InterUrban Series Launched

• September 16, 2015
• No Comment
• Advocacy

Last evening at the Friends of Georgetown History Museum, Historic Seattle hosted a happy hour to launch our InterUrban series of events. About 65 attendees explored the museum to find the answers to trivia questions, learned about neighborhood history, and enjoyed libations provided by sponsor (and neighborhood business) Machine House Brewery.

One highlight of the evening was hearing from John Bennett, a past Historic Seattle award recipient, on why he invests and believes in the adaptive reuse of historic buildings. We also received a visit and heard stories from a ghost of Georgetown’s past – a saloon owner, naturally.

Historic Seattle looks forward to hosting more InterUrban events in the coming months. We’ll be offering informal, advocacy-focused, issues-based event opportunities presented in a variety of formats including small group discussions, happy hour gatherings, behind-the-scenes tours, and social media engagement.

The series connects historic preservation to urban planning and policy discussions impacting our region such as affordability, equitable development, social justice, sustainability, and neighborhood density. One outcome is to build collaborative partnerships that broaden our impact and to shape the discussion about the future development of our communities and historic places that matter.

Taco Time Landmark Eligible?

• April 01, 2015
• No Comment
• Advocacy

The local grassroots advocacy group, Save Our Fast Food Icons (SOFFI), announced today, April 1, that they are preparing a landmark nomination form for the Taco Time building at 2212 N 45^th Street in Wallingford. The City of Seattle’s threshold age criterion for landmarking is only twenty-five years and the building retains high physical integrity.

Built in 1990, the Taco Time building sets itself apart from the usual corporate fast food restaurant chain architecture. Its style is more akin to late 1980s to 1990s small, commercial, suburban design characterized by its cube-like form, grid of glass walls, drive-thru window, and the tall, cactus-shape sign that calls out to drivers traveling along a major arterial.

Many recall the Taco Time nostalgically, “I was a frequent patron of Dick’s Drive-in in Wallingford during my years as an Art student at the UW,” says Seattle native and designer Alex Faker, “I watched the building being erected and thought it was another dental office. Then I saw the drive-thru and wondered if it would be a place to get tacos and dental work done!”

Founded in 1962, the same year of the Seattle World’s Fair, Taco Time is a Northwest institution. The company’s full impact on the region’s built environment is explored in the landmark nomination. SOFFI hopes to raise awareness and appreciation of our fast food heritage—many of these small one-story buildings on large urban lots are fast disappearing, a victim of Seattle’s density-at-all-costs mentality and development pressure.

One detractor (who wishes to remain anonymous) asks, “Really? Seriously? Is this an April fool’s joke? If the Taco Time building is a landmark then I can’t wait to get my Magnolia McMansion landmarked in a few years. I think Taco Time should fight this nomination. I know some good land use lawyers in town who will charge a lot of money to argue for their property rights. What if the building gets designated? Can Taco Time change out the windows and replace with vinyl? What’s next? Pizza Hut?”

SOFFI realizes they’ve got an uphill battle and will be seeking support for landmark status and hopes all you Taco Time fans out there come out to support this fast food icon. It’s about time!

Photos: Joe Mabel (GNU Free Document License granted by photographer)

Most Endangered Historic Properties 2015

• November 26, 2014
• No Comment
• Advocacy

The Washington Trust for Historic Preservation Announces a Call for Nominations to the 2015 Most Endangered Historic Properties List

FOR RELEASE:

CONTACT: Cathy Wickwire (206-624-9449 or cwickwire@preservewa.org)

November 20, 2014

Seattle, Washington: The Washington Trust for Historic Preservation is seeking nominations to its 2015 Most Endangered Historic Properties List. Nomination forms may be obtained through the Trust’s website at www.preservewa.org.

Washingtonians enjoy a diverse collection of historic and cultural resources found throughout the state. Historic buildings and sites significantly contribute to the heritage and vitality of Washington while enhancing the quality of life in small towns, large cities, and across rural areas. Yet each day, these resources face a variety of challenges, including lack of funding, deferred maintenance, neglect, incompatible development, and demolition. Inclusion in the Most Endangered List is an important initial step in highlighting these threats and bringing attention to those historic resources most in need.

Historic properties selected for the Most Endangered list receive advocacy support and assistance from the Washington Trust. While the focus is to remove the immediate threat facing historic properties, raising awareness of preservation issues in general remains a programmatic goal. Through proactive partnering with local organizations and concerned citizens, the Washington Trust’s Most Endangered List program has resulted in many high profile success stories across Washington since its establishment in 1992. (more…)