Seattle Moves To Preserve Historic Downtown Structures

"Some are funky, others are elegant. They are art deco, Mediterranean, and Beaux Arts. They all evoke memories of a Seattle now long-gone.

In an effort to save 37 of Seattle's most significant old buildings threatened by pressures of a taller, denser downtown, the city plans to nominate them for historic landmark designation.

An additional 56 structures downtown could be nominated in the next year or two."

"The nominations are the biggest landmark preservation effort since the movement to save Pike Place Market from demolition more than 30 years ago, and the historic district designation of Pioneer Square in the early 1970s, Seattle City Councilman Peter Steinbrueck, chairman of the council's Urban Planning and Development Committee, said Wednesday.

"The rapid rise of new high-rises in downtown Seattle should not mean the destruction of our older historic buildings," he said. "As downtown Seattle grows, we cannot erase our past." "