Art Marble 21 Restaurant and Bar sits in a building that has
been in my family for 3 generations. My grandfather, Frank Kenney, purchased
the building in 1979 to be used as the showroom for Frank Kenney Toyota. At
that time SLU was very much an industrial area, very different from the tech
center that it is today. My grandfather and father sold cars out of that
building for over a decade, and I even shot a commercial for a Toyota when I
was a toddler right inside what is now Art Marble. So the building itself has a
lot of meaning to me and my family.
 |
| Mike Kenney, Art Mable 21 |
Even before us, the building has a deep history in Seattle.
In 1921 it was built by the Art Marble Company, which was a Seattle based
company that specialized in artistic marble work. They did the marble work for
some well-known Seattle establishments, such as the University of Washington
and St. James Cathedral. They also had a display area where they allowed local
artists to display their marble artwork. When coming up with our company name,
we felt that tying the original roots of the building to our brand was a really
cool way to show that we are one of the last of the old buildings to remain in
SLU, and to pay tribute to the originals. And this concept ties into the whole reason
we started this project, which was to get back to where we began; a local
family owned business on the corner of 9th and Westlake.
Besides the ties to my family, there are many reasons I love
our building and location. We are shaped like a triangle, which is perfect for
us because we are a goofy bunch and being different has always come easy for us.
It also allows for a great view of the park and lake with
the rounded dining
room on the north end of our building. You can sit and eat dinner, drink beer,
and enjoy unobstructed views of Lake Union and the park.
Since I live just on the other side of the lake, I love
being able to walk to work through the park along the water, looking at the
wooden boats and all the happy people relaxing in the sun. Now if only I could
convince them all to walk across the street for nachos and a margarita…..
The last time I had 2 free hours in SLU I went to MOHAI to
check out their prohibition exhibit and thought it was fascinating. It’s so
cool being able to look back at our city 100 years ago and seeing how much
things have changed. I would highly recommend everyone goes and checks out the
museum’s new location if they haven’t yet.
My Grandpa used to tell me about how he rode the trestle as
a kid and what a different place Lake Union used to be. It’s really fun and
exciting to be a working part of the new SLU neighborhood, and we are so happy
to be a member of this growing and improving community.
