Parker's Casino and Sports Bar may be headed for demolition

Parker's Ballroom, sometime in the 1930s
Photo courtesy Seattle Municipal Archives

"Seattle’s venerable old Parker's Ballroom (which opened in 1930 on the "New Seattle-Everett Highway," now known as Aurora Avenue N) holds a unique place in Northwest music history. Like a few other local dancehalls, it spanned all of the sequential musical era’s from the wild jazz days of the Prohibition Era right on up through the forties swing scene, from the rise of rock ‘n’ roll in the fifties, to the psychedelic sixties, and onwards to the heavy metal, disco, and punk rock scenes of the seventies. Unlike most other historic dancehalls though, Parker’s still stands." (Read the full article at HistoryLink.org) 

The building looks good from the front
Photo by Steven H. Robinson

Parker's, most lately a Casino and Sports Bar, may not be standing for long. In April of this year, they were served legal notice to cease gambling operations. According to charging documents, the owner and holder of the gaming licenses had sold his interest in Parker's to a new owner without notifying the state and without the new owner applying for licenses under his own name. There was also reference to back taxes.

This last weekend a professional firm hosted a "garage sale" to sell every item in the building - mirrors, safes, sinks, etc., and posted photos on Craig's List. The sale is over and the listings have now been removed.