Grant Cogswell, a preservation advocate? Absolutely.

Historic Seattle first became aware of Grant's penchant for old buildings through his responses to a candidates survey we advanced to last year's finalists for City Council seats. While all candidates expressed some interest in historic preservation, Grant's view of preservation's role was comprehensive and not focused solely on landmarks. His view connects preservation with sustainable, humane urban environments. When asked how he would support preservation ethics through his policies, he responded:

"There are great old (but unexceptional) buildings all over the city whose destruction does not seem dire, but is cumulatively: (15,000 units SRO - single room occupancy) eliminated downtown since 1970). Preservation is key to continuity and stability (and vitality!) of this city's culture."

While associated mainly with the monorail and last year's City Council bid, Grant got his start in local politics in 1994, advocating for the preservation of two Queen Anne Victorian houses, once located on 1st Avenue West. A DCLU notice spurred him to action. Then a resident of the Queen Anne neighborhood, Grant gathered around 100 signatures from neighbors who were also concerned about the potential demolition of the historic properties. Though his neighborhood effort did not yield the preservation of the houses, Grant went onto use a similar approach to promote monorail initiative 41, which passed. A grassroots approach defined his 2001 campaign.

Today, Grant serves as Executive Director of the fledgling Yes for Seattle. The nonprofit organization was conceived to support community based initiatives - perfect work for a would-be politician and poet who maintains his optimism in spite of a growing awareness of sometimes depressing political realities.

While his interests have spread to many areas of public policy, Grant remains engaged in historic preservation. For the past few years, he has been interested in restoring Pioneer Square's Underground. The below-grade tourist attraction is now only a cluster of nineteenth century commercial catacombs. Throughout the distric however, much of the Underground remains - closed off or used as storage for area businesses.

Grant is optimistic that Seattle voters would be interested in footing part of the restoration bill - through an initiative - but not right now. Too much competition on the upcoming ballot.

Which leads to.next month in this section: How the Housing Levy Works for Historic Preservation.

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