Category Archives: Their future is in question

Retail Stand Alone

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The freestanding building at 602 North Pearl use to be where I dropped off film (remember film?) to be developed. Flash One Hour Photo had the nicest people working there and one hour development. I think it was bright yellow. Of course their business declined as we all went to digital and I’m guessing that is why they closed.

Later it was a home design store (Tacoma Interior Market) , a check cashing place and most recently a spot to get new counter tops. Now it has some furniture in it, but it looks vacant.

The Condiments at Skippers

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My daughter and I use to stop at the Skippers at 4710 Pacific Avenue every other week just before we went to Brownies and later Girl Scouts. And then she grow out of Girl Scouts and somebody drove their car into Skippers (luckily nobody was in that booth!) and it had to close for a while. And then in 2997 it went out of business. And then in September 2009 it reopened. The service is friendly and fast.

Update: May 2016. I see that it has again closed and has fencing around the property line. Sad.

Herbal Wellness

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Sacred Plant Medicine at 1912 Center Street has some great signs on their exterior walls. The building was constructed in 1928 and was occupied by the Northwestern Bakery. In 1937 it was occupied by Butler Canning and in 1940 Buffelen Furniture Co. was in place and then closed. In 1944 there was a fire. In 1955 it was Buffelen Woodworking Co. Seems to me that in the past few years it was a cabinet shop and then vacant for a while. And now it is Sacred Plant Medicine. `

The Fern Hill Substation is located in the 8300 block of  Yakima Avenue in Tacoma. Puget Sound Energy states “To increase reliability for our customers and meet their growing demand for power in Pierce County, Puget Sound Energy is upgrading our existing low-voltage 55 kilovolt (kV) transmission lines to our now current standard of 115 kV. These projects will entail upgrading two substations and 12.5 miles of transmission line, and decommissioning our existing Fern Hill substation.”  The timeline to decommission the substation is 2012-2013. I wonder what one does with property that had been occupied by a substation!

To read more, go to http://pse.com/inyourcommunity/pierce/ConstructionProjects/Pages/Woodland-St-Clair.aspx

 

The Tempest Lounge

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After work, I meant some wonderful friends at the Tempest Lounge at 913 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way in Tacoma.  The food was delicious, the service was spot on, the atmosphere was retro and the company was grand 😀

 

http://www.tempestlounge.com/

On 9/11/12 The owner of the Tempest announced that she is closing the bar.

 

 

Mandolin Cafe

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The Mandolin Cafe at 3923 South 12th Street near the intersection of South 12th & Proctor provides an occasional respite for us.  It doesn’t have an extensive menu, but what it has is delicious. They do have a large selection of teas, quality coffee and wines.  What keeps me keeping coming back to the Mandolin is the atmosphere, comfortable, warm, art filled and often eclectic live music.

http://www.themandolincafe.com/

Sadly the Mandolin Cafe closed in July 2012. It wasn’t because of their business, but instead a problem with the lease. I’m hopeful they will reopen in a new location at some point.

 

Heidelberg Brewery

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The Heidelberg Brewery has been at 2120 South C Street in Tacoma under various names since 1900.  There is a most excellent history of the brewery located here http://www.brewerygems.com/columbia.htm and a reader would learn much from reading it.  I was interested to learn that the brewery was actually constructed over an artesian well. Also of interest was that during prohibition, the brewery made soft drinks and a non-alcoholic near-beer called “Colo”. The brewery closed its doors in 1979 and was vacant for many years and was slated for demolition when it caught on fire on July 7, 2011.  As you can see from the photos, at least part of the site is currently being cleared.

 

 

The Giving Place

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The Giving Place has been in Freighthouse Square since 1997. Fifty percent of their net profits goes to local people in need. The store has gifts, snacks, cards, lottery tickets and much more.

January 2013 Update: I was sad to see that The Giving Place was gone. They had been there so long, it was a tad shocking to see the space occupied by a different tenant.

February 2013 Update: The Giving Place lives! It’s just down at the other end of Freighthouse Square. I’m so glad.

Trung Nguyen Billiard Hall (vacant)

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Tacoma is not all waterfront parks and restored historic buildings. The nationwide economic crisis has hit here too and there are building that have been abandon and left to deteriorate. One of these buildings is the Trung Nguyen Billiard Hall (Pool Hall) at 722 S 38th St. Tacoma WA 98418. I remember when it was open and it never seemed very inviting, at least to me. The property originally was constructed in 1970 as a Pacific National Bank of Washington and the drive through teller is still in place. The windows were awfully dirty, but a quick glance showed the interior to be in shambles. There must be 40 full trash bags on the site. There is no for lease or for sale sign visible. The Pierce Co. Assessor’s Office still shows the property to be under private ownership.

Update 4/14: I hear rummer that the building is slated for demolition.

 

Habitat for Humanity Store

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Funny story… I’m in the car with my husband and he says let’s go to the Habitat Restore in the Port. Oh boy! I’ve been wanting to see the new estuary nature place that I read about! I was pretty excited that dear husband would suggest it. That’s the spirit of adventure!

And then we pulled up here at the Habitat for Humanity Store at 505 Puyallup Ave., Tacoma, WA 98421. Oh, I see. We need bathroom tiles. No, really its OK. I just had my heart set on seeing ducks!

In actuality the Habitat for Humanity Store is very cool and I’ve been meaning to go there. Folks donate building materials (doors, lighting fixtures, tile, cabinets, mirrors, etc.) and other folks buy them. Habitat makes a little money for their most excellent work. We walked out with some tiles, groat, and a ceramic soap dish to go in the shower. No ducks.

I guess I can do the Habitat for Humanity store again in the future because they are moving to South Tacoma Way and the building is available for lease.

More information about the local Habitat for Humanity is here: http://www.tpc-habitat.org/

The building is on the site of Joe Zehnder’s First & Last Chance Saloon, sadly now demolished. The current building was constructed in 1926 as the Stevens & Vetter, Inc. Garage / Fageol Motor Sales Co. and had been used as warehousing for the adjacent railroad. Although the building has been renovated over the years I can still see the original structure in the roof line. Look here to see the building as it was in 1928: http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/buildings/bldg1image.asp?j=1&o=5&n=24097&i=9072#text