Belltown’s getting a retail liquor store again, years after the State Liquor Control Board turned its Sixth and Blanchard location into a “Class A” outlet (for restaurants/bars only). The new store, on the northeast corner of Second and Bell, is set to open on Saturday, July 4, just in time to fulfill your home-party needs.
(Remember: There are no fireworks at Myrtle Edwards Park this year, only at Gas Works.)
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There’s a residential project in Belltown that’s still on (at least in the design phase)! The Schuster Group wants to put up a 13-story building at Elliott Avenue and Cedar Street. It would include 120 homes, 2,000 square feet of street-level retail, and 122 underground parking spaces. LMN Architects has submitted a design proposal to the City with images of a boxy white building that would fill the remaining quarter of the block already containing the Bellora and Klee condominiums.

The Seattle Condo Blog reports Schuster wants design approval now, so they’ll be ready to build when market conditions improve. Schuster acquired the land last year.
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The Downtown Needle Exchange, a Seattle-King County Public Health service to reduce  infectious diseases among drug users, has moved from Second near Pike into the Downtown Pubilc Health Center at Fourth and Blanchard.
The new facility is named the Robert Clewis Center, after a former Needle Exchange employee and community organizer. It’s open 1-5 p.m. weekdays, 2-4 p.m. Saturdays.
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Last autumn, an oddly sagging miniature Space Needle appeared at the empty lot where the Speakeasy Cafe had been. In late June, the weather-beaten artwork got moved indoors to Bedlam Coffee, kitty-corner from its previous site. Bedlam’s owners say they’re not claiming possession of the local landmark; they’re merely keeping it safe until the community chooses a more permanent spot for it.

As mentioned in the Messenger’s Belltown Life supplement, local artist Andie DeRoux claims she’d made the “zoetrope sculpture” circa 1994/95, commissioned by the owner of Belltown’s old Downunder nightclub. DeRoux says she didn’t install it at the ex-Speakeasy site and doesn’t know who did.
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Art Beat: The next group show at Halogen, 2316 2nd Ave., is “The Good,” opening 6-10 p.m. Friday, July 10. It’s part of a three-gallery show themed “The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly.” The other two segments are at Bhred Studios (8537 Greenwood Ave. N.) and Twilight Artist Collective (4306 SW Alaska St.).
Roq La Rue (2312 2nd Ave.) presents new works by Nicoletta Ceccoli and Eric Fortune, opening Friday, July 24.
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Seattle Center celebrates Bastille Day on Sunday, July 12 with cooking demonstrations, wine tastings, games, and music at Center House, Fisher Pavilion, and Fisher Green. Guests include watercolorist Sophie Blouet and Mali-based musician Adama Yalomba.
A more domestic patriotic flavor occurs at the Center on July 4, with its 25th annual naturalization ceremony honoring new U.S. citizens. U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott will present a “Spirit of Liberty Award” to Brazilian-born singer-guitarist Eduardo Mendonça.
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“Foodportunity,” a networking event for Seattle “food professionals,” occurs July 22, 6-9 p.m., at the Palace Ballroom, 2100 5th Ave. The Messenger’s own Ronald Holden will appear in a panel discussion on “Reaching Consumers Through New Media.” The $25 admission includes two glasses of wine and sample snacks from local food companies. More info: foodportunity.com.
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The Low Income Housing Institute hasn’t yet revived its dormant plan to redevelop its headquartes site on First Avenue, which would have included a City-funded community center. But LIHI has completed a 50-unit senior housing project in South Lake Union.

The Bart Harvey, 430 Minor Ave. N., opens with a public ceremony Thursday, July 8, 3:30-5 p.m. It’s named for the retired head of Enterprise Community Investment, which has co-financed many of LIHI’s projects. It includes a “green, vegetated rooftop” covered with lightweight soil, where residents can plant flowers and vegetable gardens.
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At press time, the City Council was still debating the Bell Street “Boulevard Park” project, which would put lawns, landscaping, and other amenities on Bell between First and Fifth Avenues. One lane of traffic and one lane of parallel parking would be preserved.

In good “Seattle process” tradition, the proposal’s generated plenty of comment pro and con. Former Belltown businessman Eugene Wasserman, in a letter to the Ballard News-Tribune, panned the scheme as an unneeded expense in this economy, adding, “It is my belief that the Park Boulevard will only increase crime on Bell Street, not reduce it.”

In contrast, “Jesse” at Belltownpeople.neighborlogs.com says any such plaza “has to have amenities to entice people to hang out rather than just walk through. The city has already comitted to this.… I have hopes that the community organizers will be able to guide the city’s good intentions.”