University District Gems Historical Survey Almost Complete
By Carol Tobin, Planning and Preservation Consultant

The University District Gems historical survey project is part of a city-wide historical survey effort that began in 2001. This is the first comprehensive survey undertaken by the City of Seattle since 1979 and will result in a more detailed inventory than in the past. Other ongoing city-wide surveys are a survey of neighborhood commercial buildings, conducted by Mimi Sheridan, and a survey of early residential buildings (pre-1906), conducted by Greg Lange. The University District project is the first neighborhood survey and will serve as a model for other neighborhoods. The project is a collaborative effort of the University District Arts & Heritage Committee, which has a City of Seattle Neighborhood Matching Fund grant to do the survey, and the Department of Neighborhoods Historic Preservation Program. Patty Whisler, Historic Seattle Council, is one of the key volunteers coordinating the Gems project.

The purpose of the survey is to document significant extant historical and architectural resources at least 40 years old in the University District, excluding the University of Washington campus. The survey will be used as a basis for nominating and evaluating new potential Seattle landmarks, but no landmark nomination is directly associated with the survey.

The project started in November 2001 and completion of an inventory of 100 historic properties in the University District is anticipated in May 2002. More than 20 volunteers assisted with a field survey in January and February that resulted in the identification of more than 600 properties of interest. Cultural resources consultants, Carol Tobin and Sarah Sodt, are preparing historic property inventory forms for 100 buildings, including single-family houses, apartment buildings, fraternity and sorority houses, and commercial buildings in the University District. The consultants are also preparing a manual on conducting neighborhood surveys that will be available for other neighborhoods interested in historical surveys. The Queen Anne Historical Society is leading an effort to do a survey of historical resources on Queen Anne Hill. For further information about the proposed Queen Anne survey, email Ron Mason or call him at (206) 283-8630.

For further information about the University District Gems project, email Carol Tobin or call her at (206) 547-9629 or Karen Gordon, Seattle Historic Preservation Officer; (206) 684-0381.