A vintage neon clock hangs over the entrance of an older burnt red building a few hundred feet from the imposing barricades planted at the out-of-commission South Park Bridge entrance. The clock is unplugged, frozen in time, just shy of 8:00 o'clock.

Bill Owens, shop owner of Seattle Canine Outfitters and South Park Organics, rents the building. He explained, "I turned the clock off at 7:57(pm) June 30, the moment the bridge closed, and it won't go back on until a new bridge goes up."

Owens, who also rents out 300 mail boxes at his shop at 8526 14th Avenue South, is a South Park fixture who has lived there for over 18 years after declaring his first Washington home, Ballard "unrecognizable" with its new high-rise housing construction and fast-paced living. He lives in a houseboat at South Park Marina on the Duwamish River, once perched under the shadows of the bridge. Owens can walk with a cane but, due to getting hit by a car in Greenlake and flying through its windshield, and diabetes issues, he is often spotted at community events and around town in his wheelchair as Honey, his trusty chow care dog, and companion to many in the neighborhood, prances a few steps ahead.

"Like a lot of folks in South Park I can't do just one thing," he said referring to his careers. "I couldn't sell enough pet supplies to pay the rent, so I branched out with the mail boxes and organic produce," said the 52 year-old, a former data center operator.

"My business is down about 25 percent since the bridge closed, but it's too soon to know in the long term what will happen," he said. "The wake really worked out to the benefit of the neighborhood."

The wake was a festival held the night the bridge closed, attended by over a thousand people who payed their last respects to its 80 years of service. Owens helped organize it.

"A lot of awareness went out to support local business," he said. "But the people who live in the neighborhood are feeling the economy. This is a working class neighborhood and does not have a lot of spare change. We need a little bit more support from the county (government.) They just turned a quarter of my business block into a vacant lot. They need to keep it clean, and remove the old bridge. The county promised us signs on the highway to direct drivers to South Park to shop. We only have two little a-frame signs that say "Open for Business" and they are right here where people already are. To be fair, the Mayor comes down here to eat with his family, without the press. Mike gets some credit for showing up. I think his hearts in the right place. He wants us to do some type of stage for events, like music and outdoor movie night. I've been working on that."

Because of the uncertainty of the South Park business community and the many in it who have counted on the bridge both for customers and convenience, the West Seattle Herald asked Mayor McGinn if the $15 million pledge made by the City of Seattle last June 23 toward the cost of a new South Park bridge was at all in jeopardy.

"We are committed to helping," said McGinn. "We were proposing a funding mechanism for how to achieve that, so we're not merely making a promise to help in the future 'somehow,' we're actually proceeding with the proposal to make sure that we have the funds to fulfill that promise. I am personally committed to helping with this project."

Between the stopped clock and 14th Avenue is a coffee kiosk, South Park Espresso. Aurora, 22, who also lives on a boat at the marina, is an employee.

"I think a lot of artists should come down here and all the locals in South Park should come out and we should use this space to do something bigger and better," she said. "I've lived here two years and I haven't noticed increased violence like some thought. If we start making some events around here I'm sure things will pick up and it could be like Fremont or Georgetown. South Park is a beautiful location. I like the style of the old buildings and businesses. It's set up to be another 'getaway out of town,' but still in town."

"We've been OK, a little slow," said Jalisco Restaurant owner Julia Ramos, at 8517 14th Avenue South. "Our customers are still coming and I'm very happy because they are supporting us and don't want us to leave. A lot of people sent emails saying don't let South Park die. Boeing workers are still coming and say no matter what they're going to come. They use their Boeing Bridge. I'm still nervous but I think we're going to make it. The street looks kind of quiet, kind of weird. At this time of day (lunch hour) we'd see a lot of big trucks going by and shaking the building."

"It's been the same to busier, we're doing really well," said Loretta's bartender, Stevie Barile. Loretta's is at 8617 14th Avenue South. "Our customers are mostly locals, but because of the wake, a lot of people came in who wouldn't normally come down here, and some of them have come back."

"The local residents try to support us for now but we don't know yet how the bridge closing will affect our business," said Napoli Pizzeria owner Josephine Porco. "We're hoping they'll keep on coming. For lunch Boeing customers don't risk taking the time to come around because they could get stuck when the 1st Avenue Bridge opens for boats."

Napoli Pizzeria is at 8600 14th Avenue South.

"I've been in this building since 1981 and across the street for two years before that," said Josephine, who moved here from Pittsburgh and lives in Burien. Her son Otto works with her, and her daughter Maria operates Via Vadi Caffe, named for Vadi, the Italian town where the family is from. It looks like a tidy European Restaurant, and is located in the rear of the same building.

"So far I haven't noticed a big change in our business," said Maria, who is perky and talkative, well-suited for her career. "We are bringing people in who seem to be supportive. I don't know what's going to happen in a couple of months when things slow down."

"We have about a 25 percent gas volume drop because of the bridge closing," said Gurdev Singh with sadness in his deep-set eyes. He owns the South Park 76 Gas Station and its convenience store, and leases the Subway Restaurant adjoining the building, at 8819 14th Avenue South. "It's a big problem. We are also down about 15 to 20 percent in our shop. Subway is down the same. People and big trucks stop traveling across the bridge, and I feel the impact." Singh has been an outspoken neighborhood advocate at community meetings about the bridge closing where he has voiced his frustrations and suggestions.

"Some things really bother me," he said. "They told me at the meetings there will be signage on the highway saying 'Here is Subway, gasoline, pizza.' If someone is traveling on the highway they don't know we are here."

Still, he plans to stick around. "I'm going to give it a good shot and try to stay here," he said. "I'll try to hang."

"Every business here in South Park is affected but some are a little more resilient than others," said Ron Cook, owner, R.L. Cook Sales and Supply Company, 8814 14th Avenue South, and president of the South Park Business Association. The electrical supply business was founded by his father in 1945. Ron, who was raised in White Center, took it over in 1975.

"New customers, clients, and suppliers now have to find you without the bridge," he said. "And there is more travel time for employees." He has seven. "We do not want the community to be diminished from the bridge closure. We are not a small community tucked away on the Duwamish River like some believe, as you can see in this aerial view," he said, showing a series of enlarged aerial photographs illustrating light industrial parks. "We have a very vibrant, economically significant community. We have over 450 businesses with over 17,000 employees in the South Park area according to the data I've seen. The story isn't complaining that a new bridge should have already been built. The story now is how this stays a viable community and overcomes the transportation situation that has been thrown at us."

Visit: www.southparkbusiness.org