Ballardblog.com

The end of an era came swiftly this morning.  After a protracted fight to save the Denny’s at Market and 15th Avenue NW, a permit issued yesterday allowed today’s demolition.  The crash of glass, concrete, metal and wood was completed in the morning hours.  A lone KOMO 4 news van lingered outside as I passed by on the bus at 2pm.  It was originally a Manning’s, but I remember it best as Denny’s.  One of the few places left to actually eat at 24 hours a day.

I moved here in 2005 from Denver, CO.  I quickly discovered that Ballard was a fun and quirky place to hang out, and I could find it right away on the bus by looking for the swooping lines of the Denny’s building.  When my parents visited, we ate there late at night after a long day of tourism fun, enjoying the delicious mushroom swiss burgers and cold sodas.  It was an easy way to describe directions to my house for visiting friends or even local friends who wondered what was close by.

I’ll miss this place.  Although I don’t have the long history of those who grew up in its scalloped shadows and late-night noshes, it was familiar and comfortable and definitely not cookie-cutter construction.  The memories will last long after the pile of twisted metal and ripped insulation is shoveled up and carted away.  Farewell, Ballard Denny’s.  R.I.P.

–photos by Megan Noel, www.megannoel.com