VintageSeattle.org

The market turns 100 and what happens next? Is the pink elephant being poached? All this and more on this week’s Links To The Past!

• Founders’ Kin Reunite At Market Celebration Six dozen descendents of the Pike Place Market founders descend to meet, coming from all over the United States.
• The “Taj Mahal” And The Pink Elephant The Ballard Denny’s building is getting a landmark nomination, but not from who you’d think. And the iconic pink elephant in Belltown may be on the endangered species list.
• Smith Tower Condo Plan Wins A Unanimous Vote The historic skyscraper is one step closer to becoming condos.
• My Market: “The Future” | What Happens After The Party? A number of questions loom as to how the market can stay authentic, functional, and relevant as time marches on.
• Ron Paul For President In 2008 Let’s all take part in a USA chant for Ron Paul. He’s keeping it real.

More Knute. Less Liebman. Now I’d call that a pretty good week.

• A Walk Through Ravenna, Now And Then A stroll through Ravenna reveals the past and what’s left of it.
• History’s Blueprint King County Landmarks Commission Chair Lauren McCroskey writes that real history is about “complete disclosure.” Indeed!
• Is Urban Development ‘Terrorism’? Meant to post this one earlier this month. Mossback considers whether the city’s density can truly absorb growth.
• Ron Paul For President In 2008 Is Ron Paul realistic in ‘08? Vijay Boyapati seems to think so.

Bit of a slow week in terms of preservation and history. How many more Henry Liebman articles can I link to?

• Foreign Investments In Sodo Raise Questions Yet more on the continuing Henry Liebman + Sodo saga, this time examining the EB-5 visa program.
• Run-down Roosevelt Buildings Are Goners Delapidated homes in Roosevelt are to be destroyed, but replaced by what?
• Land Mogul Stirs Discomfort In Sodo Another overhead view of the Henry Liebman + Sodo situation.
• Old Mill Town A Vestige Of The Past Once again, this isn’t Seattle but hey — close enough.
• Museum Plans To Relocate To South Lake Union Make way, friends! MOHAI is coming to South Lake Union. For anyone who’s been to their current location, this seems like a good move.
• Saving The Pike Place Market — Again Mossback takes a look at the cyclic preservation of Pike Place Market in anticipation of his panel discussion about the future of the Pike Place Market.
• Ron Paul For President In 2008 I’m going to see how many times I can link to Ron Paul’s website. Forget Henry Liebman! Ron Paul in ‘08!

The theme this week seems to be buildings turning 100. We’ve got St. James Cathedral, Good Shepherd, and Pike Place Market. Here are this week’s Links To The Past.

• Sodo Needs Shades Of Blue Jerry Large of The Seattle Times reacts to the recent article about Henry Liebman wanting to turn Sodo into one giant condo.
• Is Seattle A ‘Two-Dollar Whore’? Mossback is, err, back and taking a look at how we want it both ways when it comes to historic preservation. As usual, very insightful.
• St. James Celebrates 100 Years We may not all be able to agree on the merits of religion, but you can’t deny that this Seattle landmark is something to behold. I’m going to check into getting on one of Julie Impett’s tours.
• After Rehab, Fixer Is Now Half-Million-Dollar Baby 1911 Craftsman sold for $315,000, flipped and now selling for $549,000. This one should interest all you real estate junkies as well. Think they’ll make much money on it given the current Seattle housing market?
• Party To Celebrate As Good Shepherd Building Turns 100 I’d posted on the Good Shepherd Building celebration a little while ago. Give a report in the comments if you attended.
• Pike Place Market At 100 The Seattle Times has this page dedicated to Pike Place Market and their 100 year old mark.

Err, that would be the week ending July 22. It’s a pretty busy week with regards to Seattle’s history — have a read.

• Seattle Is A City Flush With Forgetting Mossback takes a look at historic preservation in Seattle and the battle between new blood and old bones. A great read, as always.
• Can We Afford Historic Preservation? Now it’s The Paper Noose on historic preservation and progress as the new religion. Pithy in the Paper Noose style.
• Condo Conversion At Smith Tower One Step Closer Usually the words “condo” and “historic landmark” do not go well together, but this time around it’s not quite as scary as one of Seattle’s most historic skyscrapes preps to become some rich people’s home.
• Any Old Buyer Won’t Do In Kirkland I know, I know. This is called VintageSeattle, but let’s take a quick detour over to the east side for once.
• Pioneer Square: History Vs Renewal Jeff Roush takes a look at the Seattle Plumbing Building and hopes the city will not put housing before history. This reminds me that I need to document this building before they “muck it up.”
• One Buyer, 40 Acres: A Quiet Revolution In Sodo Story detailing Henry Liebman’s slow plan to snatch up land in the industrial district and say goodbye to blue collar jobs.

There’s quite a bit going on this week as far as Seattle history buffs are concerned. Thirty-eight buildings up for historic designation, very exciting news! So what better time to start off our simple historical linkage feature.

• Seattle Eyes 38 Properties For Historic Designation, Protection 100 properties were narrowed down to 38. But not all property owners are happy — see other link.
• 37 Downtown Buildings Eyed For Historic Status The PI’s take on the same story. Huge news for the preservation community, but apparently not everyone.
• Just Another Metropolis Jonathan Raban ponders whether Seattle has lost its way, if the old Seattle is gone.
• Another Roadside Attraction Is About To Be Demolished This great new Pac Northwest online newspaper reports on the potential destruction of the Denny’s building in Ballard. And this update uncovers even more controversy.
• Historical Materialism I know I mentioned this one last post, but I think it’s worth a second mention and a look. Very amusing.