when I took a peek inside, it looks like they have few more weeks to go. The Traveler joins the ranks of The Dray and The Stepping Stone, two other smaller-sized, contemporary bars that have opened in Ballard in recent weeks. (Thanks Sara for the tip!)

With the Seattle International Film Festival in full swing, this Sunday SIFF is awarding Sir Ben Kingsley the 2008 Golden Space Needle for outstanding achievement in acting. After the tribute at the Egyptian Theater, Kingsley will be honored with an “intimate, 50-person dinner” at the Volterra Drawing Room here in Ballard. Unfortunately, the $200-plate event is sold out. Meanwhile, Keith over on the Ballardite Blog says tickets are still available for Volterra’s very popular “dinner and a movie” series — the next two are in July and October, but you better book fast.

As you may know, this weekend is the Sasquatch Music Festival at the Gorge featuring headliners R.E.M., Modest Mouse, Death Cab for Cutie and The Cure. To get things rolling, the Ear Candy blog is throwing a Sasquatch prefunk at the High Dive in Fremont tonight (Friday) with local bands Autolite Strike, Tennis Pro, Who the Hells, M. Bison, Royal Brougham and Skeletons with Flesh on Them. Admission is $8. Doors at 7.

Also tonight, the Ballard band The Apple War holds a CD-release party at the Tractor Tavern. The Maldives and Or The Whale will join them. Admission is 8 bucks and doors are at 8:30.

The ongoing repaving project on 15th Ave. in Interbay is approaching the south side of the Ballard Bridge, creating traffic headaches as crews redirect traffic. We drove down 15th from Belltown to Ballard yesterday evening and sat in traffic for an extra ten minutes. But 15th desperately needs a fresh coat of pavement, so we’re not compaining. Well, not too much.

With another crab season over, KOMO-TV spent some time with “Deadliest Catch” captain Sig Hansen and family here in Ballard. “Didn’t think it would snowball to this extent but why not, man?” he said. Here’s the story.

A new design firm called “Stoke” has moved into the old Bob’s Ballard TV shop at 24th and 58th. “The vintage sign is staying, and we’re looking forward to refurbishing it in all its blazing Ballard glory,” says Stoke’s Dave Miller, who sent us this photo. Stoke specializes in brand strategy and design.

As we first reported last night, the old Manning’s Cafeteria and Denny’s building on 15th and Market will soon be demolished after the Seattle Landmarks and Preservation Board ruled it’s not financially feasible for the owners to preserve it. Here is some of the media coverage out this morning:

Seattle Times: Board gives owner OK to tear down Ballard Denny’s
Crosscut: The case of the doomed diner
Seattle PI: Landmark status can’t preserve Ballard Denny’s
KING 5: Ballard’s old Denny’s headed for demolition

As always, let us know your reactions in comments. And you can also try out our new forum section, where you can create your own discussions.

First on My Ballard: The Seattle Landmarks and Preservation Board voted unanimously tonight that there’s no economically-feasible solution to preserve the old Denny’s in Ballard. The attorney representing the developer, John McCullough, said they are “reactivating” the approval process for their planned development, which will result in the demolition of the Denny’s.

“It’s a very sad situation,” said board chair Stephen Lee (in foreground). “It’s a bad situation to be in.” Lee said it’s the first time in his memory the board has designated a building a landmark and then not voted for controls and incentives — the next step in the landmarking process. While the old Manning’s Cafeteria remains a landmark, the developer is not restricted from demolishing it. “It breaks my heart,” said board member Christine Howard.

McCullough presented the board with 12 different options for the property. The scenario that came closest was a high-end restaurant on the site with no parking, but it still fell short, losing just over $1 million. Other scenarios looked at office, retail and even bringing Denny’s back to the building (see below). “We never even got to zero,” McCullough said.

Following the board’s staff recommendation, no one on the board disagreed with Benaroya Company’s analysis. “Nothing works,” said board member Alyce Conti, who ran the numbers on multiple scenarios. “No lender is going to lend… these people will not be able to get a loan.”

The board agreed that an outside proposal to raise the height limit on the property — which would require a change in the city zoning ordinance — was risky and should not be part of their evaluation. Conti said that even with the rezone, the property would not be economically feasible.

“We have nothing to be ashamed of,” said preservationist and Ballard resident Eugenia Woo after the vote. “We put up a great fight.” Board chair Stephen Lee — who rallied the board to preserve the Denny’s three months ago — refused to talk to the media and was overheard telling someone, “I need a drink.”

McCullough did not give a timeline for the demolition, as the permit process has not yet begun. As always, stay tuned to My Ballard for updates on this story.

Update at 6:20 p.m. Benaroya Company’s presentation is now underway.

5:45 p.m. We’re waiting for the Denny’s item to come up on the agenda here at the Seattle Landmarks and Preservation Board meeting. We have at least 30 minutes to go, if not more. Stay tuned…

As we wrote below, the issue is whether the Ballard Denny’s is economically viable. If the board rules that it’s not, the landmark designation may be reversed and the building demolished.

It’s been nearly a month since the Sunset Bowl auction. They’re “still dismantling the lanes,” says Bruce, who took a few photos inside Sunset Bowl yesterday evening. “Most of the people who bought them at the auction have taken their stuff, but there are a few stragglers.”

Bruce says Sunset Bowl’s maintenance guy told him that everything will be cleared out by Friday. For more photos, take a look at Bruce’s Flickr page here.

Have you ever noticed how many Obama signs are in Ballard? They’re everywhere. For starters, Ballard is heavily Democratic — 69% to be exact — and Obama beat Clinton handily in the local caucuses in February. And then there’s the Cupcake Caucus, of course. Anyway, Obama has won Oregon, and he’s poised to win the party’s nomination.

And don’t forget the “Ballard for Obama” T-shirts, of course.

A memo from two Seattle Landmarks and Preservation Board staff members concludes there’s no financially feasible solution for keeping the Denny’s building, reports Knute Berger in Crosscut. “In their memo to the board, Gordon and Chave say they have met with the owner at least four times and are convinced that there is no scenario in which the ‘character defining features’ of the building can be preserved without ‘compromising their ability to realize a reasonable return on their investment,’” Berger writes. As we wrote yesterday, the board will hear Benaroya Company’s case today (Wednesday). You might remember, the board went against the staff’s recommendations when it designated the building a landmark three months ago, so the memo is no indication of how the board will vote to proceed.

We’ll attend the meeting and post the latest updates here on My Ballard. According to the agenda, the item could come up as late as 5:30 p.m.

Update: Now the Seattle PI is on the story.