Tag Archives: harvard belmont

‘Concept plan’ for the next new Capitol Hill park shows ‘Eckbo lines’ and nods to the old Henry mansion — UPDATE

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Efforts to create a new 1.6-acre city park on Capitol Hill’s Harvard Ave E have quietly moved forward with a new “concept plan” that will further shape the former home property of philanthropist Kay Bullitt as “a quiet, contemplative place” in the middle of a historic Capitol Hill neighborhood.

Its history as a quasi neighborhood dog park is not part of the plans.

“When additional funding is allocated to further designs and develop the park for public enjoyment, the concept developed by the public shown below will inform the approach to engagement and design,” the Seattle Parks project update made earlier this month on the release of the plan reads.

The release of the concept with no immediate call for a public meeting to discuss the project is telling. The city says there will not be funding to develop the park until 2029 at the earliest.

Situated in the Harvard-Belmont Landmark District, the property was the site of the Henry mansion before a new house was built and became home to Bullitt. The family donated the land to the city in 1972 while retaining a life estate. Following her death in 2021, the parcel transitioned to city control. Continue reading →

Seattle seeks occupant for Bullitt House in the center of new Capitol Hill park

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The City of Seattle has started the search for an occupant for the Bullitt House, the 1955-built, H-shaped, A-frame home on its way to becoming a protected landmark at the center of the North Capitol Hill property donated to become a new 1.6-acre city park on Harvard Ave E.

The Seattle Parks and Recreation Department has posted a call for “letters of interest” for an organization or business to enter into a 10-year contract to occupy the house “and operate the facility, including a significance presence in the evenings.” Continue reading →

STG at Kerry Hall already in motion as Seattle Theater Group makes immediate use of its $6M Capitol Hill acquisition

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(Image: CHS)

The group is calling its new venue STG at Kerry Hall

By Domenic Strazzabosco

After acquiring Kerry Hall from Cornish College of the Arts last November, Seattle Theater Group — the nonprofit that manages The Paramount, The Moore, and The Neptune — has quickly made itself at home in the neighborhood.

Groups and organizations are already utilizing the historic space and a full slate of programming is expected to be active as STG at Kerry Hall fully ramps up by summer.

At a building tour on Wednesday, STG’s Director of Education & Community Engagement Marisol Sanchez Best described crying from excitement over what the building would provide. She noted arriving that morning and feeling the space alive with the sounds of dancers and musicians practicing.

At the event, rooms were occupied by artists including Grammy-winning musician and decades-long Cornish professor Jovino Santos Neto’s trio practicing, as well as Mark Haim directing a large group of dancers, and Bailadores de Bronce, a folklorico group and longtime STG partner, practicing in the hall.

Nate Dwyer, head of STG, described acquiring the space as presenting the “awesome privilege to steward the building for another generation.” He said Wednesday that though some work had to be done to update and maintain the space, STG was able to begin using it almost immediately. Within just a few weeks of acquiring the building, STG programs began operating out of the rooms, and by summer, they hope to have full programming available to the public. Continue reading →

Seattle Theater Group — operator of the Paramount, Moore, and Neptune — buys Capitol Hill’s Kerry Hall in $6M deal

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(Image: Cornish College of the Arts)

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The nonprofit that operates the Paramount, the Moore and the Neptune is buying Capitol Hill’s Kerry Hall but the 103-year-old Cornish College property just off North Broadway won’t become the latest addition the Seattle Theater Group’s roster of live music and performance venues.

An announcement from Cornish on the sale said STG “will use the building to grow and expand its community-centered arts programming.”

STG says AileyCamp, a summer dance-focused day camp provided to middle school-aged kids at no charge and supported by corporate and foundation sponsors as well as King County arts grants, will expand into the E Roy studio and performance hall.

The organization will share “a detailed business plan in the new year,” the announcement said.

King County records shows STG paid Cornish $6 million in the transaction recorded Friday.

Students rallied for the building earlier this year (Image: @save_kerry_hall)

CHS reported here as Kerry Hall hit the Capitol Hill real estate market in April. At the time of Cornish’s announcement that it was finally preparing to sever its final ties to its birth neighborhood and fully move its campus to South Lake Union, the arts school did not include a price for the E Roy property and three-story building just off Broadway within the Harvard-Belmont Landmark District. Continue reading →

Long path to creating new city park on donated Capitol Hill Bullitt property includes landmarks negotiations, no funding until 2029

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The property from above in the summer of 2022

Funding to create a new city park out of 1.6 acres of North Capitol Hill land donated after the death of philanthropist Kay Bullitt won’t be available for another five years and the 1955-built house at the center of the property is on its way to becoming a protected landmark but there are hopes for opening the space for use in the interim, Seattle Parks and Recreation said last week.

In a summer update on the 1125 Harvard Ave E project, the parks department says negotiations are underway to establish architectural protections to preserve the Bullitt home.

Meanwhile, the earliest Seattle Park District funding “for the full design and development of the entire site” won’t be in place until 2029.

