First on My Ballard: At 7 a.m. sharp and without any advance warning, a bulldozer went to work on the Ballard Denny’s, just days after the city issued Benaroya Companies a permit to demolish the landmark.
We arrived at 7:30 a.m., and crews had already taken down the sloped roof — the most distinguishing feature of the old Manning’s Cafeteria building at the corner of Market St. and 15th Ave.
A worker sprayed water on the building while the bulldozer methodically tore down the building, piece by piece. Construction workers walked around the perimeter of the fence to ensure nobody tried to get too close to the action.
TV photographers began to appear along with the occasional onlooker, but it was far from the media circus that Benaroya’s PR company sought to avoid. Commuters on their way to work were surprised by the rubble heap, and we heard a horn honk every few minutes.
The demolition went surprisingly fast, and by 8:15 p.m., all but a final section of the building remained. All that’s left is the clean-up work.
Our thanks to Nina and Silver who both emailed us with the news this morning. We quickly sent out a Ballard news alert (you can sign up here) and raced to the scene. Click here to watch video.
Last month: City board votes to allow demolition of Denny’s landmark
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