We live within a mile or so walking distance of Garland District, a quaint little 1930’s strip of shops, a movie theater which shows movies that are already on DVD, but on the big screen, a little live theater, clock repair, fish store, vet, second hand stores (several), guitar repair, several taverns and two notable restaurants, next to each other, Fergusons, an authentic 1940’s soda fountain which used to have the best walnut/blueberry pancakes this side of heaven (but sold to another owner and has slipped a little) and The Milk Bottle, a kitschy little place with great malts: both the latter have been sets in movies such as Benny and Joon (Johnny Depp), and several others.
Never have eaten at The Milk Bottle. Almost did, Jane and I, and opted for the pancake place due to the early hour. Well, fate stepped in. That night, Fergusons and The Milk Bottle burned. They’re the hub of the Garland District, two big draws—I mean, people will drive clear across Spokane for breakfast there.
It’s a huge shock to the city. Cyrus o’Leary’s pies shut down for good yesterday, too. I mean, bummer!
The news coverage:
http://www.krem.com/home/Massive-flames-at-Garland-Districts-Milk-Bottle-and-Fergusons-Cafe-130544208.html
What a loss. Places like this are such treasures and are too few and far between in these days of “Big-Box Mart.” Sounds like the sort of place I would love to see. Good to know they’ll rebuild, but such a shame they will no longer be the original buildings as they were. You have my sympathy on the loss of your sources for pancakes/pies/malts, all in one day. I mean, what are the odds?!
So sad. At least they intend to rebuild. Won’t be the same, though. I hate it that the big franchises and chains undercut and squeeze out the small businesses. Those “mom and pop” businesses give character and heart to a town.
It’s always so sad when loved landmarks are destroyed. I hope the rebuild will will fit into the local architecture. Perhaps you could think of it as ‘Grandad’s Axe” which has had five replaced handles and one new head. 😉
I like the Grandad’s Axe analogy. It’s like fencing foils—you replace blades, but the hilt stays the same.
These places are on the National and State Register of Historic Places, so they hopefully will not run into local code tangles like parking requirements (they have none, but use the huge lot of the second hand store across the street, and street parking in this district is free)—The Milk Bottle is now saying 2 months, for them. But Fergusons is going to be a total rebuild, apparently. They can track down some movie posters; but that original soda fountain equipment is going to be a major loss unless the fire missed it.
oh gosh, how horrible …
btw there’s a rumour that Mr Depp is buying a house on the coast here, about 20 miles from me … we’ll see …
He’s one actor I really respect: he does projects that interest him, including little indie films most will never see, because the art and the character is what drives him. No inspiration, no go, no matter the budget. And I like that. I think he had an enormous amount of fun being Jack Sparrow. And he does crazy very, very well. 😉
Tough times indeed. Brackley high street has had boards on several shops for a while now. There was a joke doing the rounds during the recent riots that the reason we didn’t have any was that there were no shops worth looting. Gallows humour :-/
Truth is we had no riots because we weren’t a large city. City folk do those kind of things sometimes. Weirdos :-/
We’ve never had a very good high street. It seemed to be mostly estate agents (real estate that is). Since the slump most of them have gone and that’s where most of the boards are. It’s a shame since it’s fairly historic(*) but it just doesn’t suit modern tastes and most people go elsewhere.
(*)Brackley was where the Magna Cartna was going to be signed originally.
“Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”
I’ve been to this place, the Rock Creek Tavern (q.v. http://www.mcmenamins.com/243-rock-creek-tavern-home) both before and after it burned and was rebuilt. If one didn’t know, one wouldn’t know. True, there was no antique soda fountain hardware. But the McMenamen brothers have this commitment to nostalgia. (Their Cornelius Pass Roadhouse, actually an old farmhouse, wavy glass and all, was decorated inside with old Fillmore West psychedelic posters.)
p.s. if you visit, I can recommend “Terminator”.
Little places with history are so fun to visit. It’s one reason I prefer to drive: being able to stop and having lunch someplace I’ve never been adds texture to maps, and to life.
Our local Friends of the Library group has a huge warehouse, but it’s out in the boonies and a problem to find. They’ll be opening up a storefront, but it’s in a town more than 20 miles away; meanwhile, with Borders’ closure, the more populous side of the island has no bookstores at all. We have a number of closed storefronts in the area. I wonder if I can advocate for the FOL and get them a small storefront in one of the less desirable areas, on a cheap very longterm lease.
Oh, no, not the Milk Bottle! I was born in Spokane — a few decades ago! — and lived there until I was six; I remember going to the Milk Bottle with my parents when I was four or five. The shape is so distinctive it impressed even a small child. Yes, I hope they can repair it and continue in business. Too many such landmarks vanish, landmarks that give the city its character.
@CJ: Did you ever go to Steves Sundries in Tulsa? Books, the Racing Form, Sundries, and that wonderful old soda fountain in the back that serves the absolute best grilled cheese sandwiches (with chips, of course).
It sounds like losing the Milk Bottle would be the same as us losing Steve’s.
Your National and State Register of Historic Places sounds like our system of ‘Listed Buildings’. Do owners get much in the way of assistance to help with upkeep? I love the idea of having such registers but from what I’ve heard you get very little in the way of grants over here. Living in a grade I 14th century farmhouse sounds like fun until you have to replace the windows and discover that they have to be lead light with an oak frame.
I remember one TV programme where the new owners were renovating a three story Edwardian country house and were told they had to replace all the failing plastic guttering with cast iron. They were lucky though – the council eventually relented because they were able to ‘blame’ the prior owner.
http://www.heritage.co.uk/apavilions/glstb.html
“5.1 If a local authority consider that a listed building is not being properly preserved they may serve on the owner a ‘repairs notice'”
and
” 6.1 Grants are available in certain circumstances both from the HBMC and from local authorities. They are always at the discretion of the body giving them: listing does not give any automatic entitlement to a grant.”
Protecting our heritage is important – but no way will I ever buy a listed property :-/
andruec writes:
Your National and State Register of Historic Places sounds like our system of ‘Listed Buildings’. Do owners get much in the way of assistance to help with upkeep?
Far from it. Having your building listed in San Francisco means you will be subjected to endless, costly hassles if you want to do so much as change paint color and it is much the same throughout the country. No assistance at all.
Phil Brown
Sounds like the same deal then. Like nursing and education perhaps. The government assumes that if you got into it it’s for love so you’ll put up with more of a raw deal than most people :-/
The only thing you DO have is that the city can’t come in and impose a code restriction that violates the character of the building. In this instance, the city has parking requirements for restaurants, but these two would likely be protected (they have no parking except the street) by their historic status.