Save the Wawona?
Man, this one’s got you all in a tizzy. The Wawona is an old schooner currently docked and rotting in South Lake Union park. (Hi Wawona! I can see you from here!) On June 8th Tim Ceis sent a letter to Northwest Seaport informing them that they need to move the boat by September 30th or the city will have the thing demolished. Which honestly wouldn’t be that difficult a task, because it’s kind of in the process of demolishing itself. They had to remove its masts in January because they were of compromised structural integrity and in danger of squishing people. Ceis gave the nonprofit until July 7th to prove that they could get the funds to restore the aging ship [Times].
The Wawona was launched in 1897 and was used to haul lumber and catch cod. There is only one other such type ship left of the 500 that were made, and it’s a relic of the industries that built this town. So, like everything else, it’s time to break it down to accommodate Paul Allen’s SLU vision. Joe Follansbee of the Maritime Heritage Network says, “So Ceis’ letter makes no sense to me. He’s willing to spend maybe a half-million dollars on destroying the vessel, when the same amount of money would do a lot to stabilize it and perhaps allow visitors aboard.”
I have recently realized that I’m something of a sentimental preservationist, so of course I’m all for restoring the Wawona. I think it would look nice right where it is, in the middle of what’s going to eventually be a great big biotech hub. I think it’s good to remember where we came from in the midst of moving forward. But I’m also a great big sap. So tell me, what do you think? Should the city redirect the funds that it would spend tearing down and removing the schooner into helping fix it up?
(Thanks to Joe and Paul for bringing this to my attention and making me feel a little guilty for not being more upset.)
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Maybea it’s just me, but it seems that if they were going to spend the money to demolish, they might as well spend it to preserve. Is there something else going on? (Allen wants the waterfront for something?)
Yeah, uncle Paul is going to turn all of SLU into biotech, uh, stuff–he’s building up the whole area.
Thanks for giving this issue some attention. Just thought you might be interested in my last two entries on the Wawona question: one on the unprecedented nature of the mayor’s threats, according to the National Trust for Historic Preservation; two, the power play going on behind the scenes that puts the Museum of History & Industry in the middle.
Joe
Hi,
Just thought you’d like to know that Peter Steinbrueck has set a public hearing on the proposed Wawona demolition for Wednesday, July 12 at 2 p.m. in the city hall council chambers. It would be great if you could attend. More details and recent developments here:
http://mhnblog.blogspot.com/
Best,
Joe Follansbee