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Kirkland Preps | Results of local high school FRIDAY, JANUARY 21, 2011 athletics, Juanita and Lake Washington [17]
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Part 2: The fall of Totem Lake Malls BY MATT PHELPS AND CARRIE WOOD Kirkland Reporter
F
ormer Kirkland resident Matt Harding described the Totem Lake Malls as “some kind of gateway to the netherworld.” Harding became an internet sensation for dancing in different places all over the world, including 42 different countries, and posting the videos on YouTube. The lower mall was the “most depressing place I’ve ever been. I almost didn’t make it out,” he wrote in his Web site FAQ (www.wherethehellismatt.com). He visited the malls on his lunch break a few years ago. “My memory of it is cloudy and probably exaggerated,” said Harding, who now lives in Seattle. “I just remember it being empty and concrete. They were playing some old musac inside and it was bouncing off the walls and echoing. It was moribund.” Others in recent years have dubbed the malls as the “white elephant,” “albatross around the city’s neck” and the “sleeping giant.” The malls have also gained national notoriety for being one of the worst in America on several consumer Web sites, including www. thesledgehammer. com and www.deadmalls.com. Many locals say there’s been an apparent lack of attention given to the languishing Totem Lake Malls
Next week In part three of the five part series, the Reporter will profile the Malls’ ownership and the lawsuit between them.
Mother’s fight | Non-profit funds research to find cure, treatment for son’s degenerative disease [3]
Kirkland could lose sales tax credit for annexation BY MATT PHELPS mphelps@kirklandreporter.com
The state’s budget woes have had far reaching effects for everything from the state ferry system to health insurance. But the effects may also hit Kirkland and the annexation
of the Kingsgate, Finn Hill and Juanita neighborhoods. The city is preparing for the possibility of receiving less or none of the promised state sales tax credit that will help pay for
the transition. The potential impacts range from diminished services to the city, to deferring the annexation date. However, city officials feel it is highly unlikely. “It would be worse if
we did not prepare for the possibility,” said Kirkland Mayor Joan McBride. “There is no indication that the funds are in danger.” The issue was a point of concern at the Kirkland City Council meeting [ more TAX CREDIT page 5 ]
- even in the fine details. On the malls’ own Web site, the headline is titled: Totem Lakes Mall. This week the Reporter will look at what led to the demise of the once-bustling economic engine of Kirkland during the second part of the five-part series on one of the most important pieces of real estate in the city.
One big bankruptcy Seventy stores populated Totem Lake Malls when they opened in 1973-74. The malls grew during the rest of the decade and on into the early 1980s to more than 80 stores. Currently, there are just 27 businesses in the same area. What led to such a drastic change? One of the biggest contributing factors to the malls’ downfall occurred in 1996 when the Pay N’ Save Corp. went bankrupt. The bankruptcy triggered the loss of Ernst, Pay N’ Save and eventually Lamont’s. “It was a happening mall when we had Ernst and Lamont’s and rarely a vacancy,” said John Fleshman, who owns Denny’s Pet World in the upper mall. “When it (the mall) was owned locally, those were the best years without [ more DECLINE page 20 ]
Above, Sen. Andy Hill, shown here campaigning at the Derby Days Festival, was sworn in on Monday as the new 45th District State Senator, nearly two years after being diagnosed with lung cancer. The cancer is no longer detected in his body, thanks to a pill called crizotinib, which targets and eliminates cancerspreading proteins. Below, Hill, a soccer enthusiast, and his wife, Molly, take in a Seattle Sounders game last year. Courtesy photo
HILL’S ‘HUGE MIRACLE’ New 45th District Senator healthy again after pill eliminates his lung cancer BILL CHRISTIANSON Reporter Newspapers
Diagnosed with lung cancer in March of 2009, first-year Sen. Andy Hill faced a grim future — and with each stage of treatment, the prognosis only got worse.
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SCHOOL LEVY | Lake Washington School District vote on Feb. 8 ballot [19]
The cancer started in his left lung, but spread to the right one. Surgery would do no good because the cancer had already spread to the lymph nodes. Doctors could only tell Hill to wait and see if the chemotherapy and radiation would improve his condition. Staring at the possibility of death, the 47-year-old Redmond resident never wavered. Instead, he only worked harder to find a solution. [ more HILL page 8 ]
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