These just focus on the three houses near the park. The corner house was owned by Kay Rood, who ran a custom framing business. There were stories on her in this blog and in the P-I.
Demolition of three houses for light rail station on Broadway from Brad Kevelin on Vimeo.
I need a pickmeup after that one. Anybody working on a video of cool looking light rail trains moving 1,000s across the city? Preferably with a rockin techno beat, please
Wow. I drove by Kay’s house tonight, and it was gone. I thought, “At least I didn’t have to watch it being torn down.” But Kay sent me a link to this video, and I did. Hundred year old house. I figured I owed it that.
Very moving,Brad.
Yeah, I didn’t mean to make it so melodramatic but it kind of turned out that way. I can only imagine all the memories made in those three homes over the years.
Thanks Brad, for the demolition video. I had read the demo was imminent. Demolitions are always sobering occasions for me, as I can imagine the people who had connections with the buildings. In this case it was more personal as Kay is a friend of mine and I had many opportunities to see her there in her frameshop. It’s the end of my history with that corner of 10th and Denny too.
p.s. The soundtrack was a real tearjerker also.
This was featured on Boingboing:
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/03/11/demolition-of-a-hand.ht
As a friend and customer of Kay Rood, Brad’s video brings a flood of memories. Every planting, home repair and memory went under that
dozer. The enjoyment of the park she put her heart and soul into is left to others. It is a sad commentary on the process the
city engaged in to obtain this land. Thanks for the thoughtful video,
Brad.
I’m sure this demo was moving for the folks impacted. My hearts go out to you. However, spreading this video around on the net like this.. seems to only hurt seattle’s mass transit initiatives, which are sadly lacking support as it is. Let’s leave the tear jerking videos for our shootings and other mediagenic news, ok?
Respectfully,
-3ric Johanson
I live in hope that people can watch this and remain objective about the city’s mass transit needs.
Oh, I’m a huge transit supporter and I don’t own a car. I posted it to a local blog so I had nothing to do with “spreading it around the net”… things that strike a chord tend to do that on their own.
I see change as a natural part of life. This is like when a child goes off to college… it is an exciting time for what lies ahead, but it is a sad day for the parents and leaves a longing for what used to be.
3ric, suppressing ideas isn’t the answer to dealing with complex or emotional issues. Examining them and acknowledging ambiguity is a healthier strategy.
Brad’s video helped me acknowledge my sadness at seeing Kay’s house gone. And it helped me move on. Perhaps it did the same for Kay, which could be why she forwarded the link to friends. This is one of the things art is for. We should spread it around more, not suppress it.
I’m pleased to see so many people here who can hold several ideas in their heads at once:
It’s sad to see your house, or your friend’s house, torn down.
Seattle needs public transport, and is creating it.
Maybe the city could have sold rights to salvagers.
We need to build up, rather than out into farmlands and flood plains.
Etc.
I’m curious why the houses weren’t deconstructed for salvage and recycling. It appears there was still a lot of good material in them such as wood flooring, dimensional lumber, and architectural elements such as columns and trim. A significant portion of the structures could have been recycled if demo’d in a more thoughtful manor. It’s a shame that we are sending these resources to a landfill.
I would just like to clarify about the recycling concerns raised about the demolition. The requirements by sound transit are that the efforts of he demolition must produce 75 percent recycled material from the deconstruction. While some of the material is indeed headed for landfill, the majority is intended for re-use.