Category Archives: Their future is in question

Pagoda at Point Defiance Park

Leave a reply
I love driving around Point Defiance Park. It soothes my soul. Today I stopped at the Pagoda at 5801 Trolley Lane and took a couple of rainy photos. It was sensibly locked, but looking through the windows worked pretty well. One window shot makes it look like Mother Nature is taking over the building!

Per the Metro Parks Tacoma website “the Pagoda was built in 1914 as a replica of a 17th century Japanese Lodge. It was originally a waiting room for streetcars. Now this magnificent structure functions as a rental facility for weddings and other private parties as well as a venue for garden shows, lectures and concerts.”

http://www.metroparkstacoma.org/page.php?id=62

   

Update 4/15/2011  the pagoda was badly damaged by a suspicious fire.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/04/15/1627154/report-tacoma-fire-responding.html

Update 12/5/12 A community grand re-opening celebration is scheduled for January 12, 2013.

Kalakala, is it sinking?

Leave a reply
Kalakala by Gexydaf
Kalakala, a photo by Gexydaf on Flickr.

The newspaper yesterday talked about how the Kalakala was in danger of sinking because it is taking on water. I had just asked my husband last week if the vintage ferry boat was still at the port. We had gone to see it years ago and hadn’t heard much about it since.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/03/26/1600781/dreams-for-art-deco-ferryboat.html#storylink=misearch

I have no idea about the financial feasibility of restoring this ferry, which is in pretty bad shape, but I’ sure wish it could be brought back to its former glory. It was spectacular!

The website for the ferry has abundant information about it. http://www.kalakala.org/index2.html

I took a couple of shots from where it is docked and then went across the way to photograph it from across the Hylebos Waterway.

 

For a photo of the Kalakala when it was in Tacoma in the 1940s, see this webpage from the Tacoma Public Library.

http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/images/dt6n.asp?un=4&pg=1&krequest=Kalakala&stemming=On&phonic=&fuzzy=&maxfiles=5000

Gibson’s Frozen Yogurt

Leave a reply
Gibson's Frozen Yogert by Gexydaf
Gibson’s Frozen Yogert, a photo by Gexydaf on Flickr.

Gibson’s Frozen Yogurt opened on Valentine’s Day 2011 in the Stadium District and tonight after dinner we went there to celebrate the beginning of Spring Break. It was fun and delicious and not very expensive, so what more could we want?

Dear daughter and I sampled almost all of the flavors before going with the French Vanilla, Chocolate and Cookies & Cream. Then we added Hot Carmel, Hot Fudge, Strawberries, Maraschino Cherries, Gummy Bears, M&Ms, Walnuts, Whipped Cream and Rainbow Sprinkles (not all items were on both servings!). Then we sat down to eat some serious tastiness. The place wasn’t very crowded when we got there, but by the time we left, it was packed. And both the employees and the customers seemed to really be enjoying themselves. I was glad to see the crowd in hopes that Gibson’s Yogurt is here to stay!

UpdateL 6.16 Sadly Gibson’s was not here to stay. The store closed earlier this year.

http://www.gibsonsyogurt.com/

  

Starbucks, always reliable

Leave a reply
by Gexydaf
, a photo by Gexydaf on Flickr.

Today’s new place is the Starbucks at the corner of Sixth and Pine (601 Pine Street, Tacoma). It looked much like all the other Starbucks, warm and comfortable. The service was friendly and fast and the coffee especially good for some reason. The breakfast roll was warmed and very delicious. There is a reason that Starbucks has a following.

http://www.starbucks.com/

Update 2/2015 This location has closed, which surprises me since it was always busy when I went.

 

Bryant Montessori Might be Mobile

Leave a reply

Bryant Montessori, located at 717 S. Grant Ave., Tacoma, WA 98405 is one of the Tacoma Schools that might be flux. In 1998, this school received a grant to become a public school using the Montessori method. It now provides preschool to 8th grade education.

The original Bryant building was constructed in 1891 and was named after William Cullen Bryant who is remembered for writing Thanatopsis (alright I don’t actually know that poem, but here it is)

https://www.msu.edu/~cloudsar/thanatop.htm

The original building was lovely and held elementary through high school classes and also housed the school board offices and administration. High school students in the late 1800s paid tuition fees and in 1897 it was reduced from $2.50 to $1.50 per month. In any case after 70 years, the building was demolished and the “new” Bryant opened in 1962. A photograph of the original building can be found here. http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/buildings/bldg1image.asp?j=2&o=2&n=15872&i=3774#text

The district proposal currently on the table is to close nearby Franklin Elementary School and use that building to house the Bryant program. Originally the intent had been to house the entire Bryant program at Franklin, but now it is looking more likely that the elementary portion of the Bryant program will move to Franklin and the middle school program would join Geiger Montessori which will move to the vacated Hunt Middle School. This would allow at least some of the Franklin students to at least have the option of staying in the Franklin Building if they wanted a Montessori style of education. Per the newspaper article below “A variety of programs, including Head Start and others, would move from the old Madison School site to the Bryant Elementary site”. Everybody clear?

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/03/10/1579446/tacoma-district-leans-toward-closing.html

Update 7/11 Bryant Montessori is staying put.

