The Frank Pardee Lewis House as it looked just before its 50th birthday

A home sitting atop Capitol Hill since 1890 is slated for demolition to make way for a four-story, 31-unit apartment building at the corner of 18th Ave and E Denny Way. But first, the city must determine if the old Pardee Lewis House is worthy of protective landmark status. It gets its hearing this week.

A CHS community post written by neighbor John Fox of the Capitol Hill Coalition made a plea for its preservation:

Constructed in 1890 for Mr. Frank Pardee Lewis this cheerful yellow house is an excellent and rare example of Victorian residential architecture in our neighborhood. The former owner spent 15 years restoring the exterior and made significant upgrades to the systems and interior. The house sits high on the lot and features an unusual rounded porch, sunbursts in the gable ends, and some very fancy shingling in the gables. It is clad in tongue and groove “California” siding and retains most of its original windows and doors.

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Above the entry is an eye brow window which lights the stair hall inside the house. On the south side at the rear is another unusual hooded arched window which is clad in fancy shingles. The west and south side of the house exterior have not been restored but the original siding remains underneath asbestos shingles. The porch is also missing its original spandrels and spindles but still provides a pleasant outlook of the surrounding neighborhood. A side door with stained glass and the original double front doors remain. While the City has the date of construction as 1901, an 1893 map shows that both houses were there at that time at the corner of Depot and Hyde streets.

The house today (Image: John Fox)

We wrote about the Coalition group here earlier this week, by the way.

The nomination document submitted by Rudd Development provides less hope. We’ve embedded the write-up below. The document makes no recommendations but also contains few arguments for the building’s preservation. It contains a brief on Frank Pardee Lewis’s role in area history as well as the history of black property owners in the neighborhood and the influence of public transit on its development. As for the architecture, the packet documents the structure’s place in the Queen Anne-style vernacular and spends a good portion of the write-up documenting alterations both interior and exterior.

Judging by the nomination, the house seems likely to fall into a category similar to the Weatherford Antiques building — interesting but not quite a landmark. The Weatherford House is now likely to face demolition to make way for an apartment project at 14th and John.

What will the board say about 1823 18th Ave? The document is only a part of the process. There’s time for public comment at Wednesday’s session and you can also weigh in via email.

If the nomination is rejected, it will make the second potential nomination in a few blocks of 18th Ave to be denied in the past month. In September, the board declined to nominate the Ruth Courts apartments at 18th Ave E and John. This Anhalt building at 16th and John fared better and will be moving forward with its nomination at the board session on Wednesday.

Landmarks Preservation Board Meeting
Seattle Municipal Tower
700 5thAvenue, 40th Floor
Room 4050/60
Wednesday, October 17, 2012 – 3:30 p.m.

LPBCurrentNom_1823_18thAvenue

Greg Collinsworth plays in Seattle band Hearts are Thugs and is a server at Anchovies and Olives. Hearts are Thugs will be playing at the Comet Tavern on Nov. 4th.

For more street style photos from around Seattle check out www.itsmydarlin.com

Here are the top CHS posts from this week in 2011:

• Occupy Seattle Central? School says protest camp would not be welcomed
• SFD responds to blaze in 19th Ave house — UPDATE: One dead
• Thomas Street Market plans climb higher than convenience on Summit Ave
• Bank glass busted on Capitol Hill — again
• Pike’s underground Healthy Times Fun Club facing eviction
• Return of the Rosebud, Baguette shutters
• Seattle University mourning following two student deaths this weekend

Believe the crow. Writing “professionally” is way overrated. Professional drinking? Sounds better.

What do you do for a living?
I bartend here [at Quinn’s Pub].

How long have you been a bartender?
About five years here in Seattle, and before that, in Texas. I’m from a town called Tyler, about 80 miles east of Dallas.

Why Seattle?
I transferred to Seattle University to finish my Bachelor’s degree in philosophy, and stuck around.

It seems like being a bartender is a lot like being a philosopher, but with cocktails.
They definitely have some overlap…

Other than bartending, as a philosophy major, what would be your ideal job?
Probably writing professionally.

