Viewcrest Apartments at 601 S Jackson Ave (the southeast corner of Jackson and Sixth Avenue) in Tacoma has a wonderful, metal security gate featuring the sun and moon. The relatively small brick apartment complex (8,000 square feet) opened in April 1960.
The Taco Time Building at 3855 Pacific Avenue has been vacant for some time. It is available for sale through Colliers, International.
The First Congregational Church at 918 Division Avenue, Tacoma, WA 98403 is being sold to Mars Hill Church. The church will be renovated and services for the new congregation will begin in about a year. First Congregational Church was built in 1908 with George Bullard as the architect. I was pleased that the building will not be razed.
The sign outside of the church says “God’s love embraces all persons equally, no matter their gender, race, or sexual identity.” I hope that the church’s new congregation feels the same way!
Freeze Frozen Yogurt at 3806 Bridgeport Way West (Green Firs Shopping Center), University Place, WA has been around for about six months and the employees (owner?) was friendly. They have ten flavors (Mango Tango, Alpine Vanilla, Pomegranate Raspberry, Thin Mint,Cake Batter, Milk Chocolate, Hawaiian Pineapple, Sweet Coconut,Cheesecake and Lemon Bar) at any one time and a nice assortment of toppings.
On the way home this little girl was wandering around in the street, stopping traffic. How could I leave her there? So I scooped her up and brought her home. After an hour or so the owner called me back and we took her home. She was a very sweet dog, but growled at our two pups.
Update: June 2015. There is a sign up at Freeze that says they are closed because of mechanical issues, but the sign has been up for a while and I wonder if they are just closed.
I’ve been wanting to snap a photo of the old Wonderbread Building at the corner of Sprague Avenue and South 7th (703 South Sprague) for ages The property began life as the Matthaei Bread Company in 1913 at a cost of $30,000. The formal opening was in April 1913 and it was known as the plant of 150 windows.
The parent company, Interstate Bakeries Corp, went bankrupt in 2004 and this outlet closed. As of 2007 the property was up for sale, but it has been sitting vacant for ages now. An article in the Weekly Volcano mentions a proposed demolition of the building with a new retail/office facility, but it has been a couple of years and I see no evidence of new development. http://www.weeklyvolcano.com/entertainment/spew-blog/2010/05/tacoma-wonder-bread-building-demolition/
A picture of the building from the 1920s can be found here http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/buildings/bldg1image.asp?j=1&o=2&n=25402&i=6392#text
Sally Beauty Supply, located at 3842 University Place in Green Firs Shopping in University Place, has a great deal of beauty product. The company was founded in 1964 and is headquartered in Denton Texas (where I once went to college). There are over 4,000 stores.
http://www.sallybeauty.com/
I’ve been past Union Station at 401 South Jackson Street, Seattle, many a time, but today I actually went inside. It was lovely and reminded me of large stations in Philadelphia and New York City. Constructed in 1911 as a train station, it looks much the same today. The property ceased being a train station in 1971, was placed on the Historic Register in 1974 and was renovated in the late 1990s. The hall can be rented out for events.
One of the workers saw me snapping some photos and said that she loved working in such a beautiful building. Of course to off set that nice moment, some guy asked me for $0.50 to make a phone call!
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.
When we first moved to Tacoma, this 7 Eleven was well ummm a 7 Eleven. Then for a while it was a pretty decent Indian food restaurant. And now its a 7 Eleven again. It is located at 3115 Sixth Avenue at the corner of Sixth and South Alder in Tacoma.
Metronome Cafe at 3518 6th Avenue has a good cup of coffee and their chairs are more comfortable then they looked. The decor is streamline modern and there is a wooden mounted deer’s head.
