A common assumption about historic preservationists is that we believe all buildings should be preserved. Certainly there are buildings that we wish hadn’t been torn down, and yet our built environment must reflect our modern use and competing needs in a growing city. Sometimes this requires a brand-new building. Understanding our past is one of our needs as a culture, which can be done in many ways in addition to preserving a building. We contribute documentation of these buildings in our historic reports.
On Indigenous People’s Day, we are particularly thinking of our report on the Harbor Light Building, a two-story former Salvation Army office in Pioneer Square, helped clear the way for the Chief Seattle Club to demolish the 1909 building. This was replaced with a beautiful eight-story building, designed by Johnpaul Jones of Jones & Jones Architects, featuring designs referencing Coast Salish art. Known as ʔálʔal (pronounced all-all, a Lushootseed word meaning home), the building houses the organization’s headquarters and many of its services, a primary health care clinic, café and art gallery, and 80 units of affordable housing.
In the Green Lake neighborhood, much-beloved SPUD Fish & Chips was struggling to maintain the business in their iconic, Googie-style restaurant. There was a public hue and cry at the prospect of the building being demolished. However, without the development plans, the restaurant itself would likely close, and the site would remain vacant, financially unsustainable, and unmaintainable. The neighborhood would retain the building but lose the institution that gave the building meaning.
When we presented a landmark nomination report on SPUD to the City of Seattle, the board declined to designate the building as a city Landmark, paving the way for the new development. Cone Architects partnered with the owners of SPUD to create a new home for the business—on the same site as the previous half-century, now with 15 floors of housing (and an influx of fish & chip fans). The building received an AIA award of merit in 2023.
Rainier Beach High School, historically saddled with terms like “beleaguered” and “struggling,” has a loyal community of supporters and proud alumni. When the Building for Excellence levy (BEX V) was approved, RBHS was one of the schools chosen for replacement. We partnered with members of the community to create comprehensive historic documentation tracing the history of the school building and its importance to the community that it serves. Documentation for the Landmark process included a deep-dive into the history of the Seattle branch of the Black Panther Party, the development of the neighborhoods that serve the school, and even an interview with “Gang of Four” member and former King County Councilman Larry Gossett. The new Rainier Beach High School is under construction, slated to be completed in 2026.
We believe that the significance and context of any existing building must be carefully researched and documented. This work is an integral part of understanding our past, present, and future.
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