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Skinner Building (Seattle)

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Coordinates: 47°36′34″N 122°20′2″W / 47.60944°N 122.33389°W / 47.60944; -122.33389
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Skinner Building
The building's exterior in 2009
Map
General information
Architectural styleItalian Renaissance Revival
Address1326 5th Avenue, Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Coordinates47°36′34″N 122°20′2″W / 47.60944°N 122.33389°W / 47.60944; -122.33389
Completed1926
Technical details
Floor count8
Design and construction
Architect(s)Robert Reamer
DesignatedNovember 28, 1978
Reference no.78002756[1]

The Skinner Building is an eight-story building in Seattle, in the U.S. state of Washington, which includes the historic 5th Avenue Theatre at its southern end.[2][3] Part of the Metropolitan Tract,[4] the structure is listed on the National Register of Historic Places for the architecture of the interior theatre and of the rest of the building.[5][6] The exterior features an unadorned sandstone facade with a false loggia and red mission tile roof.[2][7]

The building was constructed in 1926, designed by the architecture firm of Robert Reamer in the Italian Renaissance Revival style. The majority of the surrounding buildings constructed in the Metropolitan Tract have since been replaced with modern structures; only about four original buildings remain, retained due to public intervention.[8]

Description

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The Fifth Avenue entrance, 2012

Named after industrialist David E. Skinner,[9] the eight-story Skinner Building exhibits a "restrained" Italian Renaissance revival design.[2][10][11] It is an E-shaped mixed-use building with offices on the upper floors and retail space on the ground floor and basement level.[12] The theatre entrance and box office are located at 1308 Fifth Avenue.[12][13] The main entrance to the Skinner Building is at 1326 Fifth Avenue, where there is a plaque dedicating the Skinner Chimes in memory of philanthropist David E. "Ned" Skinner II (1920–1988).[14] The chimes, which can be heard daily at noon in the downtown Seattle area, are actually an electronic carillon.[14]

According to the National Register of Historic Places nomination form, "The building is faced with Wilkeson sandstone and displays excellent cut-stonework on three street front facades. It also possesses quality metal detailing around exterior show windows and shop entrances, as well as in its lobby. Interior details include rinceau friezes above the elevator door frames and decorative newel! posts on the staircase... Hipped parapets of red mission tile are visible on all roof surfaces from the ground and the projecting cornices of the seventh story are supported by handsome consoles. As an urban design element, this restrained, elegant building plays a strong role in the sophisticated, pedestrianized qualities of Fifth Avenue and creates an excellent street wall with its low key, block long unity."[5]

HistoryLink says, "Despite the Skinner Building's rather conservative exterior, the interior of the 5th Avenue marked it as one of the most lavish theaters on all the West Coast."[15] The automated chimes are at the top of the building.[14] The Skinner Building has Douglas fir sash and frames.[16] An underground pedestrian passage stretching three blocks connect the Skinner Building, Hilton Seattle, and the Washington Athletic Club.[17]

The book Shaping Seattle Architecture says architect Robert Reamer "incorporated classical sensibilities in his design" for the building.[18]

History

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Building construction c. 1926
Plaques commemorating David E. "Ned" Skinner II and referencing the Skinner Chimes, 2013

Reamer was hired to design the Skinner Building around 1925. The commission followed the Metropolitan Building Company hiring his firm to design the Olympic Hotel, though the hotel operators refused to allow anyone except its company architects to design it. Therefore the Metropolitan hired him as a house architect. His first major work was the Skinner Building, a successful transposing of the Italian Renaissance style into a city office block.[19]

The Skinner Building was completed in 1926.[5] Sandstone was quarried from near Mount Rainier.[20] The structure was featured in the February 28, 1927 issue of Buildings and Building Management. An opening night program read:[21]

The Skinner Building—in shops where are marketed together foreign wares and domestic merchandise; in offices, where are administered businesses with extensions over the Seven Seas; in the theater, where are combined the arts of Old World and the New to work a magic of delight—here in this stately edifice, the twain do meet. At the Gateway to the Orient the Skinner Building stands dedicated to the commerce and trade of two great Continents.

