washington hall Originally uploaded by seewhy

This year, the American Express Partners in Preservation initiative is granting historic sites in the Puget Sound region over $1,000,000 for preservation work. The site will be chosen by a public vote, in which Puget Sound community members can vote once daily for their favorite site. Capitol Hill certainly has its share of historic sites, unfortunately none of them made the list of 25 sites competing for the money  (or perhaps on the bright side, Capitol Hill’s historic sites are all well taken care of!). That said, it is still an opportunity for folks to get engaged and help preserve a piece of Puget Sound history. You can see the full list of 25 sites at the Partners in Preservation website, but for those extra hill-centric folks out there, here are the five sites closest to our ‘hood (measured from the Cal Anderson Volcano Fountain, the cultural if not geographic center of the neighborhood):

1. Town Hall Seattle (0.79 miles from Volcano) Built in 1922 by renowned Portland architect George Foote Dunham, this NW-style Pantheon was originally home to the Fourth Church of Christ, Scientist. After years of neglect the building was rehabilitated for use as Seattle’s Town Hall in 2007 providing citizens with over 350 annually, and generally for under $5. Our sister site FirstHillSeattle.com has been campaigning for Town Hall.

 

2. 5th Avenue Theatre (0.91 miles from Volcano) Inspired by the Chinese Forbidden City, the 1926 5th Avenue Theatre has one of the most ornate interiors of any buildings in Seattle. The theatre was forced to close in the 1970’s by citizens rallied to its cause and reopened in 1980. Today it is one of the most prestigious theatres in the Pacific Northwest with over 300,000 annual visitors.

 

3. Naval Reserve Armory MOHAI (1.03 miles from Volcano) Sitting at the southern edge of Lake Union, the Art Deco Armory, built in the early 1940’s for WWII training, is set for a new lease on life in the next few years. The area around the site is currently under construction as South Lake Union park and last year MOHAI announced that it would move into the space in 2012.

 

4. Washington Hall (1.08 miles to Volcano) One of the Central District’s most prestigious dance halls, many musical icons have graced its stage including Jimi Hendrix, Duke Ellington, and Billie Holiday. The building was originally built in 1908 by the Danish Brotherhood as a meeting space and immigrant lodging house. In 2008 the building was purchased by Historic Seattle and restoration is underway.

 

5. Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle Building (1.14 miles from Volcano) Built in 1910 as the Saint George residential hotel, today the building houses the Urban League as well as many other community and social service organizations. The building was badly damaged by the 2001 Nisqually Earthquake and needs significant structural repairs to remain safe and useful.

If none of these are doing it for you, then what Capitol Hill historic structure would you have liked to see on the list?