Park View Nomination

Preserving our Community Heritage...Now and For The Future

The Park View Apartments are history--see photo at right (1 May 2007)

Park View Apartments Designation Decision Made

In a meeting Wednesday, March 16th, 2005, the Landmarks Preservation Board (LPB) voted 4-3 against designating the Park View Apartments as a City of Seattle landmark. The decision turned on the idea of "did the building qualify because of its prominence/spatial siting". Four members believed that it did not qualify on that grounds. A vote of six members in favor of the designation was required for landmark status.

It is expected that the building will be torn down and replaced with a structure 60 feet high (the maximum for that location), which will increase the current height by another 50% or so. Design for the structure is being handled by Lorig Associates.

Previous Material Supporting the Nomination

On March 11th, the Society sent the LPB a professional study paper outlining the reasons why the Park View Apartments should be designated a Seattle landmark. The regulations require that the building fit at least one of six criteria to be designated. We believe the building clearly satisfies three of those, and that with further research could potentially satisfy a fourth. These documents may be found here.

QAHS Sends Note of Support for Designation to Landmarks Board (3 Mar 2005)

On March 3rd, the Society mailed the LPB a letter strongly urging landmark designation, a copy of which is available here.

Park View Apartments Up for Landmarks Review (5 Feb 2005)

The Park View Apartments, located directly across the street from Kerry Park, and next door to the lot that once contained the J. C. Black House, has been nominated for City of Seattle Landmark status. A recent photo of the apartments is at right. (Click on the photo for a larger picture). The Landmarks Preservation Board met February 2nd to discuss this nomination.

A copy of the nomination may be found here. The Society is in favor of all residents interested in the outcome of this nomination expressing their views, in writing or in person. Only then can the Landmarks Preservation Board get a true understanding of the value of the building to the residents and visitors to Queen Anne.

Regarding the nomination form, the Society would like to restate a clarification. From the nomination on page 7:

"Twentieth century multi-family residences on Queen Anne Hill were selected for inclusion in a 1993 book about the neighborhood history by Kay Reinhartz and the Queen Anne Historical Society. The buildings on this list appear to have been selected due to their architectural features and styles, which ranged from eclectic revivals -- such as Romanesque, Tudor, Classical, and Mediterranean -- to Art Deco buildings of the 1930s, and post-war buildings in International and Modern styles. This 1993 survey list , copied below, did not cite the Park View Apartment Building."

The implication of this note is that the Society did not consider the building significant due to it not appearing in this list. This was discussed at the meeting, and the Society made it clear that the list quoted was neither all-inclusive nor one of priority, but merely a list to show examples of different architecture around the hill. It should NOT be construed that because a building was not on this list that it therefore held neither architectural nor community significance.

This situation was recently reported in the Queen Anne News issue of February 2nd. Copy of article reproduced here in case link is broken.