Googie resurrected in Ballard?

The group Sustainable Ballard is sponsoring a bike rack design contest. The winners will have their racks made and installed at key neighborhood locations. Sustainable Ballard says there is a "dearth" of bike racks in Square Head City. Winners of the competition will be announced at the Ballard SeafoodFest July 26-27.

One of the possible entrants is from Seattle's Grace Architects and was sent to me by architect Ralph Allen, who was one of the activists who worked so hard to save the landmark Manning's/Denny's and come up with an alternative development design that would have preserved the diner and allowed for dense development — a win-win solution that was rejected by property owner Benaroya. Benaroya also reportedly rejected entreaties to either move the building or save its famous swoopy roof and instead opted for a hurried demolition of the structure.

However, this rack design serves to enshrine the memory of an old Googie icon in the new Ballard. Suggested location: 15th Avenue Northwest and Northwest Market Street.

• Knute Berger is Mossback, Crosscut's chief Northwest native. He also writes the monthly Gray Matters column for Seattle magazine and is a weekly Friday guest on Weekday on KUOW-FM (94.9). You can e-mail him at mossback@crosscut.com.