"You don't go in and try to change it. You go in and try to make it better and make it last for a long time."
Kenji Jensen-Otsu said that to What Now Seattle in August, after he and Amber Davis, the owners of Fremont's Triangle Spirits, bought The Attic at 4226 E. Madison St. Down the street, a different group is working on a very similar problem. Friends of Madison Park has spent most of the past year on a design for the beach bathhouse at 1900 43rd Ave East, and it has asked the neighborhood to come and weigh in.
Both are historic shared rooms in Madison Park, and this October both are asking the same question of the people who use them. The fall calendar is where neighbors get to answer.
The Attic's new owners are starting by listening
The Attic has been a gathering place in some form since 1907 and has run under its current name since 1967. In recent years it has had more turnover than most neighbors would like. Mark Long's tenure as owner ended in 2018. An interim ownership group followed. The pub closed in 2020, and Ethan Stowell Restaurants and Howard Wright reopened it in late April 2023 with new hardwood floors and a facelift that won a Historic Seattle preservation award. The Puget Sound Business Journal covered the August sale and said the new owners hope to stabilize a neighborhood institution.
So far the plan is modest by design. Davis and Jensen-Otsu say they will keep the current staff, spend time getting to know the regulars, and hear directly from Madison Park residents about what they want from the pub. The only confirmed change so far is that Triangle Spirits' fried chicken is joining the menu. Davis has a local connection, too. She used to work at another Madison Park business.
The Attic is open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekends. It is cashless, so the old habit of paying in cash won't work. If you have opinions about the burger, the brunch or the booths, the owners have said publicly that they want to hear them, and fall is a good time to tell them.
The bathhouse gets its first public design session in almost a year
The other conversation is more formal. Friends of Madison Park's neighborhood meeting on Tuesday, October 13 at 7 p.m., held inside the bathhouse, is devoted to the Bathhouse and Beach Renovation project. The group's September 26 newsletter says it "has been almost a year since we last met." Since then, Friends of Madison Park has been working on the design with Seattle Parks and Recreation, the Madison Park Co-op Preschool and the architects. The newsletter calls the October session interactive and asks people to "come with your thoughts."
The project page lays out what's on the table. Signal Architecture + Research is the bathhouse design team, and the goal is to keep the building's historic character while adding flexible space. The preschool would stay, and the building would also host indoor meetings, gatherings and exercise classes year-round. The plan also covers better restrooms, improved spaces for lake access, lifeguard equipment and small-craft storage, and a look at whether kayaks and paddleboards could be offered. On the shoreline side, the work would address erosion, remove invasive plants and support migrating salmon. Anchor QEA is the landscape architecture partner. The group says it has collected input from more than 500 park users and finished an initial code review.
The preschool's role is settled. In June 2026, the City Council passed Ordinance 127442, which authorizes Seattle Parks to sign a ten-year contract with the Madison Park Cooperative Preschool to operate and manage the Madison Beach Park Bathhouse. Any redesign starts from that arrangement.
The project is still in design. None of the published material includes a cost estimate or a construction schedule, which is why this meeting matters more than a later one would. At this stage, comments can still shape the drawings.
Party for the Park is what pays for the design work
Design phases cost money, and in Madison Park that money mostly comes from one evening. Friends of Madison Park is an all-volunteer group, and its newsletter describes Party for the Park as its biggest, and really its only, fundraiser of the year. This year's party is Saturday, October 24 at Broadmoor Golf Club. Doors open at 5:15 p.m., cocktails start at 5:30, and tickets are $150 per person. The evening includes dinner, live and silent auctions, and dancing.
Last year's party raised $140,000. Friends of Madison Park said that money would go to its free events, its Beautify Madison Park projects and "the next steps toward designing a Renovated Bathhouse and Shoreline Restoration." The bathhouse remains the group's next major funding goal. In practice, the design you can respond to on October 13 was paid for by last October's auction paddles.
If you have only seen Broadmoor Golf Club from the other side of the fence, this party is one of the few nights it hosts a neighborhood-wide event. We explained how the club and the gated community next to it work in our Broadmoor gate post.
What the fundraiser pays for, by date
Almost everything on Madison Park's fall calendar is organized or promoted by the same volunteers, and most of it is free. In date order:
- Tuesday, Oct. 13, 7 p.m. Bathhouse and beach renovation meeting, inside the bathhouse.
- Saturday, Oct. 17, 9 a.m. to noon. Prospect Preserve fall cleanup at the street-end park at 41st Ave E and E Prospect, north of the Seattle Tennis Club. Tools are provided, and the work is weeding, pruning and spreading mulch.
- Saturday, Oct. 17, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The farmers market's last day of the season.
- Saturday, Oct. 24, 5:30 p.m. Party for the Park at Broadmoor Golf Club.
- Wednesday, Oct. 28, 6:30 p.m. The Mad Book Club with Madison Books meets at Parlour Wines to discuss Han Kang's We Do Not Part. The club meets on the last Wednesday of every month, and no sign-up is needed.
- Saturday, Oct. 31, from 4 p.m. Halloween in the business district.
- Thursday, Nov. 5, from 1 p.m. Holiday open house at Martha E. Harris Flowers & Gifts.
- Saturday, Nov. 7, 11 a.m. to noon. A Little Beats kids' concert, now in its third season and held in a new venue, the McGilvra Elementary cafeteria at 1617 East 38th Street. Tickets are $5.
- Saturday, Nov. 14, 9 to 10 a.m. Business district fall cleanup covering the business district, park and streets. Check in at the table by the Bank of America parking lot.
Halloween deserves one practical note. The event listing gives 4 to 7 p.m. and has the costumed pup parade meeting by the tennis courts at 4. The September newsletter says 4 to 6 p.m., with the dog parade at 4:30, plus photo ops in Triangle Park, glow sticks, candy and "controlled chaos." Arriving at 4 covers both versions. The Madison Park Preschool Co-op photo booth will be in Triangle Park, and a live DJ is on the schedule. Friends of Madison Park hasn't posted 2026 street closures yet, so last year's closure map isn't a reliable guide.
The calendar is also the same group's record of what last year's money paid for. The September 18 Art Walk brought more than 60 artists, from students to established painters, into the business district, and the group has already said it will run again in 2027.
Where your opinion goes this fall
"People want a place where they can go, feel comfortable, and have it feel like part of their community."
That's Jensen-Otsu again, talking about the pub. It also describes the bathhouse project's stated goal of a year-round community space. The two efforts are running separately, on different budgets and under different ownership. Their timing still lines up. The Attic's owners are new and gathering feedback. The bathhouse team is holding its first public meeting in almost a year. One fundraising night in October largely decides how far the next phase gets.
You can speak up in person on October 13 at the bathhouse, on October 24 at Broadmoor, or over fried chicken on any weeknight before 10. The group's event calendar is the place to watch for 2026 Halloween closure details and any follow-up on the bathhouse design. For a broader look at the neighborhood, our Madison Park page and our late-August Madison Park post cover what came before this fall.
Places like The Attic and the bathhouse shape how a block feels to live on, which is why we follow them closely. If you'd like to talk through what this fall's changes mean for your corner of Madison Park, Exact Home Team is happy to have that conversation over coffee, with no agenda attached. Let's Get Started.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
