The Original Proposed Location of Sandy's Restaurant

It seems like such an odd story now, but with a little reflection, it is understandable how the original proposed location for Washington's Sandy's Restaurant came to be the area at 604-606 Peoria Street in 1970-1971.

Below is a recent photo of 604-606 Peoria Street.  The properties are houses just west of the Spring Street Apartments.

In 1970, within a few hundred feet to the east, the General Telephone Company was connecting Washington residents, while next door to the telephone company, "The Camenisch Building" had a steady stream of daily traffic with three different businesses: optometrist Dr. Thompson, dentist Dr. Sullivan, and the Creations Beauty Salon.  Below is a 1973 photo of the phone company and a more recent photo of the Camenisch Building.

609 Peoria Street was also a place of business for decades, from Jones Floor Covering in the 1950s to Children's World Clothing in the 1980s.  In the 1970s, Dr. James Marsa ran his chiropractic business out of the house.

601, 603, 605, 616,  & 617 Peoria Street have also had businesses run out of them at different times.

The point is, even though this little island of homes on what was once known as "Black Hawk Hill" looks residential, its location on the main thoroughfare is irresistible to business owners.  Sandy's Restaurant saw this opportunity.

A rezoning of the properties was necessary, and this really became an issue of the future of the Black Hawk Hill area.  Did the city see the hill as a commercial area tying the square to the western commercial development of the early 1970s, or should it remain a residential buffer between the two?

In keeping with what has become a Washington tradition, residents came out in opposition to something new happening in their neighborhood.  The standard fallbacks of water runoff, light pollution, traffic congestion, and decreased property values appeared here as well, but in this case, with a zoning change, it actually mattered.

If enough nearby residents objected to a zoning change, it took a 75% yes vote on the city council for the rezoning to occur.  The residents gathered enough opposition to enact this codicil, and it all would come down to a February 1, 1971 vote.  What was the future of Black Hawk Hill?

Six of eight yes votes were needed for the rezoning and a significant change to Washington.  Like a grand Shakespearean drama, the vote was 5-2 in favor of rezoning, with one abstention.  The majority of the council saw the future of Black Hawk Hill as a commercial corridor, but not 75%, so the rezoning was defeated.  Houses remain on the hill to this day.

Within six months, Sandy's had purchased the property at the corner of Wilmor and Peoria, a site not available previously, and by September 1971, they were open for business.