History

The Ballard Eagles Fraternal Organization began construction of The Ballard Building in 1925. The Ballard Lodge was the second Eagles Lodge in the country—the first being the Lodge at 7th Avenue and Union Street in downtown Seattle. The same terra cotta facade was used on both buildings. The Ballard Building officially opened on the 17th of May 1927 in conjunction with the annual 17th of May (Syttende Mai) parade that celebrates Norwegian Constitution Day. The Bagdad Theater, reputed to have the largest pipe organ west of the Mississippi River, occupied a substantial portion of the first floor and opened May 28, 1927. The Lodge had a grand ballroom on the top floor and a large banquet facility in the basement of the building, which the Ballard Health Club now occupies. The “basement” facility has a 14’ high ornate plaster ceiling and still has the original maple dance floor from 1927. The Ballard Accident and General Hospital opened in 1928 on the 4^th floor (then considered the 3^rd floor) with 21 beds. The construction of the prominent Ballard Building shifted the community retail core from Ballard Avenue to Market Street. (“Early Ballard” Pheasant-Albright)

Following the 1929 Wall Street crash and the subsequent Great Depression, the Eagles could no longer support the cost of the lodge in The Ballard Building, and they relinquished the building. The Ballard Building had several owners after that, including Washington Mutual Bank that purchased the building in the 1950s. The bank made substantial renovations that included the removal of the Bagdad Theater to the dismay of many Ballardites.

CKM Associates LLP, A partnership formed by Lowen Clausen and Tom Malone, local Ballard business owners and residents, purchased The Ballard Building in 1983. Lowen was and continues to be the Managing Partner. CKM made extensive modifications to the building during the 1980s, adding a 5^th floor and bringing the building up to current earthquake standards.

For CKM, The Ballard Building is not just a building, not just a business. The Ballard Building and the community formed within it has been a part of our daily lives for more than 40 years.