H.F. Hunt Middle School, a potentially repurposed school

1 Reply
H.F. Hunt Middle School by Gexydaf
H.F. Hunt Middle School a photo by Gexydaf on Flickr.

A little while back I had photographed each of the schools that Tacoma has on the list to potentially close. They included Franklin, Lyon, Roosevelt, Stanley, McKinley, Wainwright, Geiger and Foss. While not written in stone, the general plan now is to close McKinley, Wainwright and Franklin. Another proposal has been made to move the middle school Montessori program now housed at Bryant and the fledgling K-5 Montessori program at Geiger to the vacant Hunt Middle School Buillding. The timing on the move is unclear, but either 2011 or 2012. Thus, the now vacant Hunt Middle School would be the new site of the K-8 Geiger Montessori Program.  There is talk of building a new building for Geiger Montessori, but again the timing is uncertain.  The K-5 students currently at the Bryant Building would move to Franklin. The Franklin students would have the option of attending their current school and receiving a Montessori education, or attending an alternate neighborhood school, most likely Stanley or DeLong. Of course, that tentative plan might all change!

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/03/10/1579446/tacoma-district-leans-toward-closing.html

It was in the early spring 2010 that the Tacoma School District decided to close H.F. Hunt Middle School because of federal rules targeting schools that perform poorly on state tests. At the time of closure, Hunt had 346 students and had been following the International Baccalaureate, or IB, model. Their mascot was the Scottie and their colors were green, white and gold. The IB program was switched to Giaudrone in the Fall of 2010.

The school building was constructed in 1958 and was named after Henry F. Hunt, a Tacoma educator for 34 years. At its height, the student population was well over 1,000 students.

Nature’s Resource Center

Leave a reply

I’d read about the new tenant at Freighthouse Square and since we were having dinner at Wendy’s Vietnamese, I thought I skip downstairs and check it out. Nature’s Resource Center’s website says “Here at NATURES RESOURCE CENTER we strive to meet your medical needs in a variety of ways including; providing educational service on cultivating one’s own personal herb plants, We also have an inventory of starts, hash, edibles, tinctures and the best medical herb nature has to offer. All consultations and services provided in a safe and professional setting. So stop suffering today and enjoy the greatest medical cannabis nature has to offer at Nature’s Resource Center!”

Their website is at http://nrc420.com/

And their address is at 602 East 25th Street, Suite #78

I wasn’t sure what I expected, but the storefront has dignity and an attractive waiting area. I purposefully didn’t photograph anyone coming or going, but they looked like everyday kind of folks. I understand that they sell medical marijuana (cannabis), but I personally don’t see it being a problem being next to a store specializing in legos.

   

Today’s Soup Tomato Basil

Leave a reply

Today’s Soup Tomato BasilOriginally uploaded by Gexydaf

Forza is a relatively small chain with 23 locations and today I stopped at the Forza at 1202 S Union St., Tacoma, WA 98438. I met a dear friend and we had coffee and visited. Twas a lovely after work event.

http://www.forzacoffeecompany.com/

Update: This Forza location closed in early 2012 and the space is available for lease.

Camp 6 Logging Camp, another victim of the economy

1 Reply
 


When we first moved to Tacoma over 20 years ago I remember visiting the Camp 6 Logging Exhibit in Point Defiance Park. Then, as in now, I love that this little slice of history had been preserved. Since that first time, I’ve gone back a couple of times a year, often seeing deer and once a fox. Once we took my young daughter on the Santa Train, which basically went into the forest a ways and then out again with, of course, Santa. It is an interesting, peaceful place. So it saddened me to learn that the exhibit might not reopen from its winter hiatus this year.

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/6420ap_wa_logging_museum.html

The Camp 6 Logging Camp’s website states “Our mission is to preserve and present to the public a portion of Washington State’s history from the 1880’s through the 1940’s as it pertains to the “Steam Era of Logging”. With photographs, paintings, artifacts and equipment displays, Camp 6 takes the visitor back in time from when horse and ox teams hauled out the timber up through the last days that steam powered “Donkeys” and Railroads worked the woods. Visitors will see first hand what life in the logging camps and woods of Western Washington was like.”

Update 5/9/2011http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/05/09/1658977/point-defiance-parks-camp-6-closed.html  Looks like they are closing for good.  It’s a shame.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/05/09/1658977/point-defiance-parks-camp-6-closed.html

Foss High School

Leave a reply

Tacoma Public School has announced that it may close schools in order to save money. Foss is the high school they are considering and elementary schools with less than 300 students are also possibilities. These elementary schools are Franklin, Lyon, Roosevelt, Stanley, McKinley, Wainwright and Geiger. Geiger has had a program change and has been taken off the table.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/01/26/1517312/school-cuts-worry-parents.html

http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2011/01/27/1840221/tacoma-school-board-urged-to-reconsider.html

Today’s school is Foss High School at 2112 S. Tyler. Their mascot is the falcon and the school opened in 1973.  Foss is the first school in Washington State and the second school west of the Rocky Mountains to offer the international baccalaureate diploma program, which began in 1982.  The school is named after Henry Foss, the son of the founders of the Foss Launch and Tug Company, making it the first school named after a Tacoma native.   With the exception of the School of the Arts and the Science and Math Institute, Foss is the smallest Tacoma High School. The Foss website can be found here.  http://www0.tacoma.k12.wa.us/schools/hsx/foss/

A student created website names 101 Reasons Why Foss is the Boss can be found here. http://101savehfhs.webs.com/