The 1908 Tacoma Armory at 715 S 11th Street, Tacoma WA takes up the entire block. Until 2011 it was the home of the National Guard, but its been vacated and is now available for lease (see the link). Over its history, it was visited by three president, William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson and Harry Truman. It was placed on Tacoma’s Registry of Historic Places in 1976.
If we are hungry when we visit North Bend, we usually eat at Jay Berry’s Pizza and Pasta at 456 Mt. Si Boulevard. The first time we went, years ago, we thought it was going to be just another pizza place in a strip mall. But each time we go (at least once a year for many years) we are impressed by the quality of the food and service. This time dear daughter and I shared a baked tortellini and we each had our own French Onion Soup.
Update: 4/2017 When I went to take myself out to an early dinner, I found that Jay Berry’s was gone and another restaurant was in its space. But I do see that their website is operational and links to their restaurant in Renton. Guess I’ll need to go there for some great pasta!
My World Childcare at 5915 Orchard Street is closed, but their wonderful mural remains! I didn’t find much about the business except that their motto was “Helping your child discover their world”. But really the story here is the vivid mural featuring children playing, reading and working. I hope whoever leases the building next appreciates the artwork and lets it remain.
I’ve been meaning to stop and snap a photo of the mostly vacant lot in the 2100 block of Pacific Avenue. Today was the day. I put my lens through the chain link fence and snapped away. While writing this up, I thought I’d find some interesting story, but no, not really. Obviously there had been a building, most likely a house, there at one point and the current owners are both protecting their property and potential liability by fencing off the remains. But that’s about all I have. I’d also like to know more about the Bugeye ftb graffiti. I can find other references to Bugeye, but not the origin. Odd.
The Tacoma Center Building at 2367 Tacoma Avenue is available for sale with an asking price of $499,999. The building was built in 1969 and contains 12,960 square feet.
Update June 2013: The property no longer has a for sale sign up and has been repainted. It looks really nice!
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We were celebrating a birthday today and my job was to stop and buy some fish for the grill. So, I went to Johnny’s Seafood at 7304 Lakewood Drive in Lakewood. I was out of my car before I realized that it was gone! Of course the building is still there, but it was empty. There goes all my thoughts of sneaking in some fun fish and crab photos! Fine. Here is a shot of the empty building.
The Home Video Express building at 6401 Pacific Avenue has been vacant for some time. I remember going in there years ago and a couple having an awful argument that made all the customers and staff very uncomfortable. Later the store was closed and as I recall then open for a short time, then closed. But the store stayed pretty much fully stocked for a long time. But now it is vacant. I didn’t see a for sale or for rent sign, so I don’t know its future.
The commercial building at 1307 Martin Luther King Boulevard use to be occupied by Johnson Family Practice, but in now vacant and available for rent. It was built in 1923 and was originally occupied by a Maruca Bros. store.
The Happy Room and the Golden City Cafe at 3812 Yakima Avenue, Tacoma, began its life in 1932 A U.S. Post Office, By 1952 it was the restaurant that its sign promotes. At some point it closed and it appears to be used for storage nowadays. I would have loved to have seen the neon lite!
Update photo January 2017
My husband and I are having a debate about the Red Dragon Oriental Restaurant at the northwest corner of South ‘G’ Street and South 34th Street has been vacant for all the years that we’ve lived in Tacoma. I thought I remembered it being open for business at some point. In either case, it has been vacant for sometime and is in pretty bad shape. I noticed that one of the windows in the glass atrium area were broken out. There is a for sale sign with a phone number and email.
Update, we drove past today (8/21/12) and it was gone! Or at least a pile of rubble. I had also learned that long ago it had previously been an A&W Restaurant and a popular hang out for the Lincoln High School students.
