And yes, the history and culture associated with it is tremendous. The Showbox is the quintessential venue in Seattle for seeing live music, in terms of the layout, the accoustics, and the vibe. Having some redeeming artistic quality in the building itself, such as the Moore or Paramount, would make a much stronger argument for preservation, which the Showbox simply does not have.ĭespite the building not having as much historic value, I can almost guarantee Seattleites feel more connection to the Showbox than to the Moore or Paramount (or any other venue).
The need for a performing arts space should be recognized and built in to redevelopment, but that doesn’t mean saving an old building with dated electrical systems, poor insulation, and even worse land use. The fact that famous people performed there doesn’t make it historic or worth saving. Among them: Riverfront Stadium, the Astrodome, Tiger Stadium, Yankee Stadium, the Kingdome, and dozens of other big-league stadiums and probably hundreds of small-time arenas and amphitheaters like Hara Arena and Cincinnati Gardens. Lots of other music venues that have hosted huge entertainment acts have also seen the wrecking ball, or should see the wrecking ball. Raising the height limit would be one way of accomplishing this. Yes, please negotiate with the developer to build new, and better, performance space in the building. Having lived in Seattle in the past, I couldn’t place the Showbox. Then, everyone should be happy except the historic preservationists, housing opponents, and height opponents. Lift the height limit in exchange for building such a performance space, and more income-limited units. I would just add that having a performance space of similar quality to the Showbox can happen on-site, most likely on the top floor. Josh Feit has a lot more to say on the topic, over at The C Is For Crank. The Showbox is a victim, not of crass developer capitalism, but of our failure to recognize the housing supply problem before it became a crisis. The Hotel Morrison, as depicted on a 1942 post card
In short, there is a lot of truth to the adage that today’s luxury housing is tomorrow’s affordable housing. A lot of the “naturally affordable housing” targeted for purchase by the City is older single-family homes. The apartment complex where I live looks very much like it was once a hotel. Some of the largest shelters downtown, such as the Morrison Hotel and the Bus(c)h Motel were once state-of-the-art luxury housing. Much of today’s affordable housing was once someone’s “luxury housing”. There are, however, ordinances proposed by Councilmember Mike O’Brien on the introductions calendar to get all for-profit employers with over 20 employees in the City to offer pre-tax commuter benefits beyond car-cost reimbursements, and to provide guiding principles on reorganizing the Move Seattle bond Levy package. There is no actual item related to the Showbox on today’s 2:00 City Council Agenda yet.
The movement to save the Showbox has grown quickly, and attracted some wanting an opportunity to proverbially punch a developer in the face, or to stop more housing from being built, for which the Showbox has provided a convenient excuse. Update: Erica Barnett at The C is for Crank has a rundown of what Councilmember Sawant’s proposed ordinance would do (putting severe restrictions on a lot more property than the Showbox) and rapid timeline for approval.
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