KidsQuest has agreed to purchase the former Rosalie Whyel Museum of Doll Art, located at 1116 108^th Ave. NE, according their recent press release. The building is more than twice the size of KidsQuest’s current location. The annual attendance for the museum is 168,000.

Programs at KidsQuest focus on science, technology, engineering, art, and math for children up to age 8. The museum offers hands-on learning through exhibits and features more than 650 classes and workshops each year.

The KidsQuest Children’s Museum will show a rotating collection of Rosalie Whyel’s dolls as part of its permanent exhibitions.

Goodwill is accepting donations in a temporary location in Downtown Bellevue at the old Cadillac dealership at NE 10th St & 106th Ave NE. The Goodwill truck will be collecting on Saturday’s & Sunday’s 9 AM – 5 PM. The truck is in the Diamond Parking lot east of Sherman Clay Pianos.

The drop off location will accept reusable clothing, household items and electronics.  The site is not able to accept larger items such as furniture or large appliances.

Previously there was a pickup location at the South Bellevue Park & Ride, but has been gone for the last couple years.

Downtown Bellevue Goodwill donation site:
10447 NE 10th St.
Bellevue, WA 98004

A letter from the United States Postal Service to the City of Bellevue states that both the Midlakes and Bellevue Main Post Offices may relocate to one location just north of Bel-Red Road, at 120th Ave NE. The relocation is part of a cost cutting measure for the U.S.P.S. that would leave Downtown Bellevue without a US Post Office.

The new Bel-Red Road post office would be scheduled to open in mid 2013.

The post office is one of those entities people have a love/hate relationship with.  They love to hate it, but once it’s not around they will miss it.  If there is no longer a post office in Downtown Bellevue, I suspect people will miss it, I know I will. Will you?

Last week, both Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s assigned their highest ratings for Bellevue’s general obligation bonds. The city’s high bond rating allows it to borrow money at lower interest rates.

The City of Bellevue is now preparing to refund the bonds for the remodeling of City Hall, which may bring its average interest rate down from 5.2 percent to about 3.5 percent.

City officials expect the refunding to save the city more than $9 million over the remaining 30 years of the bond.

City planners hope to identify the city’s most important transit corridors, as well as to define new potential ridership markets, as the City of Bellevue grows. Another priority for the survey, is to receive feedback so that transit facilities and services can be integrated with infrastructure such as sidewalks and bike lanes. City officials hope to enhance transit service through roadway improvements such as traffic signal upgrades. Survey input will help planners coordinate with Metro and Sound Transit to create more efficient options for Bellevue riders, resulting in a more usable and safer transportation system.

The online transit survey is available until March 23rd.

The Starbucks at The Lodge has gone through several transformations. 1st the location was one of the restaurant Starbucks concept stores and then it was a Starbucks Hear Music store. It then transformed a 3rd time into a large, yet typical Starbucks store as we typically know it today.

A few weeks ago construction began that closed half of the store. The other half, which is still open, is also undergoing a slight transformation as well.

So what’s on the other side of the store that is currently closed, one may ask. Well nothing has been officially announced by Starbucks, but my guess is that it is one of their new health and wellness juice retail stores, which Starbucks announced in November 2011. The press release in November of last year stated that the retail concept was slated for an early-to-mid 2012 release.

Here is a portion of the release that is specific to Starbucks’ retail plans for the stores, which from a timing perspective would align quite well:

“…The company plans to introduce a new health and wellness retail concept which will further redefine the super-premium juice category and experience for consumers unlike any prior existing juice retail. It will share Starbucks mission and values, be pioneered by Starbucks partners (employees), and provide a new wholesome portfolio of food and beverage offerings. The retail concept is planned for early-to-mid calendar 2012.”

With the number of times the store has changed concepts under the Starbucks umbrella, the store clearly has elements that Starbucks looks for when testing a new concept store.

When asked about a potential juice retail store to fill the space, the Starbucks retail store employees at The Lodge had several varying responses. The two trends upon the answers were either they had no idea what I was talking about, or they seemed skirmish and said “You didn’t hear it from here.” The second answer didn’t exactly bring clarity to the question, but obviously gave the suggestion that it may be one of the new juice retail stores.

I believe the new health and wellness retail concept is a great strategy for Starbucks, and for the sake of downtown Bellevue I hope that it becomes a reality at The Lodge at Bellevue Square.