What kind of writing?
Short fiction is what I work on right now. Eventually, I’d like to write a book.

Is your writing ever inspired by your bartending experiences?
Absolutely. The human interactions you have with the many and varied people you get to interact with and get to know… that definitely informs your writing.

Do you have any favorite philosophers? Are you a Kierkegaard man, or a Schopenhauer guy, or… okay, that’s about all the philosophers I can think of.
I really like Edumund Husserl. I enjoy reading Kierkegaard, although I don’t agree with a lot of his stuff, although he’s just beautiful to read. There’s a lesser-known philosopher named Karl Jaspers, who’s a big influence of mine.

Can you sum up his philosophy in a nutshell? Although, as Kierkegaard said, “You define me, you negate me.” So, how would you negate him?
It’s hard to distill his ideas into a soundbyte, but he’s an Existentialist.

Do you live on the Hill?
I live about three blocks away, on Harvard and Pine.

Bartenders are kind of like celebrities, in that a lot of people recognize them. Do people ever come up to you outside the bar, and expect you to remember them?
A lot of times the opposite is true. I make an effort to remember people’s faces and names, so sometimes I’ll come up to someone and remember their name and occupation or…

Or their credit card number?
My memory’s not that good!

Do you ever find yourself having to be a sort of “drink psychic” for people like me who can’t decide what to order in a bar?
I feel like the seasons and the weather of each day is a huge influencing factor, even if people don’t realize it. If someone’s been out in the sun all day, you don’t want to give them a heavy bourbon-rich cocktail. But the key to making a cocktail someone’s going to love is interacting with them over and over again. I have regulars, and I know what they’re going to like.

Is there any one seasonal beer that you think people should know about right now?
We’re getting on the Ayinger Octoberfest Marzen. To me that is the penultimate fall beer. To me, it just embodies the changes in the seasons.

When you’re not working, what are some of your favorite places to hang out on the Hill?
I spend an inordinate time at Caffé Vita, reading. Also, as a bartender, I have to do a lot of research and development, and try new cocktails, so I have to drink a lot, professionally.

It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it.
I’m dedicated…

Do you live on the Hill?
I live on 25th and Denny. It’s like this vortex… I may be on Capitol Hill, I’m not sure.

What do you do for a living?
I work as an admin director for two environmental organizations.

What are you up to this evening?
So, I’m phone banking for Approve 74 with Washington United for Marriage.

You must feel strongly about this issue. Why is that?
A couple of personal reasons. For one, I have a transgender sister who has struggled with approval and bullying throughout her life, so it comes form that place of having a family member who had to deal with that. The other strong reason I’m supportive is that I’m bi-racial. Even though my mother and father were wed at a time when it was legal for them to get married, relatively recently in history they wouldn’t have had that freedom. Even certain family members of mine didn’t want my father to marry my mother because she was a minority. That showed me that the freedom to marry is about freedom for all people.

Phone banking sounds really scary to most people. How is it going?
There are a lot of people who have very strong opinions. There are some people who are open to having a conversation, at least, and it’s very nice to have that.

Here on Capitol Hill, we might get a skewed opinion on this issue—here, it seems everyone is for it, but…
Once you get out of the King County bubble, there are stronger anti-marriage-equality viewpoints. But I think people are really open for discussion.

Other than volunteering for marriage equality, what do you like to do in your free time?
I like to hike, and during the winter, I’m a skier. And recently, I’ve been learning to scuba dive.

Where do you scuba dive in Seattle? And how, pray tell, do you avoid freezing to death?
West Seattle! And, yeah, there’s this one part of the top of your head that gets really cold, but other than that, you’re in a suit. The marine life here is world-renowned.

And you can see the fish? It seems like it’s so dark…
In the winter you can, so it’s the best time to go scuba diving.

What are some of your favorite places on the Hill?
I have to go back to Canterbury, I like arcade places. Also, I’m a huge Liberty fan—the 15th Avenue places are a little more mellow, they’re the ones I tend to go to.

