by Kirby Lindsay, posted 7 October 2011
For over 80 years, the I.O.O.F. Building has occupied an enviable front row seat to the goings-on in Fremont. Also called the Oddfellows Hall, the triangular structure stands on the north side of the intersection of Fremont Place North, Fremont Avenue North and North 35th Street, and has housed several iconic businesses.
“I think it is significant that a wooden building stood there first,” Mike Peck, the building’s owner, recently stated. The fraternal organization of the Oddfellows first built a wood-frame meeting hall, Peck pointed out, perhaps as early as 1891. They replaced it with the current three-story brick structure, dedicated on June 1, 1927.
Historical Research
Information, researched and compiled by Carol Tobin, can be found in the ‘Historical Survey and Planning Study of Fremont’s Commercial Area,’ published in 1991. A copy of this survey can be found on the Fremont shelf of the Seattle Public Library Fremont Branch.
The brick-clad structure, with its cast-stone decorations, matches others of the similar era in the central business district of Fremont, including two across Fremont Place – also owned by Peck. Storefronts along the Fremont Place face of the building have concrete, fir sash, and copper trim. In her survey Tobin mentions that the central retail space, at the tip of the triangle, has been occupied since the 1930s by Auditorium Cleaners.
She also mentions the ‘small stage’ – the auditorium – on the second floor of the building, originally used for meetings by Oddfellows Fremont Lodge #76. In 1991, the Fremont Palace occupied the space for what would be a brief run.
Storefront Survey
Since 1991, the history of the building has reflected Fremont. For instance, Auditorium Cleaners closed shortly after the survey, and by 1993 the Marvin Oliver Gallery occupied the space. Peck preserved the local landmark ‘Auditorium Cleaners’ sign, now located on the back of the building, although he dismissed it as, “just alley decoration.”
The Marvin Oliver Gallery moved out in 1999, and a clothing boutique, Bliss, came in. Next door a vintage clothing store, Private Screening, operated until 2010, then Bellefleur, a lingerie boutique, moved in. Two doors down Fremont Jewelry Design has lent a touch of class to Fremont.
From Modest Efforts
Tucked in at the far end of the string of storefronts sits the tiny, but legendary e.t.g., sometimes called ‘Espresso To Go’, the first coffee shop in Fremont. Originally opened by Mark Madson in 1982, Lorilynn Mason came on as a partner in 1983 and took over full ownership when Madson succumbed to a fatal illness.
Mid-way along the block, for a brief time, was Lupe’s Uruapan Mexican Restaurant. In the fall of 1993, Mason leased the space for her iconic breakfast place, The Longshoreman’s Daughter (or LSD.) When she turned her attention to her family, she sold the restaurant, in 2005, to Nandita & Nayak Polissar. They wanted a new location – after19-years in the University District – for their established Silence-Heart-Nest restaurant. Yet, they honored the tradition built by Mason, learned Longshoreman’s most popular recipes, and continue to serve them today.
The Empty Space, and a Fallen Façade
While the name ‘The I.O.O.F. Building’ will probably endure longer, many locals still refer to this building as ‘the Old Empty Space’. The Empty Space Theatre relocated here in 1993 after occupying spaces on Capitol Hill and Pioneer Square. “They bounced around several locations,” Peck observed, before settling here. “It was good for the area,” Peck recalled of their time here, “and good for them.”
Early morning in May 2001, a portion of the building’s brick façade, on the Fremont Place side, collapsed with enough weight to take down a large portion of the substantial awning. A quirk of fate had the sidewalk vacant at the moment of impact, and while the property damage costs were incalculable, by luck no injuries or deaths occurred.
“It wasn’t caused by the earthquake,” Peck stated firmly. The Nisqually Earthquake in February 2001 has often been cited as cause of the collapse, but Peck clarified that the building simply failed. Mortar between the bricks failed, metal rods that shored up sections rusted out and, behind it all, “the mortar failed on the cinder block walls,” he explained. Repairs removed the original cinder block, replaced them and then replaced – with consideration of historical accuracy – the brick work.
The repairs took time, and caused serious disruption of business for everyone but only the Empty Space had to relocate. The shuffle stressed the Theatre’s limited resources, to be followed by other financial difficulties. Finally, the Theatre moved, in December 2005, onto the Seattle University campus.
“They’d like to have had no rent,” Peck observed of their removal from Fremont, “but that’s not the way the world works.” The loss of the theater from the center of the Center of the Universe hurt, but didn’t devastate the area as many feared it would. Since their departure, Peck has leased out the office space although the actual auditorium – without the stage and seating the Empty Space had installed – remains available for lease.
Maintaining Our History
“I look at myself as a shepherd of these properties,” Peck explained of his ownership of the Oddfellows building, and other commercial structures here, “and maintaining them for the next owners.” He tries to keep them up, and preserve the original aspects as much as he can while accommodating modern tenants. “Fremont’s about 100 years old,” he said, “and these buildings reflect that history.”
Next time you shop, or simply stroll, the sidewalks or alley that line the triangular Oddfellows building, check the cornerstone mid-block on Fremont Avenue at the alley entrance and consider the dates: 1891 and 1927. The fraternal order that engraved that cornerstone looked hopefully toward a future that no longer exists, yet their efforts still benefit many, many people 84 years later and, it can be expected, will continue to do so for many years into the future.
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©2011 Kirby Lindsay. This column is protected by intellectual property laws, including U.S. copyright laws. Reproduction, adaptation or distribution without permission is prohibited.