In the 1930s, the building was home to two radio stations owned by Fisher Companies: KOMO and KJR, both NBC affiliates.[22] By September 1983, the building was seen as adverse to the quality and marketability of the Metropolitan Tract area. It was suggested that the building be demolished toward the end of the century, along with the Cobb Building. Allied Arts Foundation began a coalition to save the Cobb Building, which was proposed to be demolished sooner, in the late 1980s.[23] Amid the uncertainty, Fred Bassetti and others proposed a new historic district be created, including the Skinner, White Henry Stuart, Olympic Hotel, and the Cobb Building.[24]

In the 2000s, the building received a $11 million seismic upgrade.[25] The Skinner Building is LEED-EB (LEED for Existing Buildings) certified as of 2010.[26] Unico Properties has been the property manager since at least 1997.[27][28]

Tenants

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Interior lobby, 2022

The Alaska Pacific Salmon Company,[29] Bristol Bay Packing Company,[30] and I. Magnin have been tenants.[31] Architects Paul Thiry, John I. Mattson,[32] and Leonard W. Bindon have also been tenants.[33] The National Canners Association and the Seattle Milk Dealers' Association have had offices in the building.[34][35]

In the 1940s, the building housed the Region VII headquarters of the Federal Public Housing Authority, a federal agency created as part of the New Deal.[36] The John Doyle Bishop Salon operated on the fourth floor from August 1976 to 1980.[37] The retail company Eddie Bauer was a tenant as of 1997.[28] In 2008, the marketing firm Pop signed an eleven-year lease for the top floor.[38] The clothing retailer Brooks Brothers opened a 15,000-square-foot (1,400 m2) store in the building c. 2005,[31] which continues to operate as of 2014.[39]

