The Funhouse owners Cyndi and Brian Foss say they have been amazed at the outpouring of support from their friends and fans who have organized on-line protests to keep the bar and live-music venue open. photo/Jeff Bond

Thousands of Seattle residents are not having a whole lot of fun these days, as they fight a developer’s plan to tear down their beloved Funhouse dive bar.

The Funhouse, located near Seattle Center at 206 Fifth Ave. N., may be on the chopping block after AK Architects has announced plans to demolish the longtime bar and live-music venue to build an apartment complex.

(Currently, the property is owned by Columbia West Properties Inc., and various parties are still negotiating the potential development.)

The announcement prompted a grassroots movement among neighbors and fans of the 75-year-old bar — once known as Tex’s Tavern, back at least at the time of the 1962 World’s Fair — to band together and start a campaign to “Save the Funhouse.”

The mainly on-line campaign has gone viral, picking up friends from all over the Seattle area. Today, more than 1,000 people have joined the “Save the Funhouse!!!” Facebook page.

“I’ve been overwhelmed by the support we’ve gotten from the fans,” said Funhouse owner Brian Foss, as he played with the bar’s three-legged dog, Boi.

Cyndi Foss said the support that the bar has received has been “wild. We thought this was a land-use story, but it’s turned into a community story,” Cyndi Foss said.

Located next to a McDonald’s restaurant and across the street from Seattle Center, The Funhouse has offered a full cocktail service since 2003, along with pinball, a partially covered basketball hoop on the patio on one side of the bar and a venue for local bands to perform.

However, in recent months, that has been jeopardized by plans to build a seven-story apartment complex on the section of the block where The Funhouse is. On March 21, Seattle’s Design Review Board hosted the first public meeting on the project.

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