Currently, the 1955-built A-frame style house at the center of the property is on its way to becoming an official city landmark and would be preserved as part of the new park plan. Settle Parks said last week it is negotiating with the Landmarks Preservation Board “to determine which site or house elements are specifically protected or exempted, also known as ‘Controls and Incentives,'”

“The controls will directly affect how the site and house may be renovated for future uses,” the department update reads. Continue reading →

Save Kerry Hall? Students stage sit-in, call for arts, music, and dance to be preserved as buyers eye historic property for housing and development

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Monday, Cornish College of the Arts students gathered along E Roy on Capitol Hill for a sit-in at Kerry Hall. Their hope is to save the historic building — and keep the 103-year-old studio and performance hall as a center for arts and learning on Capitol Hill.

There is also a Save Kerry Hall group formed with hopes of asking Cornish to reconsider the decision — or help shape the old building’s future by finding a buyer dedicated to continuing its role in the city’s arts scene.

“Most of us feel that the Cornish school should not be sold and it could be part of a vision of Cornish in other ways on Capitol Hill, so [there’s] this sort of long standing threat and feeling of insecurity for many of us as far as the future of Kerry Hall,” Elizabeth Jane Darrow, a former Cornish faculty member who has been helping organize efforts to save the building, tells CHS.

CHS reported here as Kerry Hall hit the Capitol Hill real estate market in April. At the time of Cornish’s announcement that it was finally preparing to sever its final ties to its birth neighborhood and fully move its campus to South Lake Union, the arts school did not include a price for the E Roy property and three-story building just off Broadway within the Harvard-Belmont Landmark District. Its broker is now awaiting offers.

Cornish students staged the sit-in at Kerry Hall on Monday to raise awareness about the pending sale. The sit-in plan included improvisational dances by Cornish graduate Sylvia Schatz-Allison and an opportunity for students past and present to write goodbye letters to the building.

“The decision to divest from Kerry Hall is a strategic one, so that we can focus on our energies on teaching and learning,” James Falzone, academic dean and professor of music at Cornish told CHS about the planned sale. Continue reading →

Kerry Hall hits the market as Cornish College of the Arts says goodbye to Capitol Hill

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(Image: Cornish College of the Arts)

The Cornish College of the Arts is ready to sever its final connection after more than a century of dance and music education on Capitol Hill.

Kerry Hall, the three-story studio and performance hall at E Roy and Broadway where Nellie Cornish called home at the time of the school’s 1914 founding and part of the school for more than 100 years, is now for sale.

“This is an exciting moment for Cornish College of the Arts,” Emily Parkhurst, chair of the board of trustees, said in a statement. “The decision to sell Kerry Hall completes the Board’s plan to unify the campus in South Lake Union, first outlined in 2007.”

CHS reported here in 2021 on preparations for the property sale as Cornish sought to solidify its growing presence in South Lake Union.

The announcement did not include a price tag for the property. Cornish says proceeds from the sale will be “reinvested into Cornish’s existing facilities and operations, allowing the college to continue to grow.” The school says its enrollment is expected to exceed 530 students in the 2024/2025 school year. Continue reading →

No rush on new park for North Capitol Hill — no money to pay for it until 2029

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The property from above in the summer of 2022

Sorry for the late notice — we just found out about it, too

It is extremely late notice but apparently there is time.

Seattle Parks says a meeting it is holding Wednesday night to update the community on design plans for a new city park on 1.6 acres of North Capitol Hill land formerly owned by the Bullitt family will include a call for patience — it won’t have the funding it needs to complete the project until 2029 at the earliest.

Superintendent AP Diaz and the city’s parks and rec department are holding the meeting on the important updates for the planned park in one of the city’s wealthiest neighborhoods with little public notice. It didn’t send details to media about the meeting and didn’t post about it on its social media accounts.

CHS has asked officials what’s up with the oversight and for copies of the materials to be presented so we can share the details more widely. UPDATE: Technical difficulties! Sounds like there is an issue with email coming into CHS. We’re taking a look at what’s up. In the meantime, the city says it will post a recording from Wednesday’s meeting later this week.

The land and 69-year-old home on the property left to the city after the death of philanthropist Kay Bullitt stretches out on the northwest slopes of Capitol Hill in the prestigious Harvard-Belmont Landmark District. CHS reported in 2022 on the early planning for the new park project including a survey that planners said showed preferences for developing the new park land “as a quiet, contemplative place” while making space for the Cass Turnbull Garden as part of the site, a project from Seattle nonprofit Plant Amnesty honoring its late founder. Continue reading →

Bullitt House moves forward in city landmarks process

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(Image: Seattle Parks)

The 1955-built A-frame style house at the center of the Capitol Hill historical district property lined up to become a new city park will be considered for landmarks protections that will shape how the structure will be utilized in the new public space.

Last week, the Seattle Landmarks Board unanimously moved the nomination of the Bullitt House forward in a 7-0 vote. Continue reading →

At center of property lined up for new Capitol Hill park, Bullitt House to be considered for landmarks protections

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As the process to turn the Bullitt property’s 1.6 acres of North Capitol Hill land into a city park slowly moves forward, the family’s 1955 A-frame house will be considered for landmarks protections.

Seattle’s Landmarks Preservation Board will consider the nomination of the Bullitt House on June 7th.

The land and 68-year-old home on the property left to the city after the death of philanthropist Kay Bullitt stretches out on the northwest slopes of Capitol Hill in the prestigious Harvard-Belmont Landmark District. Continue reading →