In a remarkable session that involved bipartisan cooperation on a scale not seen for many years in Olympia, the state operating budget (2ESHB 1087) was passed by both the House and Senate before the end of their special session last week, and in the final hours of the 2011 session, so was a bill that enables 4Culture to continue funding heritage and other cultural projects in King County. Read the rest of this article »

On May 19, East Coast landscape architect James Corner and his Field Operations design team unveiled a far-reaching proposal for Seattle’s waterfront that involved the Pike Place Market, the waterfront streetcar, and pedestrian-friendly landscaped ramps called “folds” that would descend from downtown streets and Victor Steinbrueck Park to the waterfront. Read the rest of this article »

King County Executive Dow Constantine will recognize recipients of the 2011 John D. Spellman Awards for Exemplary Achievement in Historic Preservation on June 17 at the historic Delta Masonic Hall, 13034 41st Avenue South in Tukwila. The doors open at 9:30 AM for coffee and refreshments; the ceremony begins at 10:15. The Awards are named in honor of Governor John Spellman (King County Executive 1969-1981) who established the County’s Historic Preservation Program and Landmarks Commission over 30 years ago. Read the rest of this article »

Ed. note: in upcoming issues of Heritage Advisor we will be telling you more about the recipients of the 2011 AKCHO Awards, who were recognized in a program on April 26 at the Museum of History & Industry.

The 2011 recipient of the Willard Jue Memorial Award for Volunteers is Dale Thompson from The Museum of Flight’s B-29 Restoration Team.

After Dale retired in 2002, he wanted to use his skills and expertise to work on historically significant airplanes. So he joined a group of volunteers at the Museum of Flight who were restoring a vintage B-29 bomber. Read the rest of this article »

4Culture will provide $107,070 in Landmark Rehabilitation Program awards for fifteen designated King County and “interlocal city” landmark properties. This year’s recipients range from Shoreline to Auburn, Vashon to North Bend. Read the rest of this article »

I spent Memorial Day collecting  flowers and visiting my family’s graves — it is very comforting to remember them. I even try to remember the good and the hard times because I think it becomes useful to me. When I remember a living person, I think it is also useful to them too. Read the rest of this article »

The AKCHO Heritage Expo will be making an appearance at two historic King County events this summer: the Eastside Heritage Center’s Strawberry Festival in Bellevue on June 25-26 at Crossroads Park and the Lake Union Wooden Boat Festival on July 2-4. Read the rest of this article »

Last month Joe Follansbee, immediate past president of AKCHO, used our Sound Off column to voice his hope that the appointment of Vince Kitch as the new head of the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs would signal “a landmark change in Seattle’s attitude toward support of heritage work” and that “Kitch will recognize the equal role played by neighborhood museums and heritage groups in making Seattle a dynamic, interesting, and attractive city from a cultural perspective.” Read the rest of this article »

The Sammamish Landmarks Commission designated the Jacob and Emma Reard House as a City of Sammamish landmark at its meeting in May. The building is a rare surviving example on the Sammamish Plateau of a late 19th century vernacular farmhouse. Read the rest of this article »

Artist John Grade is creating a massive, 60-foot-tall wooden sculpture that will hang suspended from the high ceiling in the new Museum of History & Industry at South Lake Union Park. And he’s doing it with saltwater-seasoned old-growth planks and beams salvaged from the Wawona, the 1897 schooner that spent its later years waiting in Seattle for a restoration that never came. The Seattle Times carried this front-page report.