Tag Archives: F.R. McAbee

History

Gifts from the Builder: The Eddie McAbee Park Entrance

By Heidi Madden and Chris Jacobsen

Have you ever driven past the Eddie McAbee entrance to Carkeek Park off of NW 100th Place and wondered who Eddie McAbee is?  Perhaps the name sounded familiar:  Didn’t a guy named McAbee build a bunch of stuff around here?

Eddie McAbee Entrance
Eddie McAbee Entrance to Carkeek Park

Eddie McAbee was in fact the son of F.R. “Dick” McAbee, the prolific builder who, in the mid-1950s, developed and built much of what we see now on lower Crown Hill between Holman Road and NW 100th Place, including what used to be Art’s Plaza, now QFC.  The Eddie McAbee park entrance land was originally part of the 105 acres on the east slope of Crown Hill purchased by Dick McAbee in 1945.  The duplexes you see at the park entrance are McAbee built.

Dick McAbee was a self-made man.  He was $10,000 in debt at the start of the Depression because of an employer who skipped town.  It took him ten years, but he paid back every cent.  He went on to build a real estate empire and a sterling reputation in the local business community.

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History

How a Grocery Store Shaped a Neighborhood: The Story of Art’s Food Center

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By Heidi Madden & Chris Jacobsen

The Original Art's Globe (photograph used with permission from Herb and Sue McAbee)

August 22, 1956 was the day the housewives of Crown Hill had been waiting for: The Plaza Shopping Center (a.k.a. Art’s Plaza) on 6th Ave. N.W. and Holman Road was having its grand opening. High on its tower, the iconic Art’s globe was spinning and there were gifts for everyone: fold-up plastic rain bonnets for the ladies, keychain screwdrivers for the men, and balloons for the kiddies.

The new 40,000-square-foot shopping center featured an Art’s Food Center, a Marketime Drugs, the Fiesta Buffet, Noonan’s Apparel, and a post office all under one roof. The massive shopping center was the brainchild of F.R. “Dick” McAbee, the prolific contractor whose scores of construction projects completed in the mid-1900s still have an impact on Crown Hill’s character, identity, and appearance.

The centerpiece of the development was the locally owned Art’s Food Center. Designed to appeal to the modern shopper, it featured a computerized meat scale, moving belts at the checkout stand, wide aisles, and 140 feet of frozen food cases housing the largest frozen food selection in the city.

The new Crown Hill location was the fourth grocery store for owner Art Case. Case may have been drawn to modern innovations, but he never lost sight of the value of his employees. He offered them respect and an attractive profit sharing plan, and most stayed with him for years.

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