Scott Hackney

Pillar of the community

Marenakos Rock Center in Preston has long been the place to go for stone. Owners Bill Hyde (grandson of founder Bill Marenakos) and Scott Hackney are bringing stone to the city at the newly opened Stonearium in South Seattle (3220 First Ave. S., 206-340-0081). It's a cool old warehouse filled with light and roomy enough to house groupings of 16,000-pound Columbia River basalt columns that punch 20 feet in the air. Hackney and I sat around on slabs of salt-and-pepper granite to talk about his newly launched enterprise.

Q: Stonearium? What's that?

A: It's a brand new word — we made it up and I've trademarked it. It's a display space, a place to see all the textures, shapes and colors of stone. The mission is simple — to connect people and stone. We have a library with a fireplace where people can sit around and drink wine and look at books about stone and portfolios from designers, artists, masons and landscapers.

Q: Where does all this stone come from?

A: We bring it in from Utah, Oregon, Montana, Pennsylvania, even Canada and Mexico, but much of it comes from the Cascades. It's been lying up on the mountains for eons, and we gather it up as carefully as we can. Bill and I are stewards of the old No. 1 Hercules Quarry, which has been going since 1894 — most of Pioneer Square is built out of Tenino sandstone from that quarry.

Q: How did you become an owner in the Marenakos family business?

A: I started out as a customer in 1975 when I had a landscape contracting business. I went there every day for years, and in 1992 they invited me in to be a third-generation owner.

Q: All these big hunks of stone — is this more of a guy thing?

A: No, our customers are 50/50 or maybe we have more women than men come in. When it comes to cash and carry, we require husbands to bring a note from home.

Q: Do customers find such huge pieces of stone intimidating?

A: We want to give people the idea this is all doable. Billy Hyde's dad had the idea to put the crane on the back end of the truck rather than behind the cab. We've got boom trucks that can reach more than 40 feet into people's gardens and set stone. Our truck drivers are artists.

Q: Why a second location?

A: We wanted a place in the city for people to come and experience what it feels like to be surrounded by stone, to see fine craftsmanship and connect with the artists and masons who shape the stone. We display all the possibilities.

Q: What's your favorite kind of stone?

A: I don't think there's a bad stone out there . . . We're all drawn to stone — it's called the "hearth effect."

Marenakos Stonearium is located at 3220 First Ave. S. in Seattle; phone, 206-340-0081