Name (common, present, or historic): Great Western Motors Building Year Built: 1920 Street and Number: 1158 Broadway (aka 905 E. Union) Assessor's File No. 1978201295 Legal Description: See attached Plat Name: AA Denny’s Broadway Addition Block: 141 Lot: 1-2 Present Owner: The Polyclinic Present Use: Storage Address: 1145 Broadway, Seattle WA 98122 (Primary Contact for owner: Chris Rossman, UrbanEvolution LLC, 999 N. Northlake Way, Suite 306, Seattle WA 98103) Original Owner: Edward F. Sweeney Original Use: Automotive sales and service Architect: Victor W. Voorhees Builder: Unknown Great Western Motors Building Seattle Landmark Nomination July 24, 2013 This report was prepared by: Nicholson Kovalchick Architects 310 First Avenue S., Suite 4-S Seattle WA 98104 206-933-1150 www.nkarch.com Great Western Motors Building Seattle Landmark Nomination INDEX I. Introduction 3 II. Building information 4 III. Architectural description 5 A. Site and adjacent neighborhood context B. Building exterior and structure C. Building interior D. Summary of primary alterations IV. Historical context 9 A. Early site development B. The development of the Pike-Pine “Auto Row” in Seattle C. Building owners and occupants D. Paige automobiles E. The architect, Victor W. Voorhees F. The engineer, Henry W. Bittman V. Bibliography and sources 25 VI. Preparer and Reviewer information 27 VII. Report illustrations A. Current maps, context, and images of the building 28 B. Historic maps, context, and images of the building 36 C. Other work by the architect, Victor W. Voorhees 52 D. Other work by the engineer, Henry W. Bittman 60 Appendix A: Graphic summary of primary alterations to elevations 62 Site plan, selected architectural images Following Nicholson Kovalchick Architects – Great Western Motors Building Seattle Landmark Nomination – July 24, 2013 2 I. INTRODUCTION This report was written at the request of the developers of the property, The Wolff Company and Urban Evolution LLC, with the permission of the owners, The Polyclinic, as part of the Seattle land-use permit and SEPA process to ascertain the historical nature of the subject building. Sources used in this report include: • Records of permits and original drawings from the Seattle Department of Planning and Development microfilm library, as well as Tract Book images on microfilm which indicate chain of ownership of the property. • Assessor's photographs and property card from the Puget Sound Regional Archives in Bellevue, Washington. • Newspaper, book, city directories, and maps referencing the property (see bibliography). • Author's on-site photographs and building inspection, or by other NKA employees. • Information on owners and residents was derived from the sources above; a title search was not conducted on the property. • Historic photographs of the subject property provided an important source of information regarding changes to the exterior to the building. Unless noted otherwise, all images are by NK Architects and date from the first quarter of 2013. Nicholson Kovalchick Architects – Great Western Motors Building Seattle Landmark Nomination – July 24, 2013 3 II. BUILDING INFORMATION Name (recent): Complete Automotive Name (original): Great Western Motors Building Year Built: 1920 Street & Number: 1158 Broadway (aka 905 E. Union) Assessor’s File No.: 1978201295 Original Owner: Edward F. Sweeney Primary Contact: Chris Rossman (Developer, and Owner’s representative) Urban Evolution LLC 999 N. Northlake Way, Suite 306 Seattle WA 98103 206-595-0983 [email protected] Present Owner: The Polyclinic 1145 Broadway Seattle, WA 98122 Contact: Randal Brand, Director of Facilities and Support Services 206-860-4416 Present Use: Storage Original Use: Automobile sales and service Original Architect/Builder: Victor W. Voorhees Original Engineer: Henry W. Bittman Plat/Block/Lot: AA Denny’s Broadway Addition / Block 141 / Lots 1-2 Legal Description: Lots 1 and 2, Block 141, A.A. Denny’s Broadway Addition to the City of Seattle, According to the Plat thereof recorded in volume 6 of plats, page 40, in King County, Washington, Except that portion of said lot 1 heretofore condemned in King County Superior Court cause number 61476 for widening of East Union street as provided by ordinance no. 17972 of the City of Seattle:. Together with West 7 feet of old 10th Avenue (now Broadway Court) adjacent to said premises on the East vacated by Ordinance Number 26803 on which is attached thereto by operation of law. Nicholson Kovalchick Architects – Great Western Motors Building Seattle Landmark Nomination – July 24, 2013 4 III. ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION A. Site and adjacent neighborhood context The subject site is located at the south end of the Capitol Hill neighborhood, at the point where the adjacent First Hill and Squire Park neighborhoods meet in a saddle between low hills. Some sources, such as the 1975 Steinbrueck / Nyberg neighborhood inventory, place this property in the First Hill neighborhood. [See context photos pp. 28-29] The site is located on the southeast corner of the intersection of Broadway Avenue and E. Union Street. The property is on a rectangular lot approximately 159 feet east to west and 100 feet north to south, and the building occupies the entire lot. The site slopes gently downward from south to north. Across E. Union Street to the north is the former Johnson and Hamilton Mortuary, which is now a local office for Gilda’s Club Seattle (a foundation and space devoted to supporting those living with cancer). To the east, across an alley-like right of way called Broadway Court, there are two low-rise buildings housing automotive detailing and storage businesses. The south side of the property is a shared party wall with a 1928 building that was renovated in recent decades into an upscale bowling alley and pool hall. The other buildings on the block consist of a parking garage and the Silver Cloud hotel at the junction of Madison and Broadway. The site is located in NC3-65 zone and within the Pike/Pine Urban Center Village, and adjacent to the 12th Avenue Urban Center Village to the south, and the First Hill Urban Center Village Overlay west of the site. Zoning heights vary considerably nearby, from a maximum 65 feet to a maximum of 160 feet within a few blocks. The site is also located within Pike/Pine Conservation Overlay District and the Conservation Core within this district. The immediate neighborhood is primarily a dense mix of commercial, mixed-use, institutional and civic buildings, with few single-family houses nearby (the nearest areas characterized by single-family homes are primarily northeast of Pine Street and 12th Avenue, or southeast of 13th Avenue and Union). While the neighborhood has been continuously developed every decade from the 1880s to the present, the area was heavily developed in the decades between 1900- 1930. The immediate area derives considerable character from automobile-related service buildings and showrooms built between about 1910 and 1925. The Pike-Pine Corridor just northwest and northeast of the site is notable throughout the city for a vibrant urban living, working, dining, and entertainment environment, particularly in recent decades. The largest institutional presence in the immediate area are Seattle University, Seattle Central Community College, and Swedish Hospital. The Polyclinic medical center is located across Broadway from the site, and is the owner of the subject property. Seattle historic landmarks within a six block radius include: • Old Fire Station #25 (Somervell & Cote, 1909), at E. Union Street and Harvard Avenue • Seattle First Baptist Church (Ulysses G. Fay, 1911), at Seneca Street and Harvard Avenue • Broadway Performance Hall (Edgar Blair, 1911), at Broadway and E. Pine Street • First African Methodist Episcopal Church (1912), at E. Pine Street & 14th Avenue • Cal Anderson Park, Lincoln Reservoir and Bobby Morris Playfield (Olmsted Brothers, 1901, altered), at 11th Avenue between E. Pine Street and Denny Way • St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Cathedral (1937), at about E. Olive Street & 13th Avenue • Coca-Cola Bottling Plant (Graham & Painter, 1939), at 14th Avenue and E. Columbia Street • Dearborn House (c. 1909), at 1117 Minor Avenue • Summit Grade School (1905), at 1415 Summit Avenue Some notable nearby buildings that are not landmarks include: • Temple de Hirsch Sinai Synagogue (Detlie & Peck, with B. Marcus Priteca, 1959-60), at 15th Avenue and E. Pike • Chapel of St. Ignatius Loyola (Steven Holl, 1997), at 11th Avenue and E. Spring Street on the Seattle University campus • Garrand Building (John Parkinson, 1894, altered), at 10th Avenue and E. Marion Street on the Seattle University campus th • Odd Fellows Temple (Carl Breitung, 1908-10), at 10 Avenue and E. Pine Street Nicholson Kovalchick Architects – Great Western Motors Building Seattle Landmark Nomination – July 24, 2013 5 • Egyptian Theater (former Masonic Temple, by Saunders & Lawton, 1916), at Harvard Avenue and E. Pine Street. A 1975 historic resources inventory of the First Hill neighborhood by Victor Steinbrueck and Folke Nyberg (part of their citywide inventory project) describes three categories of historic building significance: significant to the city, significant to the community, or of no significance. Their inventory called out the subject building as being of no significance, although the former Johnson and Hamilton Mortuary across the street to the north was noted by the survey as being significant to the city.1 B. Building Exterior and Structure The building