What’s the sexiest spot on the Hill?
Vermillion, when they have the Breadline poetry readings. They’re really fun, and different from your usual poetry readings. I mean, they’re not … how do I put it?

Hella boring?
Yes, amazingly, they’re not boring at all!

What are you up to tonight?
I’m waiting for a friend to pick her up after the dance class inside.

Do you dance yourself?
I tap dance. I’m not good—I’m just a beginner. I’ve only been doing it for a year and a half.

What was your impetus to learn tap dancing?
It’s something I’d always wanted to do, so I decided it was time to do it.

I’ve always loved watching tap dancers, but think I’d be too intimidated to try it…
That’s the thing, you’ve got to just go out there and not be afraid to make a fool of yourself.

What’s been the hardest thing about learning to tap dance?
To not compare myself to the other people in the room.

I guess that’s true for everything in life?
That’s true. Exactly. The way I play tap dancing is the way I play life.

You sound very philosophical.
I am very philosophical. Very self-aware.

What do you do for a living?
I’m in the awareness business.

Really? Wow. So is business good in the awareness business?
It’s great.

That must be an interesting line of work.
I own a company called the Cambridge Institute for Better Vision. It’s an international company based in Boston, but I live here. It teaches people how to take care of their eyes, and how to see more clearly on all levels.

So, it’s not just about ocular vision, but about your… “third eye,” or…?
It’s about seeing clearly in life, and focusing on clear images of where you want to go, all that.

What brought you on this path?
Well, I’ve been doing it for probably longer than you’ve been on the planet. I’ve been doing it for more than 30 years. It began through working on myself, and improving my own vision and clarifying my own sight, and going on from there.

Do you live on Capitol Hill?
I live downtown, actually.

Here on the Hill, are there any places you find energetically awesome?
I love them all. I love Remedy Teas, and the place down there to get breakfast…

Coastal Kitchen?
Yeah, I go there once every other week. There used to be a Thai restaurant down the street…

It’s still there, but now it’s a different Thai restaurant.
Like this Lebanese restaurant [Harissa]—it used to be a different Lebanese restaurant. I’ve only been here for two years, so I don’t know all the places.

Where are you from?
The East Coast. I’ve lived everywhere from New Jersey to New Hampshire, but for last 30 years, in Boston area.

What brought you to Seattle?
A major life change. I was deciding between Seattle and Portland and Eugene, and I ended up here.

Yeah, I moved here after having a dream where a talking salmon told me to move to Seattle. True story.
Hmmm. Dreams can be very powerful…

More CHS Crow:

• Lou, Carrie & Yohan — ‘The ghost messed with me a lot’
• Jorge, Monica & Jake — ‘… so I blend in’
• Ben, Azul & Mike (& Alfred) — ‘People in Seattle are from all over the place’
• More…

Marguerite Kennedy is a freelance writer, semi-professional thumb wrestler, and recovering New Yorker who currently resides on Capitol Hill. She blogs at www.marguerite-aville.com, and does that other thing @tweetmarguerite.

The pop-up park people behind the Renegade Planners Collective threw one last summer street party Thursday night even though we’re only a few weeks away from Halloween. It’s been a swell run. We hope you enjoyed the vitamin D.

The group CHS photographer Alex Garland found hanging out at E Denny and Summit is a busy bunch:

Seth (Glasses, beard, brown jacket) and Kirk (glasses and grey jacket) studied Urban Design at UW. The other two in the photo are Jackson (Hat, grey jacket, white t-shirt) and James (green jacket) who decided to take on the documentation of Seattle’s Parks. They’re working on a book. Started the project in 2009. Seattle has approximately 360 parks and they have about 305 documented already.

Maybe they can add a few parklets to their list in 2013. You can learn more about the Renegade Planners Collective at facebook.com/rpcollective

Our sister site Central District News is reporting on another use of force investigation underway after an SPD officer’s alleged choking of a man who was allegedly resisting arrest last Saturday afternoon. CHS reported on another SPD internal investigation following a “physical contact” incident at Seattle Central in late September.

