Benjamin Lukoff, of Seattle History Examiner, brings the story that another old building might be lost. This time it’s the Bon Marche stables in Belltown, the last old horse stables left in downtown. It’s an old wooden building, and kind of a miracle that it hasn’t burnt down sometime in the last hundred years. It was declared a historic landmark recently, but that doesn’t afford any kind of protection again demolition, and the owners of the building have made the case that it would cost too much to renovate and reuse it.

More from Seattle Post-Globe and belltownpeople, who calls it a ripe box of kindling and wants it gone sooner than later.

The first stretch of the Seattle light rail system is almost open. Last week a special run was made for the press, going all the way from downtown to the end of the line and back. The Stranger’s Dominic Holden was on board, and provided probably the only news report from the event to include cussing.

The Analysis: Light rail has arrived. And it is fucking great.

One thing I didn’t know until I read that article is that when the light rail opens next month, it won’t go all the way to the airport. The end of the line will be at the Tukwila station, about two miles from the main SeaTac terminal. That last stretch of track is still being worked on and won’t be ready until December, leaving you to take a shuttle bus the rest of the way. Seems like they should have made it a priority to open the whole line at once, but maybe they tried and it just didn’t happen.

I can’t wait to ride it, and I wish they could build this stuff faster so that all the other branches could be open before the end of next decade.

Today is the 120th anniversary of Seattle’s Great Fire. On June 6, 1889, a pot of glue burst into flame, and managed to burn through the building, the block, and half the town. It was kind of a big moment for Seattle, because although it was a terrible event it did lead to the citizens of the town coming together. Many of the brick buildings that were built to replace the wooden ones that burned, especially in Pioneer Square, are still standing today.

It’s good to know Seattle isn’t solely in the business of tearing down old buildings. Some of them get saved, and remodeled for new uses even. My Ballard brings details of the Kolstrand Building, which is about to undergo such a change. And just recently Vintage Seattle took a close look at an old firehouse in Ballard that is now a restaurant. Kudos to the developers that are willing to do the right thing.