On June 18,the City of Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board accepted the nomination of the former Coca Cola bottling plant at 14th and Columbia as an historic landmark. A detailed description of the building, including many pages of graphics is posted on the Landmarks Preservation Board Web site http://www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/preservation/landmarks. Follow the link to “nominations”. (The pictures at that Web site include good ones of the building when it was a Coca Cola plant and several other historic photos of the surrounding neighborhood. They’re worth checking out.)

The building is a good example of streamline moderne architecture and one of the few buildings in the Central District eligible for historic preservation.

Whether or not the building will receive protection as a designated landmark will depend on a decision that will come after a public meeting. It’s not clear what the position of S.U. will be. At last week’s meeting the S.U. representative said that S.U. might want to change the paint and some of the windows. That need not be inconsistent with landmark preservation. The current blue and white scheme is not original and the windows were altered by QWest. On the other hand, the new draft S.U. Major Institution Master Plan indicates that S.U. might, at least some time in the future, demolish the building. The Landmarks Preservation board welcomes public comment in writing (in advance) and in person at the meeting.

DATE OF PUBLIC MEETING TO CONSIDER LANDMARK DESIGNATION:
Wednesday, August 6, 2008, 3:30 pm
Seattle Municipal Tower
Room 4060
700 5th Ave., 40th Floor
Seattle, Washington