Africatown Liberty Bank Landmarks Preservation Board Meeting Nomination Video




libertybankinterior11-300x2941The landmarks preservation board meeting was held at the Seattle Municipal Tower on Wednesday February 5 to decide on a nomination as to whether or not the former Liberty Bank site at 2320 East Union Street, should be declared a Historic Preservation.

Here is a portion on the nomination proceedings here.

It was reported in the Central District News back on January 16, 2013 that Capitol Hill Housing had entered into an agreement with Key Bank, who had owned the building, and that CHH had planned to purchase the property and convert it into affordable housing.

The Africatown community then submitted information to the City of Seattle landmarks preservation board to consider a nomination for Liberty Bank.… Continue reading…

Liberty Bank landmark bid moves to next step

An effort to save an empty, but historically significant 1960s bank at 24th and Union got its first round of approval for landmark status Wednesday. The Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board voted to accept the nomination of the former Liberty Bank building, the first Black-owned bank in the Pacific Northwest.

The building will have to win another round of approval from the board to be preserved as an historical city landmark. The utilitarian building, which has sat empty and fenced off since KeyBank left in September, is also being considered for an affordable housing project. Capitol Hill Housing has been in negotiations with KeyBank to buy the building and erect a mixed-use development on the site.

Longtime Central District/Africatown activist Omari Garrett filed the landmark petition for the bank.… Continue reading…

The success of Seattle’s Africatown Liberty Bank building has now been declared an Historical Preservation. The unanimous nomination decision was decided by the City of Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board Members.

libertybankinterior11The landmarks preservation board meeting was held at the Seattle Municipal Tower on Wednesday February 5 to decide on a nomination as to whether or not the former Liberty Bank site at 2320 East Union Street, should be declared a Historic Preservation. And it was. A true success for Africatown.

Africatown community members Omari Tahir-Garrett, and Leith Kahl spoke before the panel and also presented a slide show. Both also made statements as to why Liberty Bank should become an historic landmark. Others from the central district community also made comments.

The landmarks preservation board members then heard comments and viewed a slide show presented by Capitol Hill Housing representatives.It was reported in the Central District News back on January 16, 2013 that Capitol Hill Housing had entered into an agreement with Key Bank, who had owned the building, and that CHH had planned to purchase the property and convert it into affordable housing.… Continue reading…

Liberty Bank (Key Bank) Landmark Meeting is tomorrow!! Email comments or attend!

The Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board will consider the nomination of the building at 2320 E. Union St.at 3:30 p.m. tomorrow in Seattle Municipal Tower, room 1756.

If you would like to go to the meeting you can speak to how it does or does not meet the Designation Standards for up to 3 minutes.

The main entrances to Seattle Municipal Tower are located at the corners of 5th and Columbia St., 5th and Cherry St., and 6th and Cherry St.

SEND COMMENTS TO:  Erin Doherty, Landmarks Preservation Board Coordinator. [email protected]

They will accept comments on the application and how it does or does not meet the Designation Standards  THRU THE END OF TODAY, FEBRUARY 4TH for inclusion in tomorrow’s notes for the meeting.… Continue reading…

Landmarks Preservation Board to consider nomination for Liberty Bank building

The Landmarks Preservation Board is set to consider whether the Liberty Bank building at 2320 E. Union merits landmark status. The meeting will take place in February.

Now Key Bank, the application cites the building as the “first banking institution for African Americans in the Pacific Northwest region.”

The application lists other, related reasons why the building should receive the designation:

This building is a worthy historical landmark in Seattle for a number of reasons, notably:
1. It opened as the FIRST and ONLY African American bank in the Pacific Northwest region of the United Sates;
2. Its founders included a number of people of historic note, and it was designed by one of America’s few well known African American architects, Mel Streeter (1931– 2006);
3.

Continue reading…

Africatown Community declares Liberty Bank a Historic Landmark

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The Africatown Community has declared The Liberty Bank of Seattle an Historical and Cultural Preservation site. Liberty was chartered in 1968 and was the Pacific Northwest’s first and only black owned bank.

The property address is 2320 E Union WA 98122 located where the old Key Bank now stands. Liberty Bank was brought into a legal lawsuit in the early 1990′s.

The Seattle Historic Preservation Program.

In 1970, the Seattle City Council secured Pioneer Square’s survival with the City’s first historic preservation district, and voters approved an initiative for the Pike Place Market historic district two years later.

In 1973, the Seattle City Council adopted a Landmarks Preservation Ordinance to safeguard properties of historic and architectural significance around the city.

Historic Preservation Program.… Continue reading…

ILLEGAL THEFT OF LIBERTY BANK (KEY BANK BRANCH 24TH AND UNION)

The Africatown Community is seeking to gain back control of  “Liberty Bank”.

The origins of the first black owned bank in the central district dates back to 1968, when the property was built at 2320 East Union Street Seattle 98122, the former home of Key Bank.

The Africatown Community are working to have the property declared an Historic,and Cultural
Preservation site.

Over this past weekend May 19(Malcolm X Birthday), two signs were placed at the bank: “Liberty Bank” and “Africatown/CD”.

On the morning of  Tuesday May 21, a worker presumed to have been sent over by key bank, was there taking down the two signs. Omari Tahir-Garrett, who’s father was a founder of Liberty Bank was across the street and saw the worker.… Continue reading…

Landmark status for CD’s pioneering black-owned bank up for consideration amid affordable housing plans

1968To preserve and rekindle a piece of Central District history, or prepare for the current and future needs of residents in a increasingly expensive neighborhood. That’s the debate at the heart of a bid to preserve the former, and now empty, Liberty Bank building at 24th and Union.Screen Shot 2014-02-04 at 5.44.51 PM

On Wednesday the Landmarks Preservation Board will decide if a nomination to save the bank building should move forward. The application (PDF) cites the building as the “first banking institution for African Americans in the Pacific Northwest region.”

Longtime Central District/Africatown activist Omari Garrett filed the preservation petition. For Garrett, the fight to save the bank runs deeper than just preserving a building.

“Our children are not on the street shooting each other because they don’t have a place to stay.… Continue reading…

KeyBank at 23rd/Union to be redeveloped as affordable housing

IMG_0040There is more change coming for 23rd and Union. The KeyBank building at the intersection is being acquired by nonprofit developer Capitol Hill Housing and will be redeveloped as “mixed-use and affordable housing,” according to the announcement sent out Wednesday afternoon and posted below.

The bank will continue to operate into April before operations are consolidated at other area branches, according to the announcement.

A bank has operated at the site for decades including the Liberty Bank, started in 1968 as a black-owned bank.

The plan for development comes as some of the more ambitious projects for 23rd and Union were iced by economic downturn. Residents and business owners in the area met in December to work together to help foster growth and safety at the intersection.… Continue reading…

The People of the Central Area: Michelle Purnell-Hepburn, VP / Controller

This post is part of a series of profiles of Central District residents, part of the “People of the Central Area” project developed and written by Madeline Crowley.

About Michelle:
Michelle Purnell-Hepburn has spent her life in financial institutions, literally learning at her father’s knee, then working at the Liberty Bank when young. The Liberty Bank was the first African-American owned bank at that time west of the Mississippi. It is an important part of Central Area history.

Your parents contributed to an important part of Central Area history, they were part of the Liberty Bank.

Well, the Liberty Bank of Seattle was a dream of my father. He wanted African-Americans to have the ability to create their own destiny.Liberty Bank, though, was really an off-shoot of an existing financial institution already in the Central Area called Sentinel Credit Union.… Continue reading…