Author Archives: AGPhoto

‘Let the people have rat’ — Work party restores Cal Anderson Park mural

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A symbol of Capitol HIll’s “Hot Rat Summer” has been restored — partially — on the historic Cal Anderson Gatehouse.

Dedicated neighbors, artists, and two members of the Seattle City Council gathered on the hottest day of the year so far to restore the surprisingly radiant rat mosaic after the city painted over it in what some are calling a bureaucratic blunder and others see as an act of erasure.

“It’s such a beautiful mural that’s taken so many hours,” said Bug, a Vegas transplant new to the city, who showed up solo to help uncover the piece. “Just to cover it up, like, out of spite? It didn’t make sense to me. Especially in a city that’s so filled with art.”

Bug, who said they first saw the mural on Instagram and later learned it had been painted over through Reddit, wasn’t the only one moved to act. Other dedicated mural appreciators were there. “I just came and did it on my own,” Bug said. “This is the second time I showed up to uncover it.”

The mosaic mural was painted on the side of the landmarked Seattle Public Utilities Gatehouse building above Cal Anderson’s reflecting pool. It has became a source of neighborhood pride in the spunky expression of a neighborhood dedicated to having a good time despite any hard times and challenges. That made it all the more surprising when city crews painted over it.

Seattle City Councilmembers Joy Hollingsworth and Alexis Mercedes Rinck joined residents Wednesday to help gently scrub the white paint off the rat. Continue reading →

Central Cinema celebrates 20+ years: How a sculpture studio became Central District’s quirkiest neighborhood theater

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When Kevin Spitzer first rented a former auto repair shop just off E Union in the late ’90s, it was his studio, a raw, industrial space in a then-neglected stretch of Seattle’s Central District.

“This was actually my sculpture studio in here before the theater,” Spitzer says. “It was Jean’s first tenant when she and Jack bought the building out of an auction.”

The building at 1411 21st Ave has lived many lives since it was constructed in 1929. “It was originally built in ’29 as a car dealership. “Pretty sure it was Ford,” Spitzer explains. “Then what I heard is it became a dairy for, like decades, it was a bottling plant.” By the time the Spitzers arrived, the area was far from the bustling hub it is today.

This summer, Central Cinema is celebrating its 20th year in the neighborhood — though it has been on the block a little longer.

“There was no 20/20 Bike Shop, or Katie’s coffee or anything like that,” Kate Spitzer remembered. “It was like storefronts with plywood on them. The gas station was just Jimmy and Al fixing cars.” Continue reading →

Seattle’s mysterious Sea Dragonsss artist reveals story behind Capitol Hill’s time-traveling sculptures

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If you have wandered across Capitol Hill, Columbia City, Seward Park, or even Los Angeles, you may have spotted them — colorful, CD-studded dragon faces grinning from telephone poles, their reflective surfaces glinting in the sunlight. Emerging from the imagination of the pseudonymous Sea DragonSSS, these sculptures carry the mystery of their creator with backstories involving time travel that are as deliberately obscure as the artist himself.

The artist — who goes by Eddie after his signature dragon character — shared with CHS the story behind his decade-long journey from obscure noise musician to guerrilla sculptor, his installation mishaps, and his ambitious plans to bring his time traveling dragon universe to life through animation.

FROM FAILED MUSICIAN TO STREET ARTIST: THE UNLIKELY ORIGINS OF SEA DRAGONSSS

Long before dragons adorned Seattle’s streets, Sea DragonSSS was a struggling experimental artist.

“I started as a musician. Was playing music in the 90s, mostly noise, not very popular stuff. Got some grants along the way to put out CDs. I also was a filmmaker too. CDs and DVDs of my work, none of them sold. Well, I shouldn’t say none of them, but not very many of them.”

Faced with boxes of unsold discs, he saw an opportunity. Continue reading →

Dodgeball DJ — How music and community helped Dan Gregory heal

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Five years ago, Dan Gregory’s life changed forever when he was shot by the brother of an SPD officer during the 2020 protests on Capitol Hill. The trauma left deep scars, both physically and mentally, but through music, DJing, and an unexpected Capitol Hill community on the dodgeball court, he found a lifeline.

“Music Saved My Life”
For Gregory, DJing is survival.

“If it wasn’t for music and having an outlet, I probably would have offed myself,” he admits. “That was a lot to go through, and I’d still do it all over again if I had to, but music is how I process my emotions.”

Under the moniker DJ Danny G (formerly DJ oohchillem), Gregory has turned his pain into a magnetic force, curating sets that bring people together at everything from bus stop pop-up jams, homeless camps, or local taco stands.

Today, he brings music to the busy courts of Cal Anderson just blocks away from 11th and Pine and the center of where CHOP formed five years ago this month.

“I love how music can change an environment,” he says. “People come in stressed, and then the right song comes on, and suddenly everyone’s singing along. That energy is everything.” Continue reading →

Hey, roomie — The Spot is moving in with a Capitol Hill salon to create a new cafe and music hangout on the backside of Pike/Pine

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The Spot in its West Seattle days (Image: The Spot)

There will be a new set of Capitol Hill roommates on 11th Ave heading into the summer. Cafe and wine bar The Spot is moving in with salon Essensuals of London.

Hopefully they enjoy each other’s music.

“It’s a pretty cool concept,” The Spot’s Philip Sudore tells CHS. “The space is beautiful — big, open, high ceilings. We’re taking over one side of the building.”

A new life for The Spot at 11th and Union on the backside of Pike/Pine comes months after the West Seattle hangout shuttered on Avalon Way where it gutted out the height of the pandemic but ultimately couldn’t hold on.

