Where new meets old in downtown Issaquah
21.12.2006 - One chill morning, as mist spiraled up from mountain valleys, I visited a place the native Salish people called "Sound of Water Birds. " Their word for...
One chill morning, as mist spiraled up from mountain valleys, I visited a place the native Salish people called "Sound of Water Birds." Their word for it was Ishquoh, pronounced Ish-kwa, now morphed into Issaquah. Sixteen miles east of Seattle, this city was built on the Cascades' cusp, but today is surrounded both by mountains and explosive development. Thankfully, the townsfolk had foresight and saved many early 19th-century buildings — concentrated in an old town where I strolled — including the train depot and town hall, now museums, and along Front Street. Coffee and a cookie brought me first into the Cool Beans Espresso shop, housed in a fine old pioneer building and the former home of an Issaquah icon — the Village Theatre, which moved nearby to 303 Front St. N. Still owned by that group, the downstairs section is leased by Rick Ness for his cowboy-themed cafй, filled with cowboy boots, spurs and Western memorabilia. "I'm originally from Montana," Ness explained. "I can't help it." It's cozy in there, a good place to perch and watch the near constant traffic out on Front Street. Ness' sweet-faced black Lab, Fanny, padded about, eventually curling up on the floor to gaze at my cookie with that sad if hopeful look that dogs have. In the back, I saw a staircase that Ness said leads to the theater upstairs. Once used as a silent-film movie house, it's now the venue for First Stage, which produces original musicals as well as a youth theater program. A few blocks north, there's a work in progress. Two bright yellow 1940s-era Shell gasoline pumps sit in front of the former station now being restored into a community gift shop that will sell locally produced items. Downtown boosters have been working on this project for several years and hope to open the doors in February.
Old Issaquah Parts of downtown Issaquah were without electricity after last week's windstorm. Call before you go. The Issaquah Historical Society operates two museums: 1.(see map above left)Issaquah Depot Museum, 50 Rainier Blvd. N. 2.Gilman Town Hall Museum, 165 S.E. Andrews St. The depot offers "history hikes" to a local mining site. The next one is Jan. 27. Hikers meet at the depot at 10 a.m. for a 2-Ѕ-hour walk, about two miles over easy terrain. $3 members, $6 nonmembers. Registration is required and hikers must sign a release form. 425-392-3500 or info@issaquahhistory.org. Winter hours for both museums: 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Closed Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday, as well as Christmas and New Year's Day. Admission: $2 for adults, $1 for children. 425-392-3500 or http://issaquahhistory.org. 3.Cool Beans Espresso. Open 5 a.m.-4 p.m. Mondays-Fridays; 7 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturdays. Closed Sundays. 120 Front St. N.; 425-313-1942 . 4.Vino Bella. Open 11:30 a.m.-11:30 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays; 11:30 a.m.- 1:30 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays. 99 Front St. N. 425-391-1424 or www.vinobella.com. More information Walking-tour brochures covering 20 sites in Issaquah's historic downtown available at Issaquah Visitors Center, Gilman Town Hall Museum and the Issaquah Depot Museum. Issaquah Visitors Center (Chamber of Commerce), open Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; weekends 10 a.m.-3 p.m.; 155 N.W. Gilman Boulevard, Issaquah. 425-392-7024 or www.issaquahchamber.com. Heading east from Front Street, I followed the railroad tracks to the Issaquah Depot Museum. Beautifully restored, it features exhibits from the town's mining and timber past, in which trains played a major role. "We try to find things that draw people in and give them a taste of the history here," said Erica Maniez, museum director. Interesting to me were numerous black potbelly stoves that kept trains warm as they chugged over mountain passes. Outside, there's a caboose to explore and a kitchen car with a working scale model of the railroad when it ran between Woodinville, Redmond and Issaquah. A big red button makes the model train go. For a more active brush with history, the museum offers "history hikes." Led by volunteer Steve Grate, visitors hear a brief presentation at the depot before hiking to a mining site in the hills above Issaquah. (The next one is in January. See the "If you go" section for details.) The other museum, in the Gilman Town Hall, focuses on human history. Being one who enjoys the interactive stuff meant for kids, I liked pushing down on the "charger" of a dynamite blaster (followed by an audio recording of the explosion). Fascinating was the taped voice of a Salish woman speaking her native language, then offering a translation in English. I could pick out the musicality of the town's name — Ishquoh — "Ish-kwa." Out back is the pioneer town jail, the second one. The first no longer exists. Made of wood, it was destroyed — so the story goes — when some "inebriated" loggers stomped their way out with hobnail boots. The replacement is cement. Graffiti on the door includes one from the 1920s written with surprisingly elegant penmanship. Not everything is old in this neighborhood, and one of the newest kids on Front Street is Claude Blumenzweig, who, with his wife, Michelle, recently opened a tapas and wine establishment, Vino Bella. Coming in from the cold, I gravitated to the back where an electric fire glowed, surrounded by cushy leather chairs. In an intimate setting, one side of the long rectangular room shows the original exposed brick and on the other wall, racks and racks of fine wine. The tapas menu features small dishes including what I wolfed down — the hot parmesan artichoke dip. For wine connoisseurs, and those who think they are, Claude Blumenzweig offers a free taste before purchasing, one of many pleasant things about Vino Bella. The attitude is helpful without being obsequious. He even hands out reading glasses for those of us who can't quite make out some of the smaller-font wine descriptions. While it was quiet when I was there, late morning on a Saturday, the place is reportedly hopping in the evenings, especially Friday and Saturday when there's live jazz. "It's all local talent," Blumenzweig said. "In fact, the art on the walls is local. We used a local builder. We want to support the community." And the community seems to be reciprocating. He gets a kick out of it when cast members from the nearby Village Theatre wander in to unwind after a performance. Outside on Front Street, the traffic had not let up. The sound of engines has clearly replaced the sound of water birds, and in the hills, a vast expanse of beige housing creeps like ivy. Even so, Issaquah clearly is trying to find balance before it's too late, said Michael Johnson, outgoing president of the downtown association. "We've worked very hard to preserve the buildings, the art and the history," he said. "We want to be known as a destination of heritage." Connie McDougall of Seattle, a regular contributor to Northwest Weekend, is a writer/editor for Seattle City Light. Contact her: conniemcdougall@yahoo.com.
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