City investigating use of force in arrest of man at 23rd and Union
The use of force against a hit-and-run suspect in the parking lot of the Midtown Center at 23rd and Union Saturday is under investigation after several witnesses and CDNews raised questions.

Witnesses told CDNews they saw an SPD officer use force when arresting a man Saturday shortly after 4 p.m. Two witnesses we spoke with described an officer using both hands to choke the man after he resisted being placed in handcuffs.

After the struggle, the man was bleeding significantly from a cut near his eye, the witnesses said. One witness said an officer punched the man, causing the cut. The injuries were significant enough that the man was taken to the hospital in an ambulance. more… 

We have some good news for a group of Pike/Pine business and land owners ready to fight to keep an international fast food conglomerate out of the neighborhood.

“There will be no Chicken Mcnuggets at 10th and Union,” Kya Aatai of Seawest Investment Associates tells CHS.

The developer behind the 10th and Union mixed-use apartment building Thursday called word that a McDonald’s fast-food outlet was destined for his building “a crazy rumor.”

CHS has been receiving tips on the global burger slinger coming to Capitol Hill since summer. Apparently Ronald McDonald is rather conspicuous about his interest in the Hill. The rumors reached Big Mac proportions this week with one business owner telling CHS he and others were ready to oppose the fast-food restaurant opening at 10th and Union.

The future 10th and Union. Not married, by the way

But Aatai’s six-story, 79-unit apartment building with heavy commercial square-footage is still a long way from completion and, at this point, talks with interested commercial tenants — mostly food and drink, Aatai says — are in only early stages. McDonald’s is not on the list.

That doesn’t mean Capitol Hill won’t get its first set of Golden ArchesTM in 2013. People familiar with the project say the worldwide burger king may have its french-fried heart set on Broadway.

Joe Klarman, handling commercial leases on behalf of Russell Jones Real Estate for Broadway’s new The Lyric apartment building, said the only businesses signed for the spaces at this time are Einstein Brothers and Bank of America.

“A myriad of other companies, some big, some small are looking,” he said. “We’re not close enough to comment on any of them.”

Broadway’s new The Lyric could be home to Capitol Hill’s new McDonald’s (Image: CHS)

Klarman said most of the interest in the remaining Broadway frontage on the south end of the building has been from restaurants. The Thomas commercial side of the building has drawn interest from retail and fitness focused businesses, he said. We talked to Klarman about the project’s commercial prospects earlier this year. The building will open to residents in November.

McDonald has not confirmed its interest in Broadway or Pike/Pine or both or neither. The company has not yet responded to our inquiry. Its closest locations are on First Hill and downtown at 3rd and Pine and on 5th Ave.

Meanwhile, Capitol Hill has developed a burger economy of its own in recent years. Marked by the arrival of Blue Moon, 8oz Burger Bar and Li’l Woody’s, the neighborhood suddenly finds itself very well provided for on the hamburger end of the party people food + drink pyramid. And there is more to come.

Pike/Pine’s developments moving into construction phases will undoubtedly bring more rumors — and more concern to a neighborhood that has branded its business ventures with an emphasis on independence and local. CHS reported on another rumor that spread rapidly thanks to a marketing survey asking about a possible grocery store at 11th and Pine. Brace yourself for more. Pushing back on big chains has been done in places like San Francisco’s Mission District. But even the Mission has a McDonald’s.

Capitol Hill, on the other hand, has been rough on global chains lately — especially in the food and drink space. The coffee end of things suffered two dings in recent weeks — Peet’s Coffee announced it would shutter its Broadway location while the re-organizing Tully’s chain abandoned its Pike at Broadway outlet last month. We’ve also processed a Taco Bell, a KFC, a Jack in the Box and two Burger Kings in recent memory plus a few you might forget like Boston Market, Sizzler and a Skipper’s. Global chains will come and go with some replacing themselves. But, apparently, not at 10th and Union.

