Here are the top stories from this week in CHS history:
2018
Monthly Archives: April 2019
Rosebud restaurateur remembered for work with Gay City, shaping of Cal Anderson Park
Robert Sondheim helped shape some of the best parts of the Capitol Hill you know and mostly love today. The restaurateur and businessman died earlier this month. Sondheim was 67 years old.
“He served on the board for Gay City, was part of the redevelopment of Cal Anderson Park, and was a longtime volunteer at MOHAI, among many other things,” the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce said about his passing. “Much love to his family, including his life partner Herman, and to his many friends and associates.” Continue reading
Black church puts $4.5M plan to exit 23rd and Union into motion
The exodus of a Black church from its Central District home is moving forward. The Mount Calvary Christian Center has put its third of an acre property home to its house of worship at 23rd and Union on the market for $4.5 million.
“Rare opportunity for land in the Central District commercial corridor. Zoned NC2P-75, this site allows for mixed use opportunities not easily found in this high demand neighborhood with vast amounts of pedestrian access,” the description from the Bascomb Real Estate Group listing reads. “Subject consists of two parcels and provides an opportunity for a full range of expansive projects with the value in the land; bring your investors, architects & builders, and take advantage of having a presence in the heart of the city. Buyer to verify land use requirements.” Continue reading
CHS Pics | After a decade on Broadway, it’s the last days of the Starbucks ‘indie’ cafe at Roy Street Coffee and Tea
These are your final days to enjoy a Capitol Hill peculiarity in the Starbucks global coffee empire. Sunday is slated to be the final day of business at Roy Street Coffee and Tea.
On our visit, CHS found some nostalgic chalkboard messaging and huge “for lease” posters in the windows. The rumor mill for what comes next has been pretty quiet and permit activity doesn’t yield any clues. Continue reading
Metier-Homegrown combo brings new ‘FoodArt’ to E Union
Thanks to the FoodArt Collection, Capitol Hill can lay claim to a homegrown pop art movement. Now the work of artist Genevieve St. Charles has busted out onto the streets of Pike/Pine.
Earlier this year, CHS reported on the link up between E Union’s cycling culture-centered Metier and the food+drink folks at Homegrown. That tandem is now riding smoothly and the combination has added a new mural to the neighborhood’s collection of giant sized art. Continue reading
Capitol Hill case at center of flap over judge’s cozy relationship with KOMO’s ‘Seattle is Dying’-themed coverage, political group — UPDATE
A call from the Seattle City Attorney for a municipal court judge to step down from his position leading the court over “apparent violations of the canons of judicial ethics” is also shining new light on Seattle media and activists who claim they are dedicated to shaping more accountable government in the city.
Pete Holmes and Anita Khandelwal, director of the Department of Public Defense, say in a letter released Wednesday that Seattle Municipal Court Judge Ed McKenna should step down as presiding judge and recuse himself from criminal cases after “predetermining harsh outcomes for defendants and advertising the sentencings to local media,” Crosscut reports.
The case at the center of the unusual courtroom activities has a Capitol Hill connection. The crime took place last November when an angry man punched a victim without provocation in the crosswalk at Broadway and Pine. The blow sent the victim’s headphones flying and left the shaken man with a swollen lip. It landed the assailant, Francisco Calderon, in jail and set in motion a bizarre episode in Seattle justice with a judge allegedly shaping his proceedings for a television reporter and a political group. Continue reading
Estate, a new shop for Hill hipsters, techies, and ‘hypebeasts’ in Pike/Pine’s Jack Apartments
At first blush, there’s not much rhyme or reason to the vibe of the newly opened Capitol Hill street style boutique Estate on 10th Ave, which sells clothes from young, mostly American street style brands in the $40 to $200 range. A yellow tent sits in the middle of the shop, above it towers a large wall made of vintage speakers. In the background plays a version of the traditional American folk song “In the Pines” — produced by WZRD, Kid Cudi and Dot Da Genius.
David Lee is wearing a chic emerald green suede jacket over a black hoodie. From the black leather lacquer to the big metal spikes: Everything about his shoes is shiny. Business partner and shop manager Tommy Devera is dressed more casually: a brown hat, a black Carhartt hoodie, and Bonanza work boots.
