Preservation News – Landmarks Old, New and Future

Neptune Theatre, 2012 / Photo: Historic Seattle

Seattle Landmarks 

Landmarks Preservation Board Meeting, Wednesday, November 14, 2012:

This meeting is open to the public and takes place on Wednesday, November 14 at 3:30 pm, Seattle Municipal Tower, 700 Fifth Ave, 40th Floor, Suite 4050/60. Download the agenda (LPB52512.)

–Neptune Theatre: The LPB will decide whether to designate the Neptune Theatre in the University District. The Board voted to nominate the building at its October 3 meeting so that its members could take a closer look at the structure in person to assess the level of physical integrity. At the October 3 meeting, the owner brought an attorney and an architect to argue against nomination claiming the building lacks integrity and how it does not meet any one of the six designation standards. The nomination was submitted by Larry Johnson of The Johnson Partnership who prepared it pro bono as an advocacy effort–he believes the Neptune should be recognized and protected as a Seattle Landmark. Read more about his thoughts on the theatre in his firm’s blog.  Historic Seattle offered public testimony at the October 3rd meeting supporting the nomination of the Neptune Theatre, citing the building’s significance as a community landmark in a city where few historic theatres (built as theatres) remain in neighborhoods. The building has sufficient integrity to convey its significance.

You may download the landmark nomination on the Seattle Historic Preservation Program’s website under “Current Nominations.” It includes an excellent section on the development of theatres in Seattle.

If you support the designation of the Neptune Theatre as a landmark we urge you to attend the meeting to speak in favor of the nomination. You may also email your public comments to Erin Doherty, Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board Coordinator, at erin.doherty@seattle.gov.

–Chiarelli-Dore House: We’re thrilled to see a nomination for another mid-century modern residence go before the LPB. Located in the Maple Leaf neighborhood, this was architect James Chiarelli’s own house built in 1949. It is definitely worthy of recognition and is amazingly intact. You may download the landmark nomination on the Seattle Historic Preservation Program’s website under “Current Nominations.”

Landmarks Preservation Board Meeting, Wednesday, November 7, 2012:

At this meeting, the LPB unanimously designated the Ballard Carnegie Library and Town Hall and nominated the C.P. Dose House.  You may download the landmark nominations on the Seattle Historic Preservation Program’s website under “Current Nominations.” The Dose House nomination provides a particularly well-researched and written history.

Historic Seattle has been advocating for the designation of the Ballard Carnegie Library for over a year and a half. Thanks to Larry Johnson who prepared the nomination pro bono and the Ballard Historical Society for sponsoring the nomination. The property owner objected to the nomination at the September 19 meeting and was not present at the November 7 hearing. She recently wrote an op-ed piece in the Ballard News-Tribune stating her case. The Ballard News-Tribune has been following the issue and reported on the meeting in which the Ballard Carnegie Library was designated. It’s clear that everyone (even the owner) agrees the building is a community landmark. Now it’s official.

The Ballard Historical Society will celebrate the designation at its Dec 5 annual meeting. Here’s their blog post about the designation.

Other News

-The Kalalaka has a new owner but its future is still uncertain. The Tacoma News-Tribune reports on this latest news about the continuing saga of the Kalakala. It includes a nice photo gallery of the Kalakala through the years.

-The National Preservation Conference took place in Spokane this year (Oct 31 – Nov 3). It was an excellent conference that showed off Spokane to a national audience. A highlight of the conference was the Honor Award presented to the Washington State Heritage Barn Preservation Initiative. Read more about the award and the program on the DAHP blog. Knute Berger was the Closing Plenary Luncheon speaker for the conference. Here’s his Crosscut article about the conference and Spokane. MAin2 will be posting photos from the conference later this week.