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How’s your Dick’s-less start to 2022 going, Capitol Hill? What would you have added to the Broadway drive-in?

(Image: @plusruss via Instagram)

By now, you’ve probably thought about swinging by Dick’s three or four times before remembering the Broadway drive-in is closed for renovations until spring.

The project was originally planned to be even larger and add a new feature to the popular hangout — you might have a few suggestions for what you would have liked the Broadway Dick’s overhaul to include.

Right now, the only new feature is the street art gallery that has developed on the block. The Dick’s construction fence has been well decorated by taggers leaving their mark at the site of the iconic fast food landmark.

CHS reported here on the plan for five or six months of construction to add “new plumbing, electrical, built-in coolers, equipment” and new “exterior glazing” to the 68-year-old drive-in that will leave the neighborhood without a Dick’s for the first time since 1954.

The timeline might have been a little longer but the largest component of the plan had to be scrapped. No, Dick’s wasn’t planning to add housing to this key block across the street from Capitol Hill Station and its new development adding hundreds of new apartments and a new H-Mart grocery to Broadway. And, no, Dick’s wasn’t adding a drive-thru to harken back to Broadway’s Jack in the Box days. Rancho Bravo has that market wrapped up.

The Dick’s food truck is coming

According to city permits, Dick’s decided to back off its plans to add a “covered employee amenity area and refuse enclosure” at the back of the structure that would have expanded the relatively modest drive-in’s footprint for the first time since the 1950s. It also would have knocked out two of Dick’s coveted 37 parking spots.

The new Dick’s, instead, will open with new windows and new infrastructure by spring with plans, the company says, for its food truck to visit the site for a pop-up every now and then during construction.

 

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6 Comments
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Zach
Zach
2 years ago

I’d add big screen TVs with a live feed of slaughterhouses with full audio, for a “farm to table” experience.

CKathes
CKathes
2 years ago
Reply to  Zach

It would be nice if they added a veggie burger like the big fast-food places have done. They’re actually pretty good these days.

John
John
2 years ago

Stop eating meat

Meh
Meh
2 years ago
Reply to  John

I’ve thought about stopping, but at the end of the day, eating meat vs. not eating it isn’t very important. It’s just not a big deal.

Brian N.
Brian N.
2 years ago
Reply to  John

You do you, bud.

Jkn
Jkn
2 years ago

I’d expand back to the alley. Add length. That would have minimal architectural impact and allow for another window or two. this is the smallest Dick’s in the densest hood.