The Greenlake Bar & Grill, 2011
The Greenlake Bar & Grill has been a staple of the neighborhood’s restaurant scene since first opening its doors in 2000, more than ten years ago.
Longtime Green Lake residents will remember several other businesses that have also operated out of the brick building at 7200 E Green Lake Drive N.
We’ve written about eateries that have occupied the space through the years, including the Lemon Grass Bar and Grill, Bruegger’s Fresh Bagel Bakery, Zi Pani Cafe, and two different restaurants that were named “Green Lake Grill.”
In the 1970s, the building also housed a bookstore and a massage center. A bookstore called “Collected Works” opened in 1974. The shop, which was owned by Jerome Chroman and his then-wife Susan Chroman, was located at 302 NE 72nd St, in a part of the the brick building now occupied by the Greenlake Bar & Grill. For about a year, Collected Works sold new, mostly small-press books.
Click to enlarge
In 1976, Jerome Chroman and Kenedy Powell co-founded the Feel-Good Space at 7206 East Green Lake Dr N, around the corner from where Jerome had operated Collected Works.
The Feel-Good Space was one of the first massage centers in Seattle, and it also housed one of the first juice bars in the area.
Jerome and Kenedy sold juice out of a sliding window until city officials clamped down on them for not meeting city code for food sales. “So, we decided to give away the juice,” Jerome says. “We opened a poetry bar instead. People would pay for poetry when they got their ‘free’ juice.”
Clipping from unknown newspaper, 1976.
In 1979, the Feel-Good Space moved up the block to 323 NE 72nd St, a location which has also housed a vitamin store, a Segway rental shop, and, most recently, Columbia Real Estate Group.
Three years later, in 1982, the practice was moved again, this time to the top floors of 436 and 438 NE 72nd St. The business was renamed “Abintra Wellness Center,” and Jerome and Kenedy were joined by two other practitioners: Corinne Kelly and Gwen Crowell.
Kenedy Powell, Gwen Crowell, Corinne Kelly and Jerome Chroman, circa 1982. Photo from the private collection of Corinne Kelly and Jerome Chroman.
The Abintra Wellness Center remained on NE 72nd St for 25 years, providing treatment rooms and classroom space to a variety of healthcare professionals.
438 NE 72nd St, 2011. The building is currently occupied by Billings Middle School and Natural Medicine Works.
In 2007, plans were underway to close the Vitamilk Dairy, located across the street from Abintra. The Vitamilk property was slated to be demolished and rebuilt as a mixed-use development. Corinne and Jerome felt it was a good opportunity to downsize and make some changes so they moved the Abintra Wellness Center to the Roosevelt neighborhood.
Last month, Abintra returned to east Green Lake . The practice has now come full circle and is once again located right across the street from the location it once occupied on 5th Ave NE and NE 72nd St.
Jerome Chroman and Corinne Kelly in front of Abintra's new home.
Jerome and Corinne of Abintra Wellness Center for Massage and Hypnosis are currently accepting new clients by appointment only. You can reach them at (206) 522-9384.
My Annual Spring Poem: Spring at Greenlake
By Jerome Chroman, 1977Suddenly once again it’s Spring,
Things that were put away for the winter–
Stored in closets, and attics and basements
Appear instantly, almost magically,
As if manifesting out of thin air,
Baseball games complete with the shrill
voices of players,
Boats for rent on the little lake,
A trout dangling from a line
caught by a little boy,
Frisbees, kayaks and sun bathers
Bursting out of the winter to rush
the season,
Popcorn, hot dogs, coca cola coming at you
from newly-opened refreshment stands,
Height of the season crowds walking,
running, biking
As if they’ve never been away,
As if the calm of the months just passed were an illusion,
A dream of winter
That never was
And never will be again,
Cherry blossoms white and fat
While just yesterday
Empty branches hung under the sky,
The past always growing,
Something always coming to an end,
Over and over
Things are put away
And then come back again,
Sometimes it changes,
Some things get lost
But something always seems to come agand be a reason to rejoice.
Jerry Chroman 9/3/1977
Abintra Wellness Center is a My Green Lake advertiser.
