Jane Lukatah figures she has a couple years before she's kicked out of the space where she opened B&O Espresso in 1976 at Belmont Avenue and Olive Way (Belmont & Olive = B&O). "Maybe two years, maybe more," she said.

When the Capitol Hill mecca for espresso and desserts -- German chocolate cake, sour cream lemon pie -- appeared set for demolition last year, Lukatah made plans to occupy the old Dilettante Chocolates shop on Broadway.

Then the demolition stalled, and B&O stayed put.

Two public meetings since spring 2006 have examined the design of the building set to replace B&O, which is far lovelier inside than out.

"It's an old building with nothing of significant architectural character," said Eric Blank, who is managing the new building project for Nicholson Kovalchick Architects in West Seattle. "The value of the B&O is the cafe itself, the character of the inside space."

The new building is designed with space that B&O could reoccupy, he said. No start date has been set for the project.

A third "early design guidance committee" meeting is scheduled for 8 p.m. on Wednesday, March 4, at Seattle Central Community College, 1701 Broadway, Room 3211. The Seattle Department of Planning and Development organizes a volunteer board to oversee these meetings.

Although the public can influence the design of the new building, it apparently has no official say in the razing of the old one. Still, people feel strongly about it, like the guy who wrote this over-the-top letter to the editor of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer in 2006. Another site includes old photos of the B&O building and a petition to save it.

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