McKay Ford Dealership Showrooms

McKay Ford Dealership Showrooms
By Christine Palmer

Many historic buildings downtown have not been reviewed and nominated for the City landmark status that would protect them from demolition or alterations that diminish their historic character. These buildings are now endangered and could be lost to the community's heritage because the land on which they are built has become so valuable. In 2005, the Mayor's Center City Strategy proposed to increase downtown height and density limits. This effort will change zoning which will increase downtown land values prompting property owners and developers to consider tearing down old buildings so they can construct new, more lucrative, taller buildings. The McKay Ford Dealership Showrooms at 601 - 615 Westlake Avenue North were nominated for consideration as City landmarks by owner Vulcan, Inc. on March 15, 2006. Susan Boyle, AIA and Sonja Sokol Furesz of BOLA Architecture and Planning prepared the historic research for the nomination. Seattle's Landmarks Preservation Board will consider this designation proposal on April 19 at 3:30 p.m. in Room 4080 of the Seattle Municipal Tower. The showrooms nomination includes a historic significance assessment using the City's six designation standards (view these standards at: Seattle Landmark Designation Standards).

The McKay property was a cause for concern among Seattle preservationists who feared it demolition would become part of the proposed widening of heavily congested Mercer Street corridor and related transportation improvements in the South Lake Union neighborhood. Because the large site is not developed to its maximum allowed density under current zoning, it was a potential candidate for a redevelopment that would include demolition of the existing historic buildings. This seemed possible due to the fact that the property owner, Paul Allen’s Vulcan Real Estate, is currently in the process of redeveloping more than sixty acres in the South Lake Union neighborhood. The preservationists' goal was to ensure that the two historic terra cotta clad buildings would be saved, possibly as part of a larger redevelopment.

Among BOLA's fascinating research findings were biographies of founder William Osborne McKay and architect Harlan Thomas. McKay (1887-1956) moved to Seattle with his family in 1900 and later graduated from Broadway High School, then attended the University of Washington. McKay was very involved in athletics, participating in both football and track. In 1922, McKay obtained an agency agreement with Ford Motor Company. The Westlake Avenue location was chosen in large part because of its proximity to the Ford Assembly Plant. McKay was also active in regional and local civic and social affairs including serving as a director of the Chamber of Commerce and involved in the founding of Seafair.

Architect Harlan Thomas was born in Iowa and moved to Colorado at age nine with his family. He worked as a draftsman in a Denver architect's office and attended Colorado State College, graduating in 1895. Thomas established his own architectural office in Denver and also traveled abroad for an extended period twice, to further his studies and see more of the world. In 1906, he moved to Seattle and opened an office here. Within his first few years in Seattle, Thomas designed the Chelsea Hotel on lower Queen Anne, the Sorrento Hotel on First Hill, Monroe High School (1909-1910, destroyed), and Enumclaw High School (1910 - 1911, destroyed). In addition to his partnership with Grainger, Thomas worked with other architects on various projects and also designed residential buildings. With Schack, Young & Myers he designed the Seattle Chamber of Commerce Building (1923-1925, altered); and with W. Marbury Somervell the three Carnegie Libraries: Queen Anne (1912-1914), Columbia (1912-1915), and Henry L. Yesler (1912-1914, presently the Douglass-Truth). Thomas was a professor or architecture at the University of Washington, serving as head of the Architecture Department from 1926-1940. He was elected an AIA Fellow in 1928.

BOLA found that the McKay Ford Dealership Showrooms meet the following City landmark designation standards:

Standard C: It is associated in a significant way with a significant aspect of the cultural, political, or economic heritage of the community, city, state or nation. Both showroom buildings are significantly associated with the historic development of the Westlake area as Seattle’s auto row in the 1920s through the1960s. They are also an expression of a nationwide change in the marketing of private automobiles and the city’s economic heritage.

Standard D: It embodies the distinctive visible characteristics of an architectural style, or period, or of a method of construction. Both buildings are architecturally and historically significant structures in Seattle, and they have been cited as such in many surveys and inventories. BOLA specified that "they are beautiful historic additions to the streetscape. Constructed in 1922 and 1925, the showrooms embody an era of decorative, classical revival design. Both buildings are clad with glazed terra cotta, with fine field and decorative elements, and they express the unique qualities of this historic material." Additionally, the volume and interior design of the original showroom represented new ideas in marketing that emerged and evolved in the auto industry in the 1920s. The showroom was designed to evoke a Mediterranean courtyard with a vaulted plaster ceiling, engaged columns and pilasters, rusticated plaster walls, terra cotta fountain, wood trimmed windows and interior doors, and the central staircase that lead to the two stories of sales offices in an adjacent section.

Standard E: It is an outstanding work of a designer or builder. The 1925 showroom is attributed to Seattle architect, Harlan Thomas, of the well-known firm of Thomas & Grainger.

Standard F: Because of its prominence of spatial location, contrasts of siting, age, or scale, it is an easily identifiable visual feature of its neighborhood or the city and contributes to the distinctive quality or identity of such neighborhood or the city. The corner location of the McKay Ford Dealership Showrooms was selected for its prominence as a way to merchandise and display luxurious Lincoln and Mercury automobiles. These showrooms clearly contribute to the distinctive identity of the South Lake Union neighborhood.