A Googie meet-up in Ballard

The landmark designation meeting for the controversial Ballard diner that was once a Manning's cafeteria and mostly recently a Denny's has been postponed from Feb. 6 to Feb. 20, at the request of the owner, Benaroya Properties, which is fine tuning its case against saving the building. In the meantime, pro-diner folks are hosting a community meeting in Ballard on Jan. 23. The two meetings will give the public plenty of chance to voice their concerns about the building's designation, pro and con. Public testimony will be heard at the Feb. 20th meeting, but written letters can also be submitted in advance. Details about the upcoming hearing and public input are available here [PDF]. The pro-diner meeting on Jan. 23 will cover the history and significance of the building and the landmark process. It will be held at the Ballard branch of the Seattle Public Library (5614 22nd Ave. N.W.) from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. For more information, the group's e-mail contact is: savemannings@yahoo.com. Docomomo-WeWA, a local group devoted to preserving modern architecture, has posted background on the endangered building. The diner controversy has become part of the general discussion about the changes in Ballard, particularly the loss of its blue-collar culture. In early January, the sale and closure of the much-loved Sunset Bowl was announced. The Stranger looks at what the closing of both institutions means for Ballard's "24-hour corner." According to Mike Lewis in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle is losing it's 24-hour eateries. Instead of Sleepless in Seattle, we're a city that likes to sleep – a lot. And those residents with insomnia? According to Robert Jamieson writing about the trials of the city's last remaining Denny's, a fair number of them are jackasses. Bill Virgin at the P-I has an interesting column on the difficulties of preserving neighborhood character when it involves commercial businesses. He suggests that the trend toward creating generic "Anywherevilles" is a national problem. He points out the irony that there is sympathy for a building that was once a Denny's, part of a national chain. He also reminds readers that Seattle has been the source of a number of chains that have brought that anywhere feel to everywhere (Nordstrom, Starbucks). The original tenant of the Ballard diner was the Manning's chain, founded in Seattle, which expanded to a series of eateries throughout the West. Interestingly, the building was preserved by Denny's after public outcry in the 1980s, and was built to reflect local cultural influences (Pacific Rim, Scandinavian, Native American) when it was constructed in 1964. This week's Ballard News-Tribune reports that the Denny's restaurant chain would love to re-open in Ballard if at all possible. A spokesman said they only vacated the Googie building because of the pending development and would love to move back in. Said the spokesman: "I can tell you with 100 percent assuredness we are ready to open back up tomorrow. We'd mobilize our troops ... we want to be (in Ballard)." None of this has anything to do with whether the building should be saved or not – it's about the structure, not the occupant. Whether today's Ballard still wants a Denny's – in an historic landmark or not – is another question entirely.