(And if it’s not a Juice Retail Store…what the heck is it?)

The meeting, as originally announced, will also feature Brian Robinson of ArenaSolution.org. The breakfast meeting is intended to discuss the possibility of bringing a world-class indoor arena to the Puget Sound area, with the hopes of attracting a NBA and NHL team. Recently the Sacramento Kings (NBA team) and Phoenix Coyotes (NHL team) had been thought of possible teams that could relocate to the Puget Sound. However, both of these teams are not likely to easily relocate. If this is the case, there will be more time to look into alternative options to the recently announced SODO district arena project.

The BDA breakfast meeting will be at the Westin in Bellevue on Wednesday, Feb. 28th, from 7:30 AM – 9:00 AM. Tickets are $30 for BDA members and $40 for non-members. Tickets can be purchased online.

The event at the Westin Bellevue will take place at 12:30 PM and will feature a musical performance by the Head and the Heart.

Tickets for the event are $1,000, and for an additional $4,000 you can have your picture taken with the President at a photo reception.

If you are planning to drive in Bellevue (or anywhere near there for that matter) be aware that the President’s motorcade will be closing down roads throughout the day.

Crowds were pouring out of the door when the newest location of LunchBox Laboratory opened in downtown Bellevue. The people were eager, not just for a typical hamburger, but ones with titles like “Burger of the Gods,” with a huge beef patty topped with bleu cheese and a gorgonzola spread and candied balsamic onions, or “As Seen on TV Dork Burger,” a burger named for its unique combination of ground duck and pork. When the original LunchBox Laboratory opened in Ballard years ago, it made news as a burger shack unlike any other, with its over-the-top flavors and use of high quality ingredients, and now that it’s come Eastside, it’s prepared to satisfy and entertain food fans with its unique blend of flavor and nostalgia.

Bellevue’s LunchBox Laboratory has both a restaurant and a full bar, with their hours easy to remember – open daily, 11 to 11. Their food is all about classic comforts, with a nod to a TV generation, as the décor is vintage afterschool chic, showing off their collection of metal lunchboxes of classic cartoon and TV shows. What sets their menu apart from other typical burger places is the care that goes into their food – their “super-beef” patties use Kobe-style beef and their Kaiser-style buns are made locally, from Essential Bakery. Their specialty dipping sauces are house-made, they offer handcrafted salts, and while some restaurants have a soup of the day, LunchBox makes different flavors of their Mac du Jour macaroni and cheese daily. They also put their spin on milkshakes, with flavors like their Boston Crème Donut, which literally has chunks of doughnuts mixed into the rich, creamy shake. On their own, the shakes are an indulgence, but they offer a grown-up option to spike a shake with your choice of liquor selections.

Catering to the happy hour crowds, they offer a Kick Ass Hour, with daily specials from 3-6pm and 9pm to close, with a special menu offering items like Dogsticks (mini corndogs on a stick), a tater tot version of nachos called Gavacho’s Nachos, and their happy hour burger combination called Scotty’s Classic Drive-In, which includes mini cheeseburgers and a choice of fries or tater tots. Their cocktails are just as playful, with drinks like the Tang-O-Rita and Kool Kollins using ingredients like Tang or Kool Aid to flavor or color the drink.

LunchBox Laboratory is located at the base of 989 Elements apartment building. Zen Asian Bistro had previously occupied this space.

LunchBox Laboratory
http://lunchboxlaboratory.com/
989 112th Ave NE, Bellevue 98004
425-505-2676

Open 11-11 Daily

“We salute the legacy of hard work and shared vision fueling our city and its urban center,” said Leslie Lloyd, BDA president. “We’ve seen rapid growth over the past 10 years, and it will take continued focus and leadership from throughout our community to stay competitive and nurture a thriving and livable downtown.”

The 2011 Place Making Award winners are the following organizations:

• Community Treasure: Bellevue LifeSpring and Bellevue Rotary Club
• Commute Champion: CH2M HILL
• Deal of the Year: East Link Project Memorandum of Understanding, Sound Transit and City of Bellevue
• Leadership: Grant Degginger
• Opening of the Year: Bellevue Braids Project, Washington State Department of Transportation
• Place Maker of 2011: Visit Bellevue Washington

To read more about the winners that the Bellevue Downtown Association has selected, you can read the full press release online.

What do you think of the winners? Agree, disagree? Sound off in the comments section.