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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2013
Vol. CXXIV, No. 180
OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE CITY OF TACOMA Devoted to the Courts, Real Estate, Finance, Industrial Activities, and Publication of Legal Notices
Published Published Since Since 1890 1890
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Tacoma City Council to vote on law to help save derelict historic buildings Article and File Photo By Todd Matthews, Editor Tacoma City Council is scheduled to vote this week on an ordinance that could help save Tacoma's historically significant, yet endangered, buildings. In May, the Tacoma Daily Index was first to report an initiative under way at City Hall designed to bolster the City of Tacoma's enforcement codes in order to prevent instances of so-called "demolition by neglect," the process by which buildings endure crippling, long-term issues such as deferred maintenance, vandalism, or even foreclosure and eventually become too expensive to save in the eyes of building owners (see "Tacoma considers plan to save neglected historic buildings from demolition," TDI, 05/31/13). In Tacoma, the Luzon Building, which was designed by famed Chicago architects John Wellborn Root and Daniel Hudson Burnham during the 1890s, was demolished in 2009 after city inspectors deemed the historically significant building a safety hazard for fear it would collapse after decades of neglect. Similarly, 120-year-old Old City Hall has experienced foreclosure, fire damage at the hands of a transient, a 'derelict' designation by city inspectors, and an 'endangered' designation by a local historic preservation group. Finally, the 88-year-old Winthrop Hotel is in need of nearly $16 million in deferred maintenance, according to a report prepared four years ago. In June, Tacoma City Council's Neighborhoods and Housing Committee met with city staff to discuss the proposed ordinance (see "Can legislation save Tacoma's neglected historic buildings?" TDI, 06/06/13). "We want to have the ability to proactively address these issues and create the ability to intervene," Tacoma Historic Preservation Officer Reuben McKnight told councilmembers during the meeting in June.
Additionally, the City of Tacoma hosted a series of public meetings during the past two months to discuss the proposed ordinance. If adopted, the ordinance could save Tacoma's historic buildings from the wrecking ball by formally defining neglect as a public nuisance. The new ordinance would allow the City of Tacoma to take action to ensure the protection of an historic building, which would be formally recognized as historical or cultural assets, when an owner fails to properly maintain the structure. Additionally, the ordinance would allow the City of Tacoma to intervene before the building is deemed "derelict" or "dangerous" by applying fines or by seeking a warrant to enter and repair the building. Finally, the City of Tacoma will set aside $250,000 from the city's existing Dangerous Buildings Fund to to tackle deferred mainte-
nance issues that threaten Tacoma's historic buildings. Tacoma City Council heard the first reading of the ordinance on Sept. 10. Councilmembers are scheduled to vote on the ordinance during their meeting on Tues., Sept. 17 at 5 p.m. at the Tacoma Municipal Building, 747 Market Street, First Floor. Council meetings are broadcast live on TV Tacoma and online at tvtacoma.com.
A bicycle tour starts at the Tap Room, located at 204 St. Helens Ave. "It's wonderful to see downtown decorated for a day with innovative pop-up parks," said City of Tacoma active transportation coordinator Diane Wiatr. "It's exciting to participate in a vision of the City's public right-of-way as public space. The streets are for everyone." Most of the mini-parks will be located in the downtown core along Pacific Avenue. Local businesses, design firms and artists are designing and building the spaces and the public is invited to vote for their favorite online at fa-
cebook.com/pages/Downtown-On-the-Go/. Design winners will receive a $100 local Tacoma business gift certificate. Park(ing) Day is celebrated nationally and serves to draw feet to the streets, creating community and supporting local businesses while people enjoy creatively converted parking spaces. Park(ing) Day began in 2005 when Rebar, an art and design studio, transformed a San Francisco parking stall into a park for two hours. It has now grown to more than 975 parks in 162 cities, 35 countries and six continents.
The former Luzon Building in downtown Tacoma, which was designed by two famous Chicago architects, constructed in the 1890s, and demolished in 2009 after the City of Tacoma deemed the historically significant building a safety hazard for fear it would collapse after decades of neglect.
Park(ing) Day aims to transform downtown Tacoma Sept. 20
Downtown On the Go, the City of Tacoma and Transportation Choices Coalition are teaming up this week to present the fifth annual Park(ing) Day, an event that temporary transforms onstreet parking stalls into miniparks in an effort to get people thinking about how downtown public spaces could be created to better enhance our lives. On Fri., Sept. 20, the public is invited to visit locations themselves or join a lunchtime tour of all the Park(ing) Day spaces. At noon, a walking tour begins at the Pacific Avenue base of the University of Washington Tacoma stairs.