The old Broadway Taco Bell, now buried deep ‘neath the Joule (Image: Ella Li via Facebook)

This week, CHS told you about three community groups working to shape the tide of development on Capitol Hill. Among them is the Pike/Pine Urban Neighborhood Council. PPUNC’s chair is John Feit, contributor of our ongoing CHS Schemata series dedicated to exploring Capitol Hill’s architecture. While we’re dedicated to impartial coverage of the Hill’s development, we’re glad to be able to share John’s essays. Below, you’ll find his latest — a response, of sorts, to some of the challenges and opportunities we outlined for the community groups getting involved with the massive changes happening across Capitol Hill. PPUNC’s environment is a special subset of the Hill. Elsewhere, there are different problems to solve and opportunities to grasp. In the meantime, here is one vision for Pike/Pine. — jseattle

The ongoing debate on the Hill as to the value of conserving our so-called “character structures” (buildings over 75 years-old) is heating up. It is fueled in part by recent development proposals that choose to incorporate (or not) such buildings into their project. Much of this debate — and the value placed by developers on preserving any particular character structure — centers on the merits of a building’s architecture and whether or not the building in question is great, or even good. All too often, however, such a focused valuation of building-as-object ignores the real value embodied in everyday buildings, and dismisses the contributions these buildings make to the urban fabric. Those who focus on building-as-object overlook how neighborhood character is defined as much by the ordinary buildings one encounters as by the extraordinary ones, especially when those of ordinary qualities comprise an assembly that weaves a complete, cohesive, and convivial urban fabric.

While there are many impressive vintage structures on the Hill that deserve preservation outright — regardless of the surrounding urban fabric, such as the one at Pine and 11th pictured below — there are certainly many more buildings that actually contribute more to the character of Capitol Hill’s enviable streetscape, even if paling in comparison to our most beloved buildings as singular architectural objects. While a building’s particular architectural pedigree may be important, it is arguably more important to value the contribution a good collection of ordinary buildings makes in achieving neighborhood character.

11th and Pine, Capitol Hill (Image: John Feit)

Pictured below are some traditional streetscapes that are an absolutely first rate, despite of (or perhaps because of) their being defined by average buildings. In these European examples, the adjacent streets inevitably lead to piazzas surrounded by architecturally magnificent secular and religious buildings that are the standard fare in that part of the world. Yet, it is a neighborhood full of streets just like those pictured below, defined by their average and ordinary buildings, that fosters the qualities which make these cities great. And it is ultimately  this kind of street fabric that creates the quality spaces residents and visitors cherish just as much, and perhaps to a greater extent than, the grand buildings so often featured on the postcards we send back home.

Mantua, Italy

Bruges, Belgium

Back on Capitol Hill, let us suppose we have the same relative ratio of average buildings to grand buildings leading to a similar high quality built environment. With an understanding that the average does as much as the grand in creating our neighborhood character, there is no better representative assembly of such buildings on the Hill than those along 11th Avenue between Pike and Pine, pictured below. No individual building is particularly grand or distinguished, but taken together they form one of our great streetscapes. By paying attention to the cumulative effect created by such a collection of buildings, one is able see their value in establishing the kind of desirable character that many of us on the Hill cherish. Critical to our current debate, this character is fully compatible with new development. Conserving our character structures while simultaneously building new structures is the kind of balanced development approach that will continue to inject fresh ideas into our built realm, while paying due deference to the urban qualities that attracted us here in the first place. To foster the positive outcome of a balanced development approach it is incumbent on members of the Capitol Hill community to effectively communicate to developers that they must take time to understand the value we place on a successful blending of both the old and the new structures.

11th Avenue, Capitol Hill

One relatively close-by neighborhood that has achieved a very successful old-new balance on a neighborhood scale is Portland’s Pearl District. It took me some time to realize it, but it is the Pearl’s southern portion (where the character structures are, the northern portion was undeveloped rail yards) that is the most successful. The inclusion of both old and new is especially successful when the two are juxtaposed, as seen below. In this case, neither old nor new structures are exemplary as individual buildings, but taken together the streetscape they form achieves a balanced scale and creates a rich variety of experiences.

