Pike Place Market

RENOVATION NEWS & UPDATES

September 2010

Phase II Construction Areas Expand into Buildings

In July, the large scaffold built in front of Jack’s Fish Spot and the Sanitary Market made Phase II of the renovation obvious to anyone who came into the Market.  The scaffold was put to use immediately for material delivery and demolition of Sanitary Market roof deck. By Labor Day, it became the key access route for demolition leading to the construction of the Corner Market elevator and replacement of the Corner Market roof. 

Also on September 1st, renovation crews moved into areas of the buildings that were vacated by tenants. Among the first affected were some craft storage lockers and Mr. D in the basement of the Triangle Building, all storage tenants of the Sanitary Market, and the two rummage halls.  

The rummage halls have been relocated to the Market Heritage Center on Western Avenue and a second location has been proposed for the 3rd Level Downunder. Both locations are temporary. The space formerly occupied by Rummage Hall 2 and Pike Place Chowder’s kitchen will be demolished and the floor dug out for new electrical transformers to serve the Pine, Sanitary, and Corner Market buildings.

The PDA has relocated the prep kitchen for Pike Place Chowder to another spot inside the First and Pine Building.  Dog Alley, the former occupant of the space, will move to the 4th level DownUnder, into a space generally known as “the Old Bead Zone,”  but found by going underneath Cibola’s balcony.

The tenant restrooms on the Pike Place level of the Pine, Sanitary and Corner Market are affected by construction as well.  The womens rooms in Pine and Corner are closed, the mens converted to uni-sex, and both facilities closed in the Sanitary Market.  The new public restrooms in the Sanitary are schedule to open in late December.

Market Diner loses a large portion of its seating area in the Sanitary Market as a section of its floor is cut out to be an access hatch to the basement. Construction materials—including earth drills, concrete forms, and demolition equipmen—will be lowered into the hole before the building opens for business each day. 

House of Woks will be completely moved out of the Corner Market building to make room for the work required for new foundations and excavation of the pit for the new building elevator. On upper floors, this work will require changes in the Pike Place Bar and Grill and Chez Shea restaurants. Construction barriers will be built around these work areas so surrounding businesses can continue to function.

Other Business Relocations in the Works

One of the largest challenges in renovation is finding room for business relocations—especially key Market businesses who have been in operation for many years. Since the scope of renovation work requires many businesses to close for several months, we have scheduled this to occur during the traditionally slow times of winter, following the holiday shopping season. Still, many businesses have regular year-round customers and want to keep employees around.  The PDA’s commercial management staff and the renovation project managers have met with every affected business and tried to identify possible sites for relocations. In the end, we hope to find short term spots for almost a dozen shops. Others will have to close their doors.

Current relocation plans include Ageless Accupuncture (already in the DownUnder) and Three Girls Bakery (proposed to move to the Economy Atrium in the former World Class Chili spot. A more ambitious proposal, yet to be approved by the Market Historical Commission, is to create a street market using modified freight containers as temporary structures on the west side of Pike Place. The containers will have rollup garage doors facing the street. We hope to provide enough space for three produce vendors ( Corner Produce, Quality Produce and Choice Produce), the Market Creamery, Pike Place Cheese, El Mercado Latino and others (or temporary coolers.)  Mr. D is looking at the possible set up of a temporary street cart in Post Alley.  We are also looking for a short term winter venue suitable for the Can Can Cabaret.

Pike Place Trenching Starts in September

Starting in early September and continuing for three weeks, we’ll excavate a trench across Pike Place, starting behind Peppardelle’s in the Main Arcade and going across to the Triangle and Sanitary Buildings. The trench will be used for new central utility lines. The street will remain open  but it will be very noisy (part of the work is done by giant vacuum trucks) and there will be limited parking due to construction.

Street Traffic to be Limited Next Year

With the amount of street area used for construction, scaffolding, and temporary shop spaces, there will be no room for street parking on the first block of Pike Place to Pine Street for several months of 2011.  Access to the street will be restricted to deliveries only and private cars, looking for parking, will be redirected to Western Avenue by other streets.

