In June, with the knowledge that King County is already planning for the 2012 budget year, AKCHO Board President John Chaney sent the following letter to King County Executive Dow Constantine after consulting with the AKCHO Advocacy Committee and the rest of the AKCHO Board.

Dear Executive Constantine:

I am writing on behalf of the Board of Directors of the Association of King County Historical Organizations (AKCHO), a membership organization with more than 140 organizational and individual members county-wide. We would like to thank you again for your strong support over many years of historic preservation and heritage activities in King County. Read the rest of this article »

After years of traveling to Olympia to speak up in support of continued funding of arts and heritage endeavors in King County, some of 4Culture’s most ardent supporters returned to the State Capitol on June 15 to watch Governor Christine Gregoire sign ESSB5834 into law. Read the rest of this article »

Christie True, Director of the King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks, delivered these remarks at the John D. Spellman Preservation Awards, held last month at the historic Delta Masonic Hall in Tukwila.

This year we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the creation of the King County Landmarks Commission. I’d like to acknowledge the commissioners who are here today but before I do that I’d like to review a little history about historic preservation in King County, and the man for whom this award program is named – Governor John D. Spellman.

It is not surprising that Governor Spellman cares about history – he’s a fourth generation Northwesterner whose great grandparents crossed the Oregon Trail in the 1840s.

His career in public life started in 1967, when he was elected a King County Commissioner. County government at that time was made up of three County Commissioners all of whom had to agree on any given issue in order to make a decision.

An interesting arrangement at best and one that Governor Spellman felt needed a change – so change it he did. He was instrumental in rewriting the County Charter and shepherding its passage – thereby setting up the Executive/Council structure we know today.

He was elected to the newly created office of County Executive and took office on May 1, 1969. Later he said about the position, “I took to it like a duck to water. I thoroughly enjoyed putting together a new government and shaping the pattern for the future.”

Under the new charter the Executive could set up the programs he deemed necessary – and preservation of the county’s history was something to which he gave high priority.

His list of accomplishments is remarkable:

• He initiated a countywide survey of historic resources which remains a key tool of the Landmarks Commission today;
• He developed the first comprehensive plan policies regarding historic sites;
• He integrated historic resource protection into agency planning; and
• He established the Office of Historic Preservation, the Landmarks ordinance, and the Landmarks Commission to protect our historic treasures.

Governor Spellman’s legacy continues, today the King County Historic Preservation Program is recognized as one of the most comprehensive programs in the country.

Not only does the Landmarks Commission work in unincorporated King County, but it also provides landmark protection services to 17 cities. Scores of properties – from barns to bridges, and railroad cars to cemeteries – have been protected under the ordinance that Governor Spellman championed in 1980.

The work of the Commission also provides the foundation for heritage tourism through partnerships like that with the County’s Roads Services Division and 4Culture to preserve our historic roads and the recent national conference of the Society for Industrial Archaeology which the Commission co-hosted.

While much has been accomplished, much remains to do. I am excited to work with the Landmarks Commission – and everyone in the heritage community – to continue building on the rich legacy that Governor Spellman left us.

I’d like to introduce six long-standing members of the Landmarks Commission:

Lauren McCroskey, Chair; Brian Rich, Vice Chair; Steve Day; Chair of the Design Review Committee; Lynette Weber; Tom Hitzroth; and Rick Chouinard.

Thank you for your tremendous dedication to the commission, your contribution to preserving our history, and your commitment to making our county a better place for all of us to live and work.

And our three newly appointed commissioners [are]: Lorelea Hudson; Thaisa Way; and Kji Kelly

Welcome to all of you. I look forward to working with you as we begin the next thirty years.

The recipients of AKCHO’s 2011 Single Impact Event Award went to the Saar Cemetery Living History Project Team for the Saar Cemetery Living History Project.  After attending a living history tour in a Tacoma cemetery, Karen Bouton of the South King County Genealogical Society proposed to her organization and the Greater Kent Historical Society that a committee be formed to find funding for a similar project in Kent’s Saar Cemetery. Read the rest of this article »

4Culture is conducting a survey of public assembly spaces in interesting older buildings such as Odd Fellows Halls, Moose Lodges, etc. The goal is to identify space available for cultural uses throughout King County. Read the rest of this article »

The heritage community has two new facilities to celebrate – and visit – this summer — the Mary Olson Farm in Auburn and the historic DeYoung house in Woodinville. Read the rest of this article »

Over one hundred representatives of the state’s museum community met on the Whitman College campus in Walla Walla, June 15-17, for the Washington Museum Association’s 2011 Annual Conference, “Museums as Gathering Places.” Read the rest of this article »

History is bigger than you think. It is part of the primeval soup of human culture. Why else were themes of hunting, gathering, processions, domestic and wild animals communicated before language was born? Experiences have been shared through drawings on rocks, clay walls, pottery, papyrus and sheepskins. Rituals with drums, whistles, songs and dancing have interpreted symbols of passages through life. Historic themes have been in symbiotic partnership with visual arts, music and literature for eons.

The role of King County’s historical museums and organizations is an essential part of the big picture. Our diverse types of exhibits, events, programs and publications are outstanding examples of understanding the evolution of what we were. Read the rest of this article »

At its June 17 meeting, the King County Landmarks Commission approved a certificate of appropriateness for the Richmond Masonic Center in Shoreline to proceed with replacing the roof, painting the exterior, and other maintenance issues.  The Commission also approved a proposed picture rail system for the DeYoung House, which is the new Museum and headquarters for the Woodinville Historical Society.   A decision on a proposal to do a partial roof replacement on the Auburn Carnegie Library has been postponed until the next meeting.

Despite being a prime example of Art Deco construction, Harborview Hall is slated for demolition.  The 1931 building, located at 326 Ninth Avenue on Seattle’s First Hill, was designed by Harlan Thomas, one of Seattle’s most prominent architects of the 1920s-1930s, who also was responsible for the Sorrento Hotel and the Corner Market Building.  According to a recent article in Crosscut.com, it will cost approximately $6.6 million to take down the 10-story structure that, as part of the Harborview Hospital complex, is owned by the citizens of King County.