The two-level bench was made of fiberglass with legs fashioned out of steel plumbing pipes. Designed by Kurt Kiefer, it was installed on Second Avenue north of Bell Street in the late 1990s, to honor Belltown's industrial heritage.

Almost since its installation, neighbors pleaded with the city to get rid of it. They said it attracted too many drug dealers and users, drunks, pimps, vandals, and street fighters to the block. But the city said the bench had to stay unless a public-art council approved its removal. That finally occurred last month.

Real Change writer Tim Harris saw the removal, and the neighbors' reaction to it. On his blog (apesmaslament.blogspot.com), Harris writes, "They were all standing on the sidewalk, looking on with huge smiles. Neighborhood activist Joe Corsi, who manages the Concept One apartments on that block, looked like he'd just had a baby boy. I thought someone was gonna pop a bottle of champagne any second."

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Also going away: Tabella, the Western Avenue nightclub disparged by Mayor Greg Nickels and others as one of the city's worst trouble spots for parking-lot fights and other rowdy behavior. Mars Hill Church, an evangelical congregation based at the former Ernst Hardware site in Ballard, bought Tabella's building in late October for $3.9 million. The church said it would renovate the building and hold church services in it starting in early 2008. As mentioned last month, Mars Hill Church is not formally connected to Mars Hill Graduate School, a seminary now operating on Elliott Avenue.

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Moving in: Txori, a tapas restaurant-bar by the owners of Madison Valley's Harvest Vine restaurant. They're spending $300,000 to remodel the ex-Pitcairn Scott Gallery space at 2207 Second Ave. (downstairs from the McLeod Residence). They promise a menu built around "small bites from northern Spain" when Txori opens, sometime in November.

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Speaking of McLeod, its next show is Fixed Value. New York artist Kharis Kennedy "addresses the use of subjective terminology to critique artwork and opposes the notion of 'artistic value,' instead offering empirical value and measurement for each work of art," according to the gallery's press release. The exhibit opens Friday, Nov. 2, 6-9 p.m. Form/Space Atelier, 2407 First Ave., shows oil paintings attributed to the collection of "Matthew Kandigas (c.1725-1960)," possibly a pseudonymous snipe at a certain prominent local art critic. The exhibit runs Nov. 9-22. Form/Space also hosts a Nov. 14 lecture by Montreal's Kyle McDonald, about his year-long bartering exercise in which he started with a red paper clip and ended up with a house.

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The Belltown-based Low Income Housing Institute holds its fifth annual benefit auction/dinner Nov. 9, 6 p.m., at the Grand Hyatt, 721 Pine St. For reservations contact lihi.org.

One LIHI-supported project, the Urban Rest Stop, celebrated its remodeling and reopening on Nov. 25 at 1924 9th Ave. The hygeine center and daytime drop-in spot for homeless and low-income people added a women's restroom and expanded its laundry facilities. More than 4,500 people use the center every month.

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Could the Belltown/downtown condo boom finally be slowing down? P-I writer Aubrey Cohen speculated on Oct. 21 that the number of new and proposed luxury projects could be approaching glut level; as turmoil in the national housing market finally ripples here, some announced high-rises might not get built. Cohen cited statistics from Realogics, Inc., which noted that eight new buildings with a total of 1,247 units have sold in greater downtown this year. In the next four years, the 30 already-started or announced projects would add almost 6,000 more units, if they all get built. However, the odds of a project getting built fall to 25 percent for the six projects proposed for 2011.

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One of Seattle's most treasured holiday traditions, the Dina Martina Christmas Show, opens Nov. 23 at Re-bar, 1114 Howell St. The drag chanteuse and comic legend promises another extravaganza of "botched carols, ungraceful dances, overburdened costumes and truly bizarre audience gifts." The show runs through Dec. 31; for tickets call 325-6500.

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Due to space limitations, our promised special feature about "Belltown's Yesterdays" will appear in December's issue. Clark Humphrey's new photo history book, Seattle's Belltown, goes on sale Nov. 24 at a store or World Wide Web near you. u