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| Olympic Hotel drive-in entrance, Seattle, Washington. The headquarters for numerous conventions, civic affairs and tourists. Color photo by Max R. Jensen. |
And Now… The Olympic Hotel Parking Garage
May 4th, 2010 @ 12:51 am by Cliffe | Sorted Photo Exposure |
There was a time when it felt perfectly legitimate to take photos of the Olympic Hotel’ s parking garage. Though the Olympic dates back to 1924, the post-WWII popularity surge of the motor hotel (motel) can probably be thanked for this image. Who’d like to put a date on this after having a look at the cars ? Click for the high res.
Would have to be some time after 1954 – the Metropolitan Theater stood on that spot (surrounded by the rest of the hotel) until then when it was demolished to make way for this entrance (http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&File_Id=2028) – was renovated again in the 80′s leaving the current motor entry. Seems that Eddie Clifford of Clifford and Clarke (mentioned on the marquee to the right) passed away in ’67 (http://issuu.com/boxoffice/docs/boxoffice_031367/38 – middle of third column on left page).
Can’t pinpoint the year, but I did find out from doing a Google search on “Clifford and Clark” (as mentioned in the sign) that the Marine Room was one of Seattle’s clandestine gay watering holes back in the 1940s and 1950s!
http://www.sgn.org/sgnnews36/page18.cfm
Well I googled both “Des Tanner” and “Clifford and Clara” and got nothing. Looks like 1958 to me.
I would say, from the cars, this is either 1956 or maybe 1957. I can’t quite tell if the car in front of the taxi is a ’57 Chev, but it might be. The cab and the blue-and-white Buick on the left are 1955 or 1956 models, and the Chevy behind the Buick is from the early 50s. If it was 1958 I would think the Olympic would have at least one new car in its driveway.
It’s “Clifford and Clark.” They were a radio show/broadcasters of popular music in the 1940s and 1950s. I left an earlier comment but it’s stuck in moderation.
Shannon, don’tch hate it when you’ve got the skinny to share but you get hung up in the filter? Thanks for the lowdown. I was going to look and see if there was any way to find out what year Clifford and Clar- were in town around Thanksgiving.
When was the front remodeled? Does any one know?
Everything you see here was demolished in the early 80s when the hotel was renovated prior to Four Seasons taking it over. This is the site of the Metropolitan Theater, the hotel was built around it. It is now the landscaped driveway that leads up to the hotel. The tunnel that goes down in the center went to the loading dock. The old loading area still exists…a dark concrete store room in the basement that still says “No Parking” on the walls.
Sorry folks, the spam catcher has been eating legit posts a lot today. I’m fixing it as I find them.
Cliffe
Cars in photo are from 1955-1956.
Well, I hate to admit it but the cars are:
Facing you on the left in front: 1955 Buick
Green car behind it: 1952,3,or 4 Chevrolet
On the right:
Taxi – 1955 Plymouth
Car at back: 1957 Pontiac
Back then it was standard for new models to appear in September of the prior year.
So the absolute earliest the photo could be is September, 1956 (based on the Pontiac).
The area above the motor entrance was the Grand Ballroom of the hotel, and featured a mosaic by Cory Jean Beal, who also did the mosaic outside the old City Light Building (now at the MOHAI) and one of the state buildings in Olympia (which may have been demolished by now)
I don’t know what wall of the ballroom the mosaic was on, but I’ve often wondered if it was on the south wall and, if so, it might still be there behind the paneling that Four Seasons presumably put in when they converted that space into the now-defunct Garden Court.
The Marine Room was located on the arecade level, basically where the flower shop and gift shop are now. In the last years of Western/Westin ownership, it was converted into an odious disco whose name I can’t remember.