Comments on: Deano’s Grocery Going Down

By: didi

didi — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 09:24:52 +0000

My mother was mugged once in the old neighborhood in Cleveland. I’m pretty sure those houses are still intact.

I actually don’t find this building that architecturally great. I much prefer the old fashioned Marina Safeway. Still, I enjoyed reading the comments, it’s a great post. And don’t worry, Cliffe, you are not the only one who is idealistic.

By: Cliffe

Cliffe — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 22:39:35 +0000

Yes, let’s destroy any building where someone is mugged.

By: elswinger

elswinger — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 22:33:34 +0000

A friend of mine was mugged outside Deano’s, so good riddance.

By: Brian Lutz

Brian Lutz — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 21:32:21 +0000

Thanks Cliffe. I’ve been working on trying to make a focus on Eastside (especially Redmond, Kirkland and Bellevue) history a major part of my Blog, and I am also working on an ongoing long-term project to do profiles and a history of all of the Seattle area malls, since there is a lot that is changing and disappearing. Totem Lake and Factoria are both headed for major redevelopment projects in the near future, and Crossroads and Bellevue Square by themselves could probably make for a pretty interesting history. So far, I haven’t been able to do much more than find things in the microfilm available at the Bellevue library, but I’m hoping that a bit of downtime from work will provide an opportunity to go do some research at some of the local historical societies that should turn up some interesting stuff.

By: Cliffe

Cliffe — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 08:14:32 +0000

Great post Brian. I was meaning to make it down there after work with my camera, but you really covered it well.

Cliffe

By: Bryan

Bryan — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:07:49 +0000

There was discussion a couple of weeks ago over on the centraldistrictnews.com website about the Deano’s building block redevelopment (http://centraldistrictnews.com/2008/06/14/deanos-property-update). I wrote (as well as many others) in favor on one of the earlier posts there about preserving the Deano’s building and re-purposing it into a pub, etc. But others more familiar with the long coming re-development of that block (such as Andrew Taylor of the neighboring Miller Park Community) wrote that the site was contaminated by a previous dry cleaner establishment in the building and it was not going to be economically feasible to lift the old building, clean up the ground underneath, and be able to re-develop the rest of the block around the building. I wish it could have been preserved, but understand that sometimes it unfortunately is not feasible to do so.

By: Brian Lutz

Brian Lutz — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 08:46:47 +0000

Speaking of the old Bellevue Safeway, I decided to take one last trip over there for a few photos today. I also managed to pin down exactly when it opened (January 30th 1963.) I’ve posted those photos, as well as some stuff from the Bellevue American, over at my own Blog:

http://thesledgehammer.wordpress.com/2008/06/25/the-beginning-and-the-end-of-the-old-bellevue-safeway/

By: Cliffe

Cliffe — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 07:17:53 +0000

Nearly gone now.

http://noisetank.com/hugeasscity/2008/06/24/cd-deanos-almost-gone/

By: Cliffe

Cliffe — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 21:51:43 +0000

Scott: Agreed, and I apologize as well, for my slightly snippy reply. I do think I wasn’t very clear in my original post about my criticism. I didn’t mean to downplay the fact that this area was crime-ridden and dangerous, I just meant to highlight the fact that I wished the Times article had mentioned more about the history of the building and why it wasn’t being preserved in some way through the new development. I’ll update my post to reflect this.

I do realize that a lot of what I post here is pretty idealistic. Time and time again when I talk to developers and land owners, the realities of economics come crashing down on me. But I do think that’s a place for some idealism, even if it’s just consciousness raising.

Thanks for the input and sharing your experience. I’ll try to better word my viewpoints in future posts.

Cliffe

By: Scott

Scott — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 21:42:45 +0000

Cliffe: I apologize. I didn’t mean to play a “street cred” thing — was simply stating my knowledge of the area. I have read many well meaning blogs and news articles that downplay an area’s unsavory aspects in favor of a more PC worldview with misplaced blame and I find it frustrating. Obviously I was wrong about your familiarity with the neighborhood.

I think it might have been nice if the building could have been repurposed, but my faith in that having been successfully pulled off is more pessimistic than yours. I don’t think Dean Falls was going to sell without cashing in on a big development. He did sell, but for how much? Enough for a new owner not to develop out fully? Also, without a fresh start, I don’t think the crime element was going to go away. My personal opinions…probably not in vogue on a site dedicated to preserving and appreciating Seattle’s finer aspects (and a blog I religiously look at…and love…)