“It’s a mix,” Devera says about the new store. “We have something for everybody, whether it’s your 14, 15-year-old hypebeast kid, the so-called hipster Capitol Hill kid who buys vintage, or the girls that like the LA look.” Continue reading
Library levy — at a bargain table price of only $43 per Seattleite per year — heads for August ballot
With a final price tag of $219 million, the Seattle City Council has finalized the Seattle Library levy proposal for the August ballot.
CHS wrote here about the core seven-year property tax proposal that will replace an expiring levy and will provide about 25% of the system’s budget.
“From story time to summer learning programs to adult learning classes, our libraries advance equity, education and opportunity for all who call Seattle home,” Mayor Jenny Durkan said in a statement to CHS about the levy. “If we are going to build a city of the future, then we must build the libraries of the future, too. By renewing our shared investments in The Seattle Public Library, we can lift up the places where communities come together, open up doors to learning, and make Seattle a more equitable place to live.” Continue reading
CHS Pics | DeCharlene’s Beauty Salon celebrates grand re-opening and overhauled home for the Central Area Chamber of Commerce
The Central Area Chamber of Commerce’s Lawrence Pitre takes Mayor Durkan on a short tour as new development rises along E Madison (Images: CHS)
Friends, family, and community members joined city officials and political candidates Saturday for the grand re-opening of E Madison’s DeCharlene’s Beauty Salon, a Central District culture and commercial hub revived with a cosmetic overhaul and a reinvigoration of spirit following the death of DeCharlene Williams last year.
“We are preserving the legacy and history that DeCharlene established. All the great things. We need to preserve this,” said Lawrence Pitre, head of the Central Area Chamber of Commerce that Williams founded. Continue reading
On the List | Indie Bookstore Day, Langston Hughes African American Film Festival, Spice Waala, Fierce Ladies Beer Fest
Fill up at the Fierce Ladies Beer Festival, Thursday night at Optimism Brewing (Image: Fierce Ladies Beer Fest)
With Memorial Day and potentially some warmer spring days imminent, some might want to skip the last April days and showers straight to May. However, this week has great things in store including beers from “ladies,” fresh art talent at Cornish and some good old collective gardening — or, perhaps, some Tai Chi at Cal Anderson. On Saturday, Chophouse Row’s Good Weather Café is hosting a hands-on course for neophyte (city) cyclists. They will cover how to signal, navigate train and trolly tracks, starting and stopping on a hill, tube-patching and other musts for city riders.
After, riders could attempt to bike to all 21 Seattle-area bookstores, including Hill-based Ada’s Technical Books & Cafe and Elliott Bay Book Company, participating in Seattle Independent Bookstore Day. Participants who get their Independent Bookstore “passport” stamped at all 21 stores get a champion card worth 25% off at all participating stores for a year, folks who visit 3 get a day-off discount. Plan to make the last stop at Ada’s, where local authors/comedians/storytellers such as Sarah Galvin, Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore, Emmett Montgomery and Sierra Nelson will take the mic.
(Also, last week, we erroneously posited that Bagel-buffs would get their last chance to get a taste of Matthew Segal’s kick-ass bagels — but that’s actually this weekend. Aren’t you glad you get another last chance?) Check out this week’s to-do list below, plus find more events on the CHS Calendar.
THURSDAY, April 25: Is the craft beer scene still very male-dominated? Absolutely! (According to a 2014 study by Stanford University, 4 percent of all ‘brewmasters’ are women.) Does waiting for equality mean we’ll also have to endure the continued deployment of the epithet “fierce” for everyone who’s not a Dude™? Probably! This Thursday, Optimism Brewing Company hosts the second Fierce Ladies Beer Fest, a craft-beer fest featuring women-brewed beers. The all-gender event will showcase beer by breweries such as Stoup, Georgetown, PicoBrew, and Optimism. Sales will benefit the Pink Boots Society, an organization that helps women advance their beer careers. Optimism Brewing Company, 6 PM Continue reading