Reception

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In Seattle Architecture (1953), Victor Steinbrueck said the building is "outstanding for precise detailing".[40] In his 1994 book Seeing Seattle, Roger Sale calls the building and theatre "jewels" of the Metropolitan Tract. He complimented the building's "elegant" and "unadorned" sandstone, as well as the simplicity of the façade. Sale said the building is among Seattle's "finest".[7] In her book Best Places Seattle (1999), Giselle Smith called the Skinner Building "exquisite".[41] The structure has also been described as a "handsome office building".[42] In 1984, Seattle architect Ibsen Nelsen considered the Skinner the most important preservation issue in Seattle and one of the most crucially important buildings in the city, saying its block-long facade is "the very heart of our downtown", a facade that cannot be improved upon.[24]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "National Register Information System – (#78002756)". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. ^ a b c Elenga, Maureen R. (2007). Seattle Architecture: A Walking Guide to Downtown. Seattle Architecture Foundation. p. 98. ISBN 978-0-615-14129-9.
  3. ^ Lloyd, Sarah Anne (November 14, 2018). "8 Pacific Northwest works by Robert Reamer". Curbed Seattle. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  4. ^ Campbell, Megan (April 28, 2021). "Jeweler Turgeon Raine opens larger downtown Seattle store". Puget Sound Business Journal. Archived from the original on June 2, 2022. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  5. ^ a b c "NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM". 1978. Archived from the original on November 15, 2022. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  6. ^ Flom, Eric L.; Caldbick, John (March 17, 2012). "5th Avenue Theatre (Seattle)". www.historylink.org. Archived from the original on November 15, 2022. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  7. ^ a b Sale, Roger (1994). Seeing Seattle. University of Washington Press. ISBN 978-0-295-97359-3. Archived from the original on November 15, 2022. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  8. ^ Campbell, Richard M. (2014). Stirring up Seattle: Allied Arts in the civic landscape. Seattle: Allied Arts Foundation in association with University of Washington Press. p. 45. ISBN 978-0-295-99394-2. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
  9. ^ Lloyd, Sarah Anne (February 17, 2017). "Capitol Hill's Skinner Mansion listed for $8M". Curbed Seattle. Archived from the original on November 15, 2022. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  10. ^ Kögel, Eduard (July 31, 2015). The Grand Documentation: Ernst Boerschmann and Chinese Religious Architecture (1906–1931). Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. ISBN 978-3-11-040134-9. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  11. ^ Theatre Organ: Journal of the American Theatre Organ Society. American Theatre Organ Society. 1998. Archived from the original on November 15, 2022. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  12. ^ a b Flynn, Larry (October 2004). "Sensitive upgrade: after avoiding severe damage in a 2001 earthquake, Seattle's Skinner Building maintains its character while undergoing crucial seismic improvements". Building Design & Construction. Vol. 45, no. 10. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved November 18, 2022 – via Gale OneFile.
  13. ^ "Know Before You Go". The Fifth Avenue Theatre. Archived from the original on November 18, 2022. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
  14. ^ a b c Beck, Lena (March 20, 2019). "Seattle's Skinner Chimes Are Not What You Think". Seattle Magazine. Archived from the original on November 15, 2022. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
  15. ^ Flom, Eric L. (April 24, 2002). "Fifth (5th) Avenue Theatre opens in Seattle amid gala celebration on September 24, 1926". www.historylink.org. Archived from the original on November 15, 2022. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  16. ^ "Douglas Fir Sash and Frames ...In the World's Largest Hotel". The American Architect. Vol. 130. Architectural and Building Press. July 5, 1926. p. 37. Archived from the original on November 16, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  17. ^ Humphrey, Clark (August 21, 2018). Walking Seattle: 35 Tours of the Jet City's Parks, Landmarks, Neighborhoods, and Scenic Views. Wilderness Press. ISBN 978-0-89997-814-7. Archived from the original on November 16, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  18. ^ Ochsner, Jeffrey Karl (May 1, 2017). Shaping Seattle Architecture: A Historical Guide to the Architects, Second Edition. University of Washington Press. ISBN 978-0-295-80689-1. Archived from the original on November 16, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  19. ^ Kreisman, Lawrence (1992). The Stimson legacy: architecture in the urban West. Seattle: Willows Press. p. 145. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
  20. ^ Crowley, Walt (February 11, 1998). National Trust Guide Seattle: America's Guide for Architecture and History Travelers. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-471-18044-9. Archived from the original on November 15, 2022. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  21. ^ Breeze, Carla (2003). American Art Deco: Architecture and Regionalism. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-01970-4. Archived from the original on November 16, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  22. ^ Blecha, Peter (April 13, 2022). "KJR Radio (Seattle)". HistoryLink. Archived from the original on November 15, 2022. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  23. ^ Arcade (PDF). Vol. 3. October–November 1983. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 18, 2022. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
  24. ^ a b "Arcade" (PDF). June–July 1984. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 18, 2022. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
  25. ^ Stephens, Terry (November 18, 2004). "Skinner Building gets a seismic skeleton". Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce. Archived from the original on November 15, 2022. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  26. ^ Law, Dennis (April 27, 2010). "Plugging the Energy Sink". Seattle Business Magazine. Archived from the original on November 15, 2022. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  27. ^ Moriwaki, Lee (May 14, 1997). "Skinner Building". Unico Properties. Archived from the original on November 15, 2022. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  28. ^ a b Moriwaki, Lee (May 14, 1997). "Change Planned At Skinner Building". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on November 15, 2022. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  29. ^ Federal Trade Commission Decisions. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1957. Archived from the original on November 16, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  30. ^ Collective Bargaining for Fisherman; Hearings ..., 87-2 ..., Oct 15-19, Nov 8, 1962. 1963. Archived from the original on November 16, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  31. ^ a b Pristin, Terry (December 21, 2005). "An Unusual Higher Education Moneymaker". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on November 15, 2022. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  32. ^ The Architect and Engineer (PDF). Vol. 107. October 1931. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 18, 2022. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
  33. ^ "Personal" (PDF). The Architect and Engineer. November 1933. p. 56. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 5, 2020. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
  34. ^ Holland, Clement Joseph (1949). Catalog of Free and Inexpensive Teaching Aids for High Schools. Consumer Education Study, National Association of Secondary-School Principals, Department of the National Education Association. Archived from the original on November 16, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  35. ^ Food Shortages: Dairy products. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1945. Archived from the original on November 16, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  36. ^ "National Housing Agency Federal Public Housing Authority" (PDF). The Federal Architect. April–July 1945. p. 55. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 18, 2022. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
  37. ^ Berg, Clara (October 30, 2021). "Bishop, John Doyle (1913-1980)". historylink.org. Archived from the original on November 15, 2022. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  38. ^ Jones, Jeanne Lang (December 28, 2008). "Unico signs its top-floor tenant". Puget Sound Business Journal. Archived from the original on December 28, 2008. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  39. ^ Bhatt, Sanjay (May 8, 2014). "UW plans 50-story tower on downtown block". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on November 15, 2022. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  40. ^ Steinbrueck, Victor (1953). Seattle Architecture, 1850-1953. Reinhold. Archived from the original on November 15, 2022. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  41. ^ Smith, Giselle (1999). Best Places Seattle. Sasquatch Books. ISBN 978-1-57061-155-1. Archived from the original on November 15, 2022. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  42. ^ Austin, Kay (1989). Built in Washington: 12,000 Years of Pacific Northwest Archaeological Sites and Historic Buildings. Washington State University Press. ISBN 978-0-87422-065-0. Archived from the original on November 15, 2022. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
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