Pike Place Facelift

Earlier this year, Pike Place Market requested an $80-
million
property-tax levy to renovate the market and improve access for
people with disabilities. But several market merchants are unhappy with
the plan, which they say would unnecessarily displace small
businesses.

For 28 years, Joe Canavan has operated World Class Chili, a small
chili stand in the Economy market atrium, selling four kinds of chili
(Texas, Cincinnati, “California,” and vegetarian) to a crowd of market
regulars. Under the current renovation plans, however, the public space
around his chili stand would be filled in with two new floors of retail
space, “covering up my space completely,” he says. “The entrance to my
place would be completely invisible from the rest of the
market—people coming through will not be able to see me at all.
There’s no way I can survive.”

At least six businesses would be displaced or impacted by the plans,
which also call for three new elevators and a large new bank of public
restrooms. (Merchants say the market is not required to have elevators,
although they would improve access for disabled people and vendors). In
addition to World Class Chili, the impacted businesses include Studio
Solstone, which specializes in watercolors by Sarah Clementson; Pike
Place Outfitters, which sells outdoor clothing; Simply the Best, a
dried-fruit stand across from the fish throwers Pike Place Fish; and
Best Flowers, a small flower shop that has been in its current location
for 70 years. Issie Sime, an owner of Best Flowers, says she’d like to
keep her business in the market. “I’ve been an owner for 17 years,”
Sime says. “It’s my life.”

Michael Yaeger, the unofficial “mayor” of the market and co-owner of
Studio Solstone, says that some of the improvements in the levy, such
as electrical and mechanical upgrades and seismic improvements, make
sense. But he’d like to see about $30 million shaved off the cost of
the levy—the $30 million that will pay for the new restrooms,
retail space, and elevator shafts like the one that could displace his
business. “They want to give the market a new face and destroy all
sorts of mom-and-pop businesses” in the process, Yaeger says. “All that
history—forget it. It’s going to be an elevator shaft.”

Mark Monroe is a part owner at Lowell’s Restaurant on Pike Place, a
51-year-old market institution overlooking Elliott Bay. Although he
wouldn’t be impacted directly by the renovation, Monroe says that as
one of the market’s larger vendors, he’s trying to get information out
about the renovations and give the smaller vendors a voice. He says he
doesn’t see why the improvements have to displace longstanding
businesses. “I’m of the opinion that all ideas are good ideas until
proven otherwise,” he says. “But do we really need an additional
bathroom when the ones that are already here aren’t being policed and
cleaned as it is?”

James Haydu, marketing director for the market’s Public Development
Authority, says none of the plans are final. “There are many draft
proposals on the table that we’re sharing with our constituents. This
is very much a work in progress.” The PDA will hold a meeting about the
plans on Wednesday, January 30, at the Central Library (1000 Fourth
Ave) at 6:00 p.m.