Comments on: A rare look at the Ballard Locks

By: Adam Woog

Adam Woog — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 21:27:44 +0000

Great stuff! My hat's off to all you Geeky Swedes, and to Dru Butterfield (a real sweetie, almost literally — did you see the stash of candy he keeps by his desk?). Now: Everyone who reads this, please run out and buy my book, “The Ballard Locks” (Arcadia), available at the Locks gift shop & other fine venues. (See the unsolicited testimonial below.) The book makes a great gift!

All best,
Adam (“Shameless Plug”) Woog

By: Silver

Silver — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 08:58:08 +0000

Thanks for the update! I was trying to remember when the Swedes had said that the refill date was.

Sorry I missed it, but perhaps next year. ;-)

By: Dan'l Linehan

Dan'l Linehan — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 02:16:59 +0000

just got back from the locks… they're filling it back up again today… pretty awesome while it lasted!!!

By: datajunkie

datajunkie — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:26:44 +0000

Ha. That was the first thing I thought of when I saw they were drained. My father dropped his reading glasses from his shirt pocket when he was leading over to look down a few years ago.

By: OwlsInsomnia

OwlsInsomnia — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:26:42 +0000

I wonder how many pairs of sunglasses they find down there when they empty it out. All those tourists leaning over to look down at the pretty boats all summer long….

By: AMJRAL

AMJRAL — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:01:05 +0000

Ever been down there when they are cleaning? I bet those birds are just following their noses…

By: ballardmama1979

ballardmama1979 — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:52:55 +0000

Love this! Really great photos and amazingly, the comments are all nice too! The feel-good article of the year! :)

By: ZephyrV2

ZephyrV2 — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:12:02 +0000

Aricle says until Nov 25th.

By: jwalseth

jwalseth — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:14:49 +0000

For those coming from the Magnolia side, work on the sidewalk is done (ahead of schedule) so you can now walk/ride across. The lock is still drained as of this morning.

By: Tony DeVita

Tony DeVita — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:01:37 +0000

Thanks for the great images

By: datajunkie

datajunkie — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:47:25 +0000

They are also doing construction at that entrance, you can still go through if you go down the stairs to the bottom entrance. See myballard article: http://www.myballard.com/2009/11/10/sidewalk-co...

By: datajunkie

datajunkie — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:43:30 +0000

There was a ridiculous amount of crows and seagulls there a few days ago. It felt like I was in the movie The Birds. I snap a couple of pictures:
http://yfrog.com/16dscn0950nj
http://yfrog.com/jddscn0947j

By: HeardOnthe44

HeardOnthe44 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:00:11 +0000

Thank you Geeky Swedes!

These photos....are SOOOOOO Cool! I have oft wondered and pondered about what it all looks like ...de-watered!

The engineering of these locks is awesome and the volunteers: You Rock!

Is there a waiting list to sign up for the barnacle scrubbing? Seriously, this would be a really interesting project to get to be a part of...even if for one year.

By: Mondoman

Mondoman — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:00:29 +0000

I've never seen detailed Locks coverage with photos and video like this in the traditional media — great job GS!

By: Silver

Silver — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:24:49 +0000

Yeah! Whose barnacles did you have to scrape to get a tour???

By: facebook-536882410

facebook-536882410 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:06:10 +0000

I am so impressed by the Ballard Locks and the volunteers who are hand-scraping the walls !!! It really restores my faith in the human spirit that the cleaning is done with such enthusiasm —- for the sake of the environment !

My son now works out of Washington State and lives near the locks and I have been researching them as an artist –originally to paint a canvas for him …. the more I research , I am so VERY proud of the state of Washington for their dedication to the value of our earth and the creatures that make it so beautiful !!!!! I enjoyed seeing the locks drained – and the videos !

By: ktown69

ktown69 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:09:33 +0000

Really great story and images.

By: bellie

bellie — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:44:48 +0000

Wonderful! Neat to see this view of the Locks! I'm jealous ;)!

By: jwalseth

jwalseth — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:39:51 +0000

Spectacular pictures! I hope I can get down there while this persists. I usually ride through every day from Magnolia but the path has been closed from the Magnolia side.

By: foop

foop — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:17:15 +0000

How do you get a tour of the locks?

By: Boatgeek

Boatgeek — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:07:14 +0000

As long as we're in trivia mode, it's also the most heavily-trafficked lock system in the US. And those are the original 1917 doors, built to last!

By: Jules

Jules — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:00:15 +0000

Did you know that the Locks are the third biggest tourist attraction in Seattle, right after Pioneer Square and the Space Needle? Also the third bggest in WA State, after Mt. Rainier, then the Space Needle. And in our own back yard, too. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.It really is one of the “engineering wonders of the world.”
One of my pals, Adam Woog, wrote a book on it, available aat their gift shop.The photos of them building the locks are quite amazing. (as well as the pictures of people getting boats stuck in their sideways, etc.)

http://www.amazon.com/Ballard-Locks-Images-Amer...

By: juan grande

juan grande — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:45:31 +0000

Until somebody drinks too much and pulls the wrong lever…

By: kim

kim — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:26:50 +0000

some of the best neighborly footage of the going on's in our backyard. thanks so much for putting this together.

By: BTown

BTown — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:54:25 +0000

I posted the “Ballard Lock” cleanup as a official suggestion to Dirty Jobs last year and the year before but they had already done another locations “locks” cleanup show.

By: SeattleMoms DealFinder

SeattleMoms DealFinder — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:35:03 +0000

Cool post! Love it!

By: cyclistandSUVdriver

cyclistandSUVdriver — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:22:23 +0000

Super cool – thanks Geeky Swedes! I'm green with envy (and maybe a seaweedy barnacle or two)

By: boardbrown

boardbrown — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:34:32 +0000

Cool space for a party! Let the wild rumpus start.

By: back2ballard

back2ballard — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:26:21 +0000

I agree, that would be a good episode for Dirty Jobs. Cool pics! How long will it be “dewatered”?

By: CM

CM — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:20:59 +0000

Next year they need to call Mike Rowe from “Dirty Jobs” to help scrape off the barnacles – looks like this would make a fun episode. :)