News Clips— Charlie’s ousted
Published 7:00 am Monday, October 9, 2006
AS PORT OF SEATTLE commissioners this week prepared to vote on a divisive plan for adding yacht moorage at the workingman’s Fishermen’s Terminal, the Port was also quietly showing the door to a popular blue-collar bar and eatery at Shilshole Marina.
“Charlie’s is not just another restaurant,” says Carmen Guttormsen, a bartender and assistant manager for 10 years at Charlie’s at Shilshole, a fixture on the bay for 35 years (in a building coincidently designed by Guttormsen’s architect grandfather 40 years back). “It’s like a community here, like a family.”
Charlie’s and its Little Pebble Bar, which were given an earlier lease extension, now face closure by Dec. 31, victims of a planned $40 million-plus marina upgrade and expansion. The Port will build a matching restaurant-and-shops structure nearby, then tear down the building that now houses Charlie’s.
The owner wants to remain in operation during construction, Guttormsen says, then move into the new structure. But the Port has so far nixed that as part of an expansion plan that may include leasing part of the prime 14-acre public waterfront to private developers. The overall redevelopment of the 1,400-slip marina is expected to take seven to 10 years.
Port officials have indicated they want a destination restaurant and smaller take-out cafe in the new structure. Port spokesperson Mick Shultz says the Port “would like to keep the restaurant operating” for now and is willing to make some lease concessions.
But, as for the future, “One item the Port is not prepared to negotiate on is a guarantee of first rights to operate a restaurant in [the] new building,” Shultz says. “The Port is not offering that kind of guarantee to other tenants,” either.
Bottom line, says Guttormsen, is “We don’t want to leave, and they’re forcing us out.”
Rick Anderson
