Pioneer Square Blog

Ex-Pioneer Square

I'm not in Pioneer Square any more, so I won't be updating this blog. Does someone want to take it over from me?

posted by Joe Goldberg @ 7:18 AM 1 comments

Occidental Square Grand Opening

Occidental Square Grand Opening Celebration
Thursday, Sept. 7

Please join Mayor Greg Nickels, the Pioneer Square Community Association and Seattle Parks and Recreation for the grand opening of Occidental Square. We have fun events scheduled throughout the day. Please join us!

noon - 9 p.m.
Art in the Park Presented by Starbucks Coffee Company

noon - 1 p.m.
Violinist Geoffery Castle

5:20 p.m.
Ribbon cutting ceremony

5 - 7:30 p.m.
Ruzivo Marimba Band
Free coffee from Starbucks
Free baked goods from Grand Central Bakery
Bocce ball demonstrations

8 - 10 p.m. Outdoor Movie: Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

posted by Joe Goldberg @ 12:45 PM 0 comments

First Thursday tonight

Just a reminder that tonight is First Thursday in Pioneer Square. Art galleries are open from 6 - 8pm. Note that there's a Mariner's game at 7pm so parking may be limited.

posted by Joe Goldberg @ 6:37 AM 0 comments

Ye Newe Ruge Shoppe

Guess what's going into the empty space just north of The Sports Den on 1st? Just guess, I'll wait...

A rug shop!

posted by Joe Goldberg @ 2:59 PM 0 comments

Shrinky Dink exhibit at Zeitgeist Cafe

There's a Shrinky Dink exhibit at Zeitgeist Cafe on 2nd and Jackson. Today might be the last day. You should check it out.

posted by Joe Goldberg @ 3:28 PM 0 comments

Closing and Opening

Paper Cat, Pioneer Square's purveyor of playful paper products, will be closing its doors for good at the end of the month after 31 years. An increase in rent is to blame (in this case an increase of 30%). They're currently having their final sale, so it's a good time to stock up on cards, pick up a few of the antique fixtures they used in the store and say goodbye to this Seattle mainstay.

The venerable Merchants Cafe restaurant in Pioneer Square should reopen in late May under new management, one of its co-owners said. The restaurant has been closed for repairs following a rent dispute with the former tenant. It will reopen in time for the tourist season, co-owner Dennis Loeb said.

posted by Joe Goldberg @ 10:21 PM 0 comments

Occidental Park Blowback

Citizens are already, well, doing passive-agressive Seattleish things in protest of the Occidental Park Deforestation

At Occidental Park in Pioneer Square over Presidents Day weekend, activists tied green ribbons to trees while Seattle Parks and Recreation fenced off the area, preparing to cut down most of the trees. [They] accuse the department, and particularly Superintendent Ken Bounds, of top-down decision-making that excludes neighborhoods from critical decisions and favors institutional and commercial interests.

Others feel the Mayor is to blame

The mayor, they say, hijacked [Pioneer Square activists'] process. After four years of community work, which grew out of the city neighborhood planning process completed in 1998, activists say the mayor simply dumped their plan and replaced it with one created by a New York consulting team...

The mayor's new plan for Occidental Park, [Pioneer Square business owner Bif] Brigman and others say, favors real estate developer Greg Smith and his plan to turn a parking lot he owns just east of the park into a mixed-used development that will house a new service shop for King County's waterfront streetcar.

Finally, in a typical Seattle fashion, this debate may be decided in court

The project was stalled by a still-pending lawsuit against the city in King County Superior Court. But the plaintiffs missed a Feb. 6 deadline to post a $120,000 bond necessary to stop construction, said Dewey Potter, Seattle Parks and Recreation spokeswoman.

posted by Joe Goldberg @ 6:54 AM 0 comments