Standard Radio and Capitol Records buildings meet the wrecking ball

Mitchell Smith

The demolition of two buildings lining the northwest corner of NE 65th St. and 12th Ave NE began today. Standard Records and Capitol Music Center inhabited those buildings until early last year, when they cleared out to make way for the planned Roosevelt station on the north line of Sound Transit light rail. The station should be completed by late 2020 or early 2021.

The Standard Radio building has been an icon in the Roosevelt neighborhood since 1947, when it began its role as one of the first sellers of radios in Seattle. The distinctive “Streamline Moderne architecture style” was characterized by the red neon “Standard” sign above the doorway. The store was appropriately dubbed a “post-World War II equivalent of the Apple Store” by a 2012 article in the Seattle Times. Even after a late push by community members to save the building from demolition, the building did not qualify as a historic landmark according to the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board .

Students driving or walking to school along 12th Ave on Wednesday were greeted on their commute by the loud crashes of the demolition, a reminder of the rapidly changing neighborhood. These buildings join the old QFC as casualties of the city’s preparation for the future.