We posted last week about 12th Ave’s Watertown Coffee and Saloon’s sudden closure. We were unable to add much to the story other than to say goodbye to a community business that had been making a go of it in a stretch between Capitol Hill and the Central District that needed some love. This week, we had the opportunity to speak with Watertown owner Amy Vanderbeck about why she decided to shut her year-old coffee shop and bar down.

Vanderbeck, the woman third from the left with a flower in her hair, a woman in her arms and a big smile on her face in the picture from the Watertown Facebook page, tells CHS that she decided to close Watertown down because of medical reasons that have left her unable to keep up with the grind of running the shop. “I feel really close and we had a really special thing. I love all those guys,” Vanderbeck said of her former customers. “I’ll miss them.”

Vanderbeck says her biggest regret is not being there to help fill 12th Ave south of Madison with businesses and community spots as the area struggles to build something on the edges of big institutions like Seattle U. “I know something will good will go in,” she said of plans she’s heard that are already in the works. “I’m hoping that 12th Ave will eventually thrive.”