At the April 7th Landmarks Preservation Board meeting, the Seattle Landmarks Board considered designation for the Ames Building, located on the southwest corner of Second Avenue and Stewart Street. At an earlier meeting, the board had been a bit unsure of the building's individual merits as a singular landmark, but opted to nominate the building for designation.

Generally, in the case of compelling "borderline landmarks," the Board will nominate broadly, leaving a little more time for careful consideration of individual resources and the evidence provided.

At the April meeting, as advertised, the Board met to consider the building's designation, heard a presentation by the owners, opened the meeting to public comment, asked questions of the owners representatives, and then individually reviewed their position on designation. This procedure is followed for every designation hearing.

A motion was made to designate the property and a majority of the Board members in attendance voted in favor of designation (5 for to 2 against), but the designation failed because a minimum of 7 votes in favor was required. Currently, the board is full, with 12 appointed members. The City of Seattle Municipal Code requires that at least 7 members must be present and voting in favor to designate a landmark. No matter how many Board members are at the meeting, the "super majority" requirement remains the same.

Once buildings are nominated and denied designation, they cannot be considered for nomination for five years -- at present, the Ames Building's owner has plans for redevelopment of the site.

Northcliffe Apartments Decision

After each Landmarks Board member had a chance to visit the Northcliffe Apartments, first considered for nomination at the March 3, 2004 meeting, the building's nomination was not approved.

At the earlier meeting, many First Hill residents spoke out about the value of the resource to the neighborhood's residential character. This character has been eroded over the past several decades as high-rise condominiums and new institutional buildings have replaced the neighborhoods collection of historic buildings. First Hill was one of Seattle's first neighborhoods.

Hopefully, the pending loss of the Northcliffe will help motivate participation in a neighborhood historic resources survey, now being planned by the First Hill Community Council. The community group hopes to secure funding through the Department of Neighborhood's Neighborhood Matching Grant program -- to qualify, the group must have a solid group of dedicated volunteers, and general community support. The controversy surrounding the Northcliffe may help bring people together around the survey which will provide a foundation of future preservation planning.

Scottish Rite Temple

The Scottish Rite Temple, located at 1155 Broadway Avenue East, at the East Highland Drive intersection was built between 1960 and 1961, and is a Naramore, Bain, Brady & Johanson (NBBJ) design. A landmarks nomination for the building will be considered at the May 5 Landmarks Preservation Board meeting.

Resembling religious buildings designed around the same time, the building represents a period in Seattle architecture when modernism was being embraced (or at least better appreciated) by popular audiences. The Century 21 Exhibition was in its planning stages when the Scottish Rite Temple was first completed.

Columbia City and International District Coordinator Leaves Post

Eugenia Woo, for almost six years staffing the Columbia City and Chinatown International District landmark districts, has left her post at the City of Seattle, but will be remaining in our community as a preservation specialist.

She will be working with the Tacoma-based Artifacts, a company specializing in regional preservation projects.

View last month's Pending Landmarks article

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