The Spot’s rebirth on Capitol Hill will represent a streamlined version of Suerore’s little bit of everything cafe, bar, and music hangout. Sudore is jettisoning The Spot’s restaurant aspirations with the new start. Continue reading →

A decade of Balkan pastries and so much more at 12th Ave’s Byrek and Baguette

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12th Ave’s Byrek and Baguette doesn’t really need any hype or social media influencers to build its steady business from regulars and the kids from nearby Seattle University. A decade on this stretch of Capitol Hill will do that.

“We don’t do any advertising,” Natalie Gjekmarkaj said with a small laugh. “People just know us.”

Tucked in among the neighborhood’s busier corridors, the eatery doesn’t pop up on typical lunchtime sandwich searches. The focus here is byrek, the flaky, crispy, filled pastry of the Balkans.

“Even if somebody wants to come here and look for sandwiches, our restaurant doesn’t come up,” she admits. “But the people who know us? They’re coming. We have very loyal customers.” Continue reading →

The Harborview cafeteria: delicious, affordable, and kind of a secret

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Down a hallway and tucked into the basement of Harborview Medical Center, an affordable and unexpectedly delicious culinary scene unfolds every day.

What looks like a typical hospital cafeteria is, in fact, one of Seattle’s most surprising hidden food destinations. The Harborview cafeteria, however, is not a total secret.

“We get outside guests just come here to eat the food because they appreciate it and always tell us how good it is compared to other hospitals,” said Chris Tharpe, retail manager at the medical center.

The cafeteria’s growing fanbase includes everyone from hospital staff and patients’ families to construction workers and local residents making the trip just for lunch.

The driving force behind Harborview’s surprising deliciousness is Executive Chef Vanessa Gray, who brought a bold vision—and a non-traditional rĂ©sumé—to the job.

“I come from sports and entertainment… I wanted to make our cafeteria a fun place to eat with surprising food, not the same thing, hamburger, hot dog, pizza, kinds of things you see in a lot of cafeterias,” Gray said. Continue reading →

With the Knights of Columbus at Gridline’s core, Harvard Ave’s newest residential development is 112 years old

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In March, CHS reported on the disappearance of construction cranes and design reviews for new projects on Capitol Hill. There are exceptions. There is also a development to welcome to the skyline in the interconnected zone between Capitol Hill and First Hill.

Capitol Hill’s newest residential development, the Gridline Apartments, has reached near-full occupancy less than a year after opening its doors. The two-building adaptive reuse project developed by SRM Development includes 178 units split between the West Building, with 49 units, and the larger North Building, with 129 units. The development offers a mix of affordable and market-rate housing, catering to a range of renters.

The project has grown up and around the neighborhood’s old Knights of Columbus building. Gridline was born of an overhaul of the landmark-worthy building that surrounded the old structure with new apartments

The smaller West Building opened in November 2023 and achieved 95% occupancy in about nine months. The North Building, which opened in March 2024, reached stabilized occupancy by late January 2025, taking just over 10 months to fill. As of now, both buildings are approximately 97% occupied.

“We’re pleased with how quickly these buildings have filled,” said Mike Erickson of SRM. “The location, amenities, and quality of the buildings have resonated with renters.” Continue reading →

The Doctor’s Office marks five years on Capitol Hill — ‘It’s going to be one of the best bars in the world’

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Capitol Hill’s The Doctor’s Office is more than just a bar. It is a testament to resilience, passion, and the power of community. Opened just four weeks before the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, this intimate 12-seat bar has defied the odds, earning international acclaim and becoming a part of the neighborhood.

As the bar marks five years of business on Capitol Hill, its prescription for success has been anything but ordinary.

The story of The Doctor’s Office begins with a literal fall from grace. Owner and founder Dr. Matthew Powell was inspecting the vents for the hood system on the roof of the building when disaster struck.

“You ever do that thing where you’re going downstairs and there’s like, ‘Oh, there’s one more step,’ a split second before you would have sworn there is one more step? Just make that the edge of a roof,” Doc Powell recalls. “For the life of me, I could not tell you why my brain was like, ‘There is one more step,’ and I just stepped out into nothing, right onto the pavement.”

The fall shattered his foot, requiring two surgeries and 10 hours of operating time. “Fortunately, the specialist for that fracture happens to be at Harborview, like the best specialist in the nation, if not the world,” he says. But the timing couldn’t have been worse. Continue reading →

‘Save our Science’ rallies — with some of the best protest signs so far — bring fight against Trump cuts to Montlake Blvd E

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Montlake Blvd E above 520 isn’t where you might typically see a protest in Seattle but a “Save our Science” demonstration there Wednesday morning caught the city’s attention.

Workers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are raising alarms over looming job cuts they say threaten critical scientific research, fisheries sustainability, and the livelihoods of coastal communities. Speaking anonymously out of fear for their jobs, employees at NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center and Alaska Fisheries Science Center are calling attention to the far-reaching consequences of federal funding and staffing reductions.

“Many of us work at NOAA, right here, and a lot of our co-workers are being threatened with their jobs,” one worker said. These employees emphasize their role as public servants, working not just in Washington, D.C., but in communities across the country.

A stock assessment scientist explained the importance of their work: “We set annual catch limits for fisheries on the West Coast and in Alaska to make sure that we can keep catching fish sustainably.” This focus on sustainability is critical to maintaining healthy fish populations and supporting the commercial fishing industry.

Nick Tolimieri, president of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers Local 8A, represents workers at NOAA’s Northwest and Alaska Fisheries Science Centers. He warns that funding and staffing cuts jeopardize their ability to deliver essential research required by laws like the Magnuson-Stevens Act and the Endangered Species Act. Continue reading →