Bakery Reuse. What Would You Do? ( 4. May 2006, 08:12 by Derek Young) ~ Mmmm... the Wonder Bread
One of our regular readers was driving past the Hostess Bakery at 703 South Sprague the other day – “I slowed down to wonder what would be the best adaptive re-use of the building. First thought, of course, is condos… can’t we get a little more creative though? I would like to hear some new ideas…. got any?”
If you had your druthers, what would you do with the building?
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If I can picture how the building is situated- there’s a school nearby, houses to the back, possible drug dealers across the street and a terrific view of… Sprague Avenue :|
2 | Posted by morgan | May 4, 09:29 PM
It is in between 2 of most changing neighborhoods in Tacoma.. Hilltop and Central Tacoma (just south of 6th Ave.) I would never rule out condos. They converted apartments on 90th and Pacific Ave into condos.. They sold.
Gentrification: learn it, love it , live it.
If the city would just do something with Sprague.. It is just ugly. Some major beautification would work.. I have alway thought Sprague could become a nice Gateway street with some of the large old houses on the north part…
4 | Posted by Jake | May 4, 11:01 PM
Anything but more freakin’ condos. Let’s get a nice cafe or bar/grill/theatre or something going on. Or why not something for the youth – an all ages dance club or arcade.
5 | Posted by KevinFreitas | May 5, 09:55 AM
I agree- what’s up with Sprague?! Does it have to be SO ugly? If they can put a planter meridian down 26th Street near Proctor- why not do something at least to soften the edges of Sprague?
For the bakery: I like the idea of a bar/grill/theatre/dance hall/arcade… kind of like a McMenamins. I just wonder if there is a large enough population in Tacoma that would “get” McMenamins to keep a place like that in business. Tacoma seems to have a propensity for flash in the plan projects and not for things which are sustainable… not to be negative.
6 | Posted by morgan | May 5, 12:35 PM
What, you don’t think storage facilities, auto body shops, towing companies, and houses converted to nail salons make for a nice gateway along Sprague?
I’d love to see it fixed up a bit, but I’m somewhat at a loss for what they could do without kicking businesses out. Maybe the planter median a la North 26th would be a nice touch…green stuff and a bit of actual shade go a long way…
Brainstorm, anyone?
The trick woul dbe to make it more appealing for a different kind of business. I think the area would do great as an artist/graphic design group. See what could be done to attract an architect, a couple of design companies, (maybe a design school) a commercial printer into one of the more industrial buildings. Maybe even a web design group where individuals could lease an office with shared resources. These groups are all pretty trendy folks and would attract food and shops a notch or two better than Press-On-Nails R Us.
Just a thought.
8 | Posted by Davest | May 5, 02:35 PM
...not that there’s anything wrong with Press-On-Nails R Us type places :|
9 | Posted by morgan | May 7, 08:45 PM
I like the idea of “creative companies” – architects, designers, printers – but where are they? Tacoma has some – but they are so… uninvolved, save for a few.
My recent experience leads me to believe that Seattle and Portland have sucked all the creative agencies away leaving a giant void. Not to say that Tacoma doesn’t have some creative companies, but I can count them all on one hand.
Why is this?
My theory is that there are not enough small, independent LOCAL companies to use the services of the types of creative companies we would all like to see. Or at least I would like to see.
I firmly believe that 99% of Tacoma’s residences don’t even think about issues like this, let alone take the extra effort required to support local businesses.
Yesterday, I walked a mile and a half out of my way because I wanted a decent latte and I wanted to support a local business. Thank god for Black Water Espresso!
First of all, it’s sad that I would have to go that far for decent espresso, but sadder still was that the place was half empty.
10 | Posted by morgan | May 7, 09:02 PM
Yesterday, I walked a mile and a half out of my way because I wanted a decent latte and I wanted to support a local business. Thank god for Black Water Espresso!
First of all, it’s sad that I would have to go that far for decent espresso, but sadder still was that the place was half empty.
Yeah, that place is cool. Hopefully will become more popular as people move downtown.
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