Laurelhurst
Community Club
Serving 2800 Households in
December 13, 2004
Landmarks Preservation Board
City of Seattle
700 Third Avenue, Fourth Floor
Seattle, Washington 98104
Subject: Laurelhurst Community Center Landmark Nomination
Dear Members of the Landmarks Preservation Board:
The Laurelhurst Community Club Board of Trustees strongly supports the nomination and subsequent designation of the Laurelhurst Community Center as a City of Seattle Landmark structure. We agree with Ms. Cathy Wickwires’ assessment of the structure and her conclusion that it meets three of the six criteria for consideration as a landmark structure. We are proud to have such an early example of depression-era civil-works projects in our neighborhood and appreciate that this building is unique, not a ‘cookie-cutter’ design with offspring elsewhere. Significantly, this building’s fulfillment of criteria F is what continues to incite a strong ‘protective instinct’ within our community when any discussion of change occurs.
Criteria F: “Because of its prominence of spatial location, contrasts of siting, age or scale, it is an easily identifiable visual feature of its neighborhood or the City and contributes to the distinctive quality or identity of such neighborhood or the City.”
For the Laurelhurst neighborhood, this structure completes the picturesque composition of our community Park, which would not be nearly as pleasing without it’s distinctive presence. Even more significantly, this building is the cornerstone of an even larger compostion: that of the Laurelhurst neighborhood as a whole. As Cathy’s analysis points out, the style of this structure was hardly unique at the time and, whether it be by coincidence, fashion or mimmickry, many Laurelhurst homes actually share similar character and materials with the Community Center. Because of this, the architectural character of the building, rather than standing out as a singular architectural work, actually is an integral part of a distinctive whole that encompasses much of our neighborhood. Due to this structure’s siting and scale, it is the most identifiable element within the composition, and as such the most critical to it’s overall identity.
So for the residents of Laurelhurst, you are considering not just a building, but an important part of our identity as a community. We urge you to approve the landmark nomination and designate the Laurelhurst Community Center as a Landmark. We also ask that you to include the Laurelhurst Community Club as an “interested person of record” so that we will receive the controls and incentives agreement and notices of future action by the Landmarks Preservation Board and other authorities.
Thank you for considering our comments.
Sincerely,
Jeannie Hale, President Joseph Herrin AIA, LCC Trustee
3425 West Laurelhurst Drive NE 5040 47th Avenue NE
Seattle, Washington 98105 Seattle, Washington 98105
206-525-5135 / fax 206-525-9631 206-525-6541
jeannieh@serv.net jherrin@heliotrope.cc