NW Glisan Street, Portland, OR

NW 11th Avenue, Portland, OR

Pursuing such a balanced development approach on the Hill presents one with several options. First, and as promised by the developer of the Bauhaus building site, there is a preservation strategy that includes the character structure’s original exterior design and the retention of its interior environme
nt. New development would occur above and be visually distinct in appearance from the retained character structure. In the particular case of the Bauhaus development the approach is certainly laudable, supportable, and easy to imagine as both the exterior and interior of the Bauhaus and adjacent Pineview Apartments are clearly something special. In the case of the Bauhaus/Pineview, we have a building that is fairly distressed requiring considerable resources and a financial commitment from the developer. Beyond leveraging the ambiance (and good will) of our neighborhood, one major incentive in favor of preservation of the Bauhaus is, of course, the extra floor the developer is awarded as an incentive for its preservation. This incentive is the means that the developer needs to offset the added costs of preserving the buildings instead of tearing them down, and was conceived and shepherded by members of the community, and adopted by the City in 2009.

The Bauhaus Building, Pine and Melrose

Bauhaus Building Interior

In addition to the straight forward preservation approach of the Bauhaus, one could pursue to adaptively re-use a building by restoring it to take on new uses its original developers may never have considered. This option can be attractive if the building in question is, say, a diamond in the rough and not such an obvious preservation candidate as is the Bauhaus. One thing making this approach attractive on Capitol Hill is that we have many of the old Auto Row buildings, buildings originally designed to support automotive uses. Automobiles, being rather large and heavy, required extra-stout structures and open floor plans. The upside to this is that a robust structure and open plan provide the most flexible floor plan of all, one that is well suited to provide for the diverse demands for tenant space on Capitol Hill that include retail, office, and restaurant. In our debate on the value of maintaining the granular streetscapes through preservation of the average and every day, goals for preservation certainly should include such Auto Row buildings as the Davis-Hoffman, pictured below. Davis-Hoffman is is a perfect candidate for conservation efforts, the extent of which are being discussed by members of the Capitol Hill community and the property’s  developer, and whose latest design fully integrates the Davis Hoffman and the adjacent Madison Park Greetings buildings into the project.

Davis Hoffman, Original Condition (Puget Sound Archives)

Davis Hoffman, Current Condition

Removing the layers of previous renovations would reveal that in its former life the Davis Hoffman was a much more handsome building than it is today, and, more importantly, has those average qualities that contribute to extraordinary streetscapes. Even today it has porosity — courtesy of a substantial collection of large windows — that distinguishes it from contemporary developments. Paired with the two adjacent Madison Park Greetings buildings around the corner (and part of the same proposed development), the Davis Hoffman creates the type of continuous street fabric that has made neighborhoods such as the Pearl District a great success, and holds great promise for ours. Fortunately, on Capitol Hill one needs not imagine the potential outcome of such conservation efforts, for we have many fine examples of adaptive re-use projects. Thanks to such forward thinking developers as Hunters Capital, Dunn and Hobbs, and Madrona Real Estate Services — to name but a few — we have not only the architectural proof of the viability of such a strategy (while often times starting with buildings in much greater distress than is Davis Hoffman), but of its financial merits as well. And this group of local developers is willing to share their experiences with others seeking to achieve similar results by in their own development projects.

Elliott Bay Book Company, Prior to Renovation (Image Michael Oaksmith)

Elliott Bay Book Company, Post Renovation

When Elliott Bay Book Company relocated from Pioneer Square, it was a significant victory for Capitol Hill. It was no easy achievement as its previous location in the Pioneer Square Historic District defined the character of the bookstore as much as the thoughtfully chosen volumes that graced its shelves. Such character was important to the book store owner, and was a prime driver during his search for a new space. Thanks to the adaptive restoration of the flexible Auto Row typology from automotive service to bookstore, we have a fine retail space whose character and authenticity is preserved. In addition to the code-required seismic upgrade, restoration strategies included restoring the wood trusses and skylights, which had been roofed over. On the facade, a historically accurate new window system was installed. This was done in addition to the more typical new bathrooms, modern telecommunications, lighting, and heating/cooling system upgrades. A fairly involved process, but with results that have created one of the best retail environments in all of Seattle. Yet the developer, Hunters Capital, could have easily demolished the building, and started afresh with a 6 story edifice. Besides a passion for old buildings, Hunters has found that such spaces create desirable and profitable retail spaces, which have a unique ability to attract discerning local retailers such as Elliott Bay Books.

