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Alfred Clise, Earl Brooks, Virginia Inn, Norm Bobrow (R.I.P.)
"THE BEHOLDER," A MONSTER familiar to generations of Dungeons & Dragons players, made a cameo appearance at Zanadu Comics on April 22. It was part of a TV commercial for Wizards of the Coast, the Renton-based Hasbro subsidiary that now owns the D & D line of role-playing games. You know those 13 blocks in the Denny Triangle (between Fifth Avenue, Westlake Avenue, and Denny Way)? The blocks Clise Properties wanted to sell in one huge deal to one huge buyer, who'd create one huge mega-development? Ain't gonna happen. The Clise family has owned the properties since they were flattened during the last phase of the Denny Regrade. Last year, they announced plans to gather all their un- or under-developed properties in the neighborhood into one sale package. Alfred Clise was quoted as saying his family envisioned "a thriving world-class development on par with New York's Rockefeller Center or London's Canary Wharf." The Wall Street Journal reported the Clises had received 15 serious offers and had chosen a potential buyer (Dubai-based Emaar Properties); but that the souring credit market had caused the scheme to collapse. Clise may re-offer the properties when economic conditions improve. In other real-estate news, the Kirkland-based City Church is planning to expand its Belltown branch, now based in the former Electrical Workers hall at First and Cedar, into a new building on the site of an adjacent parking lot. The new addition will seat 800 parishoners; its sloped roof design would slant from 35 to 60 feet above the street. Seattle law firm Patterson Buchanan Fobes Leitch Kalzer and Waechter has acquired the 2112 3rd Avenue Building for its offices. The 1970-built, five-story building was renovated and turned into "office condos" in 2006. --- After 26 years in Belltown (many of them spent as a bartender/music booker at the Two Bells), alt-country troubador Earl Brooks (no relation to the Kevin Costner movie character) is splitting for Sacramento, CA. No word yet on any farewell performances by Brooks and his most recent band, Ghosts of Wyoming. --- The Virginia Inn reopened on April 7, after a remodeling that doubles the space and gives chef Harrison Ripley a real kitchen. Co-owner Jim Fotheringham says they tried hard to keep the place's old saloon feel, complete with tiled floor and dark woods. Meanwhile, the Kress IGA supermarket, originally scheduled to open in February on Third Avenue near Pike Street, is now set to open sometime in June. --- Concerned about illicit activities at Victor Steinbrueck Park? The Seattle Parks Department would like to hear from you. The city's planning major changes to make the park cleaner and safer. It's holding public hearings on May 1 and 22 and June 12. All meetings are set for 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Desimone Bridge, on Pike Place north of Stewart Street. For more info contact Susanne Friedman, 206-684-0902. --- The Seattle Art Museum will toast its 75th anniversary with a "Party in the Park" at Olympic Sculpture Park on May 16. New York composer Glenn Branca will conduct his "Symphony No. 13 (Hallucination City)," with a volunteer pick-up band of 80 guitarists and 20 bass players. Other entertainments, plus food and drinks, will be featured throughout the day. --- Norm Bobrow, a longtime local jazz and entertainment promoter and radio-TV personality, died April 14 at age 90. In 1955, he opened the Colony nightclub at Fourth and Virginia. There, he began a professional/personal relationship with vocalist Pat Suzuki. He promoted her career all the way to Broadway, where she starred in the original production of Flower Drum Song (singing "I Enjoy Being a Girl"). After Bobrow and Suzuki broke up, he returned to Seattle, appearing on various TV and radio stations. He even had a sports-reporting gig on KIXI (closing each commentary with a cheerful "Be a good sport!"). |
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