Our favorite eatery is no more.
The old Terminal Building, built in 1888 and the oldest building in the Fairhaven neighbourhood of Bellingham, which housed The Harris Ave. Cafe, now known as The Old Independent, was gutted by fire just before midnight Saturday night.
There is an article here in The Bellingham Herald. And a local resident shot a short video from their apartment up the street. This is a screenshot from the vid. The building is almost certainly a write off.
My gf took a couple of pics Sunday morning en route to the University and spoke with some of the employees who were outside. Apparently it had been rented for a party that night (as you could rent it outside of regular hours) but so far no information on the cause. However it seems the fire may have started in the kitchen, from this pic she took from the courtyard:
We are absolutely gutted. We'd been breakfast regulars there pretty much weekly for over a dozen years, aside from during the pandemic, when I couldn't get across the border. They regularly featured local artists' work; my gf had an art exhibition there in October. I was thinking of ordering one of the current artists' paintings as a Christmas present for Sandra, but it's too late now
Our first thought was for the staff - what a terrible thing to happen, esp. just before Christmas. The owner, Nate, had barely made it through the pandemic, from which he had emerged with a new baby. But it was thriving once again.
Worryingly, no one has been able to get in touch with Nate, who "is unaccounted for."
A GoFundMe campaign was started Sunday afternoon to support the employees, which we both contributed to immediately. As of this afternoon (Monday), it has raised just under $38,000 of the $70,000 goal
)
We'll go by on Tuesday morning to mourn en route to wherever we'll be going for breakfast.
Yuk.
The old Terminal Building, built in 1888 and the oldest building in the Fairhaven neighbourhood of Bellingham, which housed The Harris Ave. Cafe, now known as The Old Independent, was gutted by fire just before midnight Saturday night.
There is an article here in The Bellingham Herald. And a local resident shot a short video from their apartment up the street. This is a screenshot from the vid. The building is almost certainly a write off.
My gf took a couple of pics Sunday morning en route to the University and spoke with some of the employees who were outside. Apparently it had been rented for a party that night (as you could rent it outside of regular hours) but so far no information on the cause. However it seems the fire may have started in the kitchen, from this pic she took from the courtyard:
We are absolutely gutted. We'd been breakfast regulars there pretty much weekly for over a dozen years, aside from during the pandemic, when I couldn't get across the border. They regularly featured local artists' work; my gf had an art exhibition there in October. I was thinking of ordering one of the current artists' paintings as a Christmas present for Sandra, but it's too late now
Our first thought was for the staff - what a terrible thing to happen, esp. just before Christmas. The owner, Nate, had barely made it through the pandemic, from which he had emerged with a new baby. But it was thriving once again.
Worryingly, no one has been able to get in touch with Nate, who "is unaccounted for."
A GoFundMe campaign was started Sunday afternoon to support the employees, which we both contributed to immediately. As of this afternoon (Monday), it has raised just under $38,000 of the $70,000 goal
)We'll go by on Tuesday morning to mourn en route to wherever we'll be going for breakfast.
Yuk.
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