Elliott Bay Book Company, Interior Prior to Renovation (Image Michael Oaksmith)

Elliott Bay Book Company, Post Renovation

In addition to the above success story, there is another project that perhaps required even greater vision and fortitude: taking the building pictured below and realizing what has become a model for small, local retail, and adaptive re-use projects — the nationally acclaimed Melrose Market. Quite frankly, it is hard to imagine anyone seeing the value in its pre-restoration condition. But someone did, and thanks to developers Dunn and Hobbes and Eagle Rock Ventures, we have a project that has literally re-defined the western edge of Pike Pine. What was formerly a forgettable street has been transformed into what many see as becoming one of Capitol Hill’s finest.  It provides the foundation for a great streetscape being embraced by current and future development projects such as the above mentioned Bauhaus project whose conservation efforts were inspired by those of Melrose Market.

Melrose Market, Prior to Renovation (Image Liz Dunn)

Melrose Market, Post Renovation

Melrose Market Interior, Post Renovation

Melrose Market is another good reminder (similar to Elliott Bay) that the conservation of the interior environment elicits as much consideration as the outside.  Another former Auto Row building, Melrose Market has long spanning trusses that prove to be well adapted to re-purposing. At Elliot Bay, which has a similar structure, the space provided is for one large retailer whereas at Melrose Market space provided is for almost a dozen, revealing the beauty and utility of the auto-row typology. In both cases the success of the project involved more than removing layers of paint, repairing rot, and bringing the building up to current standards of health and safety. Thoughtful tenanting of the spaces was essential, and to my mind, the successful results were almost a forgone conclusion. Larger national chains, with their standards of vending and for spaces they feel optimize the separation of shoppers from their money may not look twice at Melrose as it doesn’t fit within their conceptions of a successful retail environment. Yet, Elliott Bay Book Company and Melrose Market are of a culture that appreciates the unique qualities possessed by character structures, making the conservation of such spaces as appealing in attracting the types of businesses we desire on the Hill as are the spaces themselves. In a broader context, conserving our heritage buildings is one of the best a means we have in providing the type of spaces that locally-bases businesses crave, and many of us want to support.

Agnes Loft, Terrace Between Old and New Structures

Both old and new buildings are needed to create a cohesive urban fabric, and it is starting to emerge on small patches of Capitol Hill. New, modern buildings, with their clean lines and transparency are to be expected — and are most welcome — as they fill in parking lots, gas stations, and vacant lots.  However, we must not neglect those portions of our neighborhood where frontages of character buildings exist and ask developers to thoughtfully incorporate them into new developments while there still is an opportunity to do so. There should be little debate that such a conservation strategy is critical not only to maintaining the neighborhood identity many of us cherish, but to providing the kind of spaces others of like mind are looking for when searching for a new place to call home.

The streetcar folks at SDOT remind that the weekend detour at Madison and Broadway is, again, in effect. Meanwhile, government officials would like to remind you of just how dangerous life will be now that the rain has returned. Slow down. Drive carefully. Be ready for power outages.

• The Madison/Broadway detour we posted about last week is back again this weekend. A closure of east-west Pike at Broadway joins it.

Weekend Work:  

•  ·  Madison intersection — Water main work

Traffic Advisory:

• ·         The intersection of Broadway/ Madison will be closed on weekends until November 4^th (7:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.)

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• ·         Broadway will be closed weeknights between Madison and Marion until October 15^th with a signed detour (8:00 p.m. – 6:00 a.m.)

 

·         On the weekend of October 12^th – 15^th Pike Street will be closed to through traffic at Broadway (Friday 7:00 p.m. –Monday 5:00 a.m.)

