June 21, 2023

Historic Seattle announces 2023 Preservation Award winners

Historic Seattle recently announced the five winners of its 2023 Preservation Award's program.

These annual awards, now in their 14th year, honor people, projects and project teams from across Seattle that exemplify the non-profits mission to “save meaningful places to foster lively communities.”

Photos by Evan Parker Photography via Labour Temple [enlarge]

Developer FAUL won Best Preservation Project for the redevelopment of the Seattle Labor Temple into boutique office/co-working space.

[enlarge]

The renovated Labour Temple features plush art-deco interiors.

This year's winners are:

Real estate developer FAUL has transformed the southern portion of the historic Seattle Labor Temple, at 2800 First Ave., into boutique office/co-working space with ground level retail elements. The re-imagined three-story building offers 62 privately rentable office suites on floors two and three, with shared hotel-style amenity spaces on the ground level, and a large co-working basement space. Renters also have access to a shared communal rooftop and courtyard area.

The landmarked building's art-deco facade, which dates to 1942, has been thoughtfully restored by architects BuildingWork and Kenneth Wilson Architect. The building's original window fittings have also been restored and the temple's unique teal terracotta refinished and upgraded.

Interiors at the Labour Temple are inspired by the building's original art-deco architecture and styling. All offices are self-contained and have original doors with inbuilt mailboxes from the 1940s. Original wooden floors have also been preserved. Ahead of opening, the building underwent a full seismic retrofit and all new sprinkler/HVAC systems, and state-of-the-art security systems, were installed. The Labour Temple opened last spring.

Photo courtesy of SHKS Architects [enlarge]

Non-profit Byrd Barr Place was awarded for stewardship of its headquarters building, which was formerly a fire station.

Byrd Barr Place is honored for its continued stewardship of the historic Fire Station No. 23 building, at 722 18th Ave. in the Central District, which the non-profit has called home since 1968. The space was recently renovated.

Work included the remodeling of nearly 11,000 square feet of interior space. An existing food bank was revamped and new community gathering space, and flexible office space for staff and expanding programs, added. The food bank is designed to mimic a grocery store, with display refrigerators and wooden shelves for produce.

Work also involved the repair of the building's windows and masonry. A new pin-pile supported braced frame was integrated into the structure to stabilize its front facade. SHKS was the architect and Lund Opsahl the structural engineer.

This spring, Ethan Stowell Restaurants and Seattle Hospitality group reopened The Attic Alehouse in Madison park. The Attic has been a tavern since 1937 but the structure dates to 1907. It was originally built to be a bowling alley and was later used as a shooting range.

Stowell purchased the building for an undisclosed sum in April and revamped the historic neighborhood space before its reopening. The Attic now offers an elevated pub menu.

Historic Seattle is honoring SIF for its recent purchase and planned reopening of the Cinerama theater at 2100 Fourth Ave. Formerly owned by Paul G. Allen, Cinerama has been shuttered since early 2020. SIFF purchased the property from Allen's estate, for $4.5 million, in May. SIFF plans to reopen the theater later this year.

Non-profit Historic Wallingford was founded in 2018 with the mission to foster an awareness of and appreciation for Wallingford's history and architecture. Recent initiatives include the successful creation of a new, nationally recognized historic district in the northern section of the neighborhood called the Wallingford-Meridian Streetcar Historic District.

The National Park Service officially listed the district in the National Register of Historic Places in December. The new district comprises nearly 600 single-family homes, as well as 56 “domestic multi-family” buildings, five religious facilities, two commercial buildings, and 38 homes converted from single-family to multifamily.

Clay Eals is prolific local writer and journalist. Much of his writing focuses on history. Eals is a contributing writer for the Seattle Time's Now & Then column and previously served as the executive director for the Southwest Seattle Historical Society.

Dr. Cordova is a longtime advocate and supporter of the Filipino American community in Seattle and Beyond. In the early 1980s, Cordova and her husband Fred founded the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS). FANHS now has more than 40 chapters around the United States. The Seattle Chapter houses the National Pinoy Archives, which is one of the largest collections on Filipino American history in the world. Now in her 90s, Corodva continues her passionate activist for the community.

The awards will be presented at Historic Seattle's forthcoming 2023 Preservation Celebration Benefit and fundraiser, at Washington Hall, on Sept. 28. Feliks Banel, broadcaster, filmmaker, lecturer, and historian, will serve as the event emcee. This year's Preservation Celebration will also include special recognition of Historic Seattle's 50th anniversary.

Tickets and tables are on sale now. Sponsorship and advertising opportunities are also available. More information and tickets are at https://tinyurl.com/HistoricSeattlePA2023