Seattlest: Vanishing Georgetown: Rainier Cold Storage Edition

guest

Wed, 15 Aug 2007 17:14:59 -0800

I took a tour of this building last month, and to be honest, this building is fucked. Most of them are fucked. This is a 9 million dollar headache. I have a great appreciation for what Sabey is trying to do, and they seemed genuninely interested in protecting this great piece of history, but one of the buildings where the tenants are has sunk over an inch since January. All the drywall and kick trim put up is now cracking. The building was cooled to 12 below zero, so the soil below the building froze to the bedrock, 13-24 ft below, and only half- HALF! - of it has defrosted since 2002. They estimate 5 more years before it is totally defrosted. Until then, you can't do any improvements. And there are other problems too, like the sandstone on the Airport Way side has been eroding, and the rebar under the salt baths in the building are completely rusted out. How do you fix that? These guys want to keep this building and its history, but try and appreciate what they are up against. This building is rotting.

Saxtor

Wed, 15 Aug 2007 15:18:22 -0800

Precisely. I, too, was thinking of the Pearl District in PDX when reading this. In a rather similar example, they took the old Henry Weinhard's brewery building and made classy apartments/condos/restaurants out of it while maintaining the building's original character and feel. From the Henry Weinhard's wiki page: "The brewery was a fixture of an old industrial and warehouse district which, beginning in the 1990s, has become known as the Pearl District in downtown Portland, and its closure marked the beginning of a massive urban rejuvenation project." Hmmm...sounding more and more like Georgetown... Though gentrified up the wazoo, Pearl is a really cool artsy neighborhood. I've heard great things about Georgetown too, with it drawing the young artist type, rather than Belltown's young professional type. Bring it on, and don't rubber-stamp another glassy steel condo on top of what little old-town character this city still has.

guest

Wed, 15 Aug 2007 14:55:34 -0800

So why not make them sign something, some terms, saying they preserve the facade or recreate it to preserve the feel and spirit of the place? I'm thinking of the Pearl in Portland. I agree, it's like a Rob Zombie movie in there... But if one of those stucko, faux-Euro, trashy condo Belltown thingies takes its place...Aaaaack! Well I just don't know what. I think we can fight the dump, and we can take on the yups, and bring home the Field Roast, and fry it up in a pan... -mdutton

TroyJMorris

Wed, 15 Aug 2007 12:08:46 -0800

Well, that's a reason to change my mind about moving to GT.

guest

Wed, 15 Aug 2007 11:24:12 -0800

As someone who would love nothing more than to see the building preserved in its entirety, I also have to say that I saw for myself how it is literally sinking into the earth. The decades of use as a cold storage facility created a vast ice ball under the building, and as it melts, the building continues to sink. Inside the building, you can see brand-new molding already shifting away from the floor. You can see how cracks in the wall are splitting like fault lines, making visible progress from month to month. It's not just structural repairs that are necessary -- somehow the earth beneath it would need to be fixed, all the way down to the bedrock. I'm surprised and disappointed that Sabey didn't return your e-mails. Jim Harmon has been pretty forthcoming with community members. When I e-mailed him and told him I haddn't been able to make it to the meeting at which the demolition annoucement was made, he gave me his cell phone number and told me he'd explain it to me personally. Fortunately, most of the complex will be saved and restored. It's only the Stock House section that will be demolished. Yes, I know that this will irrevocably change the whole look of Georgetown (the Stock House is in the center of the complex), but from what I saw, I do believe them that nothing could be done. Did any structural engineers go on any of the building tours? I'd love to hear what an engineer has to say about the state of the building and whether it could somehow be saved. --JvA from Mid Beacon Hill

guest

Wed, 15 Aug 2007 11:11:50 -0800

This will be a huge loss. Very sad.

guest

Wed, 15 Aug 2007 10:22:24 -0800

West Coasters hate history. It's no surprise Seattle has no respect for it, either, particularly considering it's own unseemly one.