• Roads will be slippery:

Drivers should dust off their how-to book for wet, fall-weather driving. The Friday commute may see the first significant rainfall in the Puget Sound region in more than 80 days. “We know the first big rain can bring slick driving conditions,” said Dave McCormick, Washington State Department of Transportation maintenance and operations manager. “This year may be more challenging because it has been so long since we’ve had any measurable rain.” The heaviest rain is forecast for the weekend, but drivers could see wet roads sometime Friday.

• Power could be flicker-y:

Seattle City Light has crews ready for possible outages with forecasts calling for an end to the 80-day dry spell that has been in place in the Puget Sound area. No significant rain has fallen since July 20 and that can have an impact on both the overhead and underground electrical systems. 

“What we are seeing is the possibility of outages due to a couple of issues,” says City Light Systems Control Director Pawel Krupa. “For overhead power lines, summer can bring a buildup of dust. When it rains after a long dry spell, that dust gets wet and can cause electricity leakage or short circuits. You might hear a buzzing sound when this starts to happen. That sound is the coating of the insulators burning off. When the coating is gone, a short circuit happens, creating an outage. A heavier rain will wash away the dirt and dust better.

 “The same is true in our underground system. Underground power lines are insulated and designed to float in water that fills the concrete vaults, but over time the insulation becomes brittle.  As temperatures begin to drop and with shorter daylight hours, demand for power increases. The increased flow of electricity puts more stress on the cable, increasing the risk of failure. If the insulation on an underground cable cracks, any water in the vault will cause a short,” adds Krupa.

 Another problem with the coming rains – leaves are still on the trees.  Many of the leaves and branches are very dry and the ground has been very dry.  A significant amount of wind and rain will bring leaves and branches down – and possibly could affect the shallow-root evergreen trees that are prevalent in the northwest. This could mean trees and branches falling into the power lines.

Be safe. You’ll remember how to deal with it again shortly, we’re sure of it.

The Volunteer Park Conservatory has scared up a new tradition to add to the annual Hilloween celebration. A day after the Sunday, October 28th Hilloween carnival in Cal Anderson, Volunteer Park will be (yay, we get to use the word again!) festooned with carved pumpkins. Even better news: You can win a prize for your gourd carving skills. Details on the contest and some special Halloween fun planned for the Conservatory, below. Note: Make sure not to mix up your entries for this and the annual Babeland Sexy Jack-O-Lantern contest. 

Pumpkin carving contest at the Volunteer Park Conservatory!
Best pumpkins, due 10/29, will festoon the Haunted Conservatory Open House on 10/31

Get in the mood for Halloween at the Volunteer Park Conservatory! Bring your best carved pumpkin to the Conservatory, 1400 E Galer St., between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Monday, October 29.

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Friends of the Conservatory and Parks staff will choose the best of the best and put them on display in the Conservatory, where they will set the scene for the Haunted Conservatory Open House, which takes place from 5 to 8 p.m. on Halloween, Wednesday, October 31. The Open House will feature treats and hot cider, a screening of the video Little Shop of Horrors, and Madame Pomegranate telling fortunes.

Drop pumpkins off inside the Conservatory front entry, and please put your name and contact information inside or on the pumpkin so we can let you know if you win a prize. Please do not add candles or other lights; the staff will take care of that.

Pumpkins not chosen for display will still play an important part in the festivities – as part of the Spooky Pumpkin Graveyard outside the Conservatory. All materials submitted become property of the Conservatory; sorry we can’t return pumpkins or other decorations.

The Volunteer Park Conservatory, a Victorian greenhouse modeled on London’s Crystal Palace, was built in 1912 to propagate and grow flowers and other plants for public display. Since then it has evolved to include five “houses,” each with a specialty collection: The Bromeliad House, the Palm House, the Fern House, the Cactus House, and the Seasonal Display House, which changes seasonally to provide year-round horticultural presentations.

The nonprofit Friends of the Conservatory assists with building conservation, provides docents, hosts special functions and provides support with financial resources from plant sales.