Arts Can It Be True? A Free Historic Building to an Arts Organization?
posted by on November 8 at 15:51 PM
Free aside from repairs, of course. But seriously: is this the kind of deal anyone will be interested in?
I’m on a deadline and headed for an airplane at the same time, otherwise I’d look into this more deeply, but this is the word that I and a bunch of other reporters just received from Scott Lawrimore, owner of Lawrimore Project downtown, which is next to the building in question:
It has come to my attention that the City of Seattle has released its hold on a permit to acquire the GIGANTIC, historical and long-fallow Immigration Building next to my gallery here in the International District.This building was offered by the Government Service Administration and its Regional Manager to the City of Seattle for $1 if they would dedicate it for an arts or cultural purpose.
The City of Seattle ignored this offer.
The City of Seattle instead tried to get it for a developer to turn into mixed-use office space as part of their larger plan to turn my entire block into condos, retail and office space (for which it is not yet zoned).
The Government Service Administration and its Regional Manager now have a very small window of time where they can hear from ANY, I repeat ANY arts organization that can utilize this building for the greater cultural community’s benefit and make a “Public Benefit Transfer” of the property—essentially ‘give’ the building to an organization that will shepherd it for a cultural purpose. Whether it’s Artist Trust or the Gage Academy or Cornish or The Henry or U.W. or SAM or The Frye or On the Boards or A.C.T. or… THIS IS THE TIME FOR THEM TO LET THEIR INTEREST BE KNOWN!!!
If this interest is not made know within the next week, the G.S.A. will be forced to put the building up for public sale and the noble, altruistic intent of the GSA’s Regional Manager will fall by the wayside as it inevitably falls into the hands of a developer.
This is an amazing opportunity that should not go ignored.
Beyond this being an “arts” story, there is a larger issue with what the City of Seattle has set forth as its priorities.
ANYTHING you can do to get this story out there or spread the word to organizations that might benefit from this knowledge would be great.
That building will need millions of dollars of rehab work before it is suitable for any use..... I believe that is why the city balked at the easy artistic angle.
Didn't KUOW say that the City of Seattle is already converting a much larger building at Sand Point that they already own into artist lofts?
And isn't this a much wiser use of our limited resources than this other building?
I think it was Nick Licata who announced the Sand Point artist lofts.
The big expense here is seismic, which is required. Many arts organizations have looked at this and come close to having it pencil out.
Arts organizations don't need this BUILDING to be free, they need free structural steel and free structural engineers.
This is sort of the same process that ABC NO Rio, the long-running cultural center in manhattan's lower east side got to buy their building for a dollar.
of course they didn't have the seismic stuff to deal with.
The other challenge is that the building has a historic landmark designation, which limits how much the structure can be changed. Working around that designation can be even more costly for a nonprofit arts or community organization.
The other challenge is that the building has a historic landmark designation, which limits how much the structure can be changed. Working around that designation can be even more costly for a nonprofit arts or community organization.
that building is in the dog end of the ID, hard by a tangle of expressway ramps & the skeevyest shell station in the city (which i patronize frequently).
seeing how its seattle arts orgs you're proposing to use it, what are we going to fill it with, fibreglass nutcrackers & cows?
Jesus! It's got its own parking lot in back (and my favorite grocery store in the city, as well)- & the parking lot, taken to 3 stories, next to the bus tunnel, close to trains, stadia, etc could make all the money it needs to fix up, without even bothering the rest of the site (go to 4 stories, and paint a mural behind the old beauty, to frame it nicely). But if we gotta tear it down, O pragmatists, all I want is the wrought iron transom guards over the doorways... ^..^
ps I'll volunteer time to make this work... however... as a useful & restored site. ^..^
I did research out of curiosity and according to an article in february 2007 in nw asian weekly it sounds like plans are already underway for this building.
here's the url for the article:
www.nwasianweekly.com/ins20072606.htm
anyway I'm interested to hear what happens. Hey also why is the visual art scene that knows about this but not the performing arts scene which is in crisis with the recent selling of the oddfellows building on cap hill?
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