Opening the PI early this morning, I see in a photo a ghost that has returned to haunt me.

The ghost comes from the tower that rises 250 feet from the bulk of the century-old King Street Station, whose interiors are currently being remodeled (or closer yet, unmodeled). That tower is a replica of the campanile in Piazza San Marcos in Venice.

Last year I turgidly wrote this about the Campanile di San Marco and King Street Station in the fall issue of Arcade Journal.

“Built in the 9th century, the Campanile dominates what the 18th century conqueror of Venice, Napoleon, famously called the ‘drawing room of Europe,’ the Piazza of San Marco, the civic “heart of Venice.” Initially the campanile was used as a lighthouse; it guided merchant and military ships by means of a golden angel with wings that glittered as it turned in the wind. In 1609, Galileo explained and demonstrated his invention, the telescope, to a doge (governor of Venice), showing him the moons of Jupiter. The campanile was a tourist destination on the day it collapsed, July 14, 1902—two years before the construction of King Street Station began. The campanile was rebuilt and reopened in 1914, eight years after its double was completed. In the 1100-year history of the Campanile di San Marco there was a moment, a space of eight years, when the only place you could see it was in Seattle.”

The problem began earlier this year while researching the parks of Lawrence Halprin. Halprin, as everyone knows, designed our always wonderful and occasionally deadly Freeway Park. He also designed in 1973 the Skyline Park, which is in downtown Denver. To compare Denver’s Halprin with our Halprin, I opened the link to this image:

The shock, as you can imagine, was powerful. There before my eyes was another replica of the Campanile di San Marco. Quick research led me to these hard facts: It’s 330 feet, called the D&F Tower, and, most damning of all, it was completed in 1910. This meant my claim in the Arcade Journal (“[The Campanile di San Marco] collapsed, July 14, 1902…and was rebuilt and reopened in 1914… In the 1100-year history of the Campanile di San Marco there was a moment, a space of eight years, when the only place you could see it was in Seattle”) was half wrong—it was actually only four years (King Street was completed in 1906). A person living during that time could also have seen the tower in Denver in 1910. But even that might be wrong; there might be other replicas of the Campanile di San Marco that I know nothing about.

This is my curse. I have to make bold claims; I will never stop making bold claims, but reality will continue to tear every bold thing I say apart and leave me with these ghosts of errors.