No, no, no, no!!!!!!!!!
They're shutting it 9 months early. Who'd have guessed, I was one of the lucky ones who showed in the very last Artwalk @ 619 Western, now an historic event.
OMG, the sadness, the loss, it's incomprehensible. I can't even begin.
OK, some background: my neighborhood, Pioneer Square, was the first in the nation to devise and implement a monthly "Artwalk".
http://firstthursdayseattle.com/ The 619 Western Building
http://www.619western.com/ was an integral part of that process and currently houses over 100 artists, purportedly the largest concentration of studio spaces on the West Coast. It attracts hundreds, if not thousands of visitors every month during our First Thursday art-walk.

Regardless, the 619 Western building, directly across the street from the IRL Saloon, is slated for evacuation due to a waterfront highway improvement project initiated by WA state, largely in response to the Nisqually earthquake
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/Viaduct/. The original evacuation date was March 2012. The city recently moved that to October 1, 2011, and just today issued a notice that all First Thursday events before that date are hereby cancelled.
A friend of mine was teasing me as to why, when I was showing there last First Thursday, the guard on duty was an actual Seattle Police Officer and not some civilian security company guy. Guess he got his answer.
Most recently:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.196046930428656.48699.100000700528896Tomorrow a film crew is coming over to do a follow-up interview of me about the history of the building. I'm so glad they were there two weeks ago filming. I'm so glad they recorded at least portions of the last night of 619.
I still can't believe it. Life will not be the same.