Phase I Pick-Up Items

Floor work and cooler equipment replacement is scheduled for the three fish market on the west side of Pike Place. City Fish will be closed for work this Ocrober, Pike Place Fish in January 2011, and Pure Food Fish in February 2011. Work on the last two business areas will have some impact on access to surrounding tenants and may require short term business closures. We are working with Turner Construction to plan detour routes for each of these projects. 

Leland Roof Repairs

A late addition to the Phase I renovations included the replacement of the roofing and roof deck for the Leland Apartments. During demolition we found more wood rotted behind stucco walls and added the repair of the walls to the schedule. These repairs were expected to be completed by Labor Day. 

Large cranes returned to the Market several days in August to lift materials to the roof of the Leland and Fairley buildings.

Sanitary Roof Repairs

The first serious stage of work on Phase II of the Renovation also included a residential roof deck—this one in the Sanitary Market. In early July, wall and stucco repairs started but by the end of the month, demolition of the cracked concrete deck had taken over. As many as nine jack hammers were brought in to work at one time as we discovered the expected wood rot had spread to structural beams and layers of wood decking were little more than mulch. Large sections of the ceiling in Metsker Maps were completely removed to show blue sky and repairs were accelerated in the face of approaching wet weather at the beginning of August. Turner Construction was fortunate to find an old growth heavy timber to replace a 20 foot section that had rotted out. By August 7th, the jackhammers were gone and the first layer of waterproofing was put in place. Replacement of the deck surface continues through September.

New Cooling System

The new water based (hydronic) cooling systems installed in the Market during Phase 1 renovation have been operating up to expectations. We have been able to keep the interiors of the buildings in a comfort zone for shoppers even during the few days of hot weather. Cooling equipment for a dozen business will be connected to the heat exchange loop, transferring heat from walk- in coolers, ice machines, and display cases to the heating loops used for warming water in other locations of the Market. We will be approaching several commercial business tenants with proposals to add better air conditioning and heating for their shops.

Phase III Planning

Sometime in September, we will have design development plans for Phase III renovation work in the Economy Market and Soames Dunn Building. We’ll brief the Histororical Commission and post the illustrations on our website after they are available. The Economy work includes a new elevator, new entrance off First Avenue, and an additional floor, while the Soames Dunn will receive new public restrooms and changes to the central space to make more room for shops and customers. This work is expected to begin in about a year.

In the meantime, we’ll build a scaffold inside the Economy Atrium this month to serve as pedstrian protection while we’re working on the skylights and roof. We’re getting these features in good shape before the renovation of this building next year.

Hillclimb Grand Opening

The Pike Place Market celebrated its 103rd Anniversary on the new Pike Street Hillclimb plazas below the large Public Market Center sign and clock. The new terraces and outside stairway have proven to be a great success with pedestrians this summer.  And, will include (by the end of Septmber) three new landmarks—a light pole (a replica of the historic light fixture first installed above the public restooms in 1908),  Willie the Pig (a cousin to Rachel, who will sit at the foot of the Hillclimb stairs at Western in front of the newly tiles elevator lobby), and the “light walkers” (seven figures posed on walls and fences around the Hillclimb; artwork by Dan Webb).

The PDA continues to seek new ideas for energizing the Hillclimb’s new terraces. We have offered spots for buskers and are discussing different kinds of short term events that could make use of the lower terrace.

Renovation Public Meeting September 20 in PDA Conference Room

Please join us for our next public meeting about the renovation on Monday, September 20, beginning at 6:00 p.m. in the PDA Conference Room. We’ll give updates on Phase II renovation work and answer your questions. See you then.

Drop-In Meetings Continue First and Third Thursdays

We are continuing to offer drop-in meetings twice monthly with John Turnbull, Director of Asset Management and Development. Meetings are informal and will be the first and third Thursdays of the month: 5:00 - 6:00 p.m. on the first Thursday; 9:30 - 10:30 a.m. on the third Thursday at the PDA office.

Need more info? Call the PDA office if you have questions or need more information. 206.682.7453

Read previous editions of Renovation News:

2010: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September
2009: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December