History of Sixth Avenue - Tonight (11. December 2006, 14:38 by Derek Young) ~ Learn Your History
The Tacoma Historical Society is presenting an informal history and slide presentation on Sixth Avenue at the library tonight.
Celebrating Sixth Avenue – From Broadway to Titlow Beach
Presented by Brian Kamen
Where
Tacoma Public Library, 1102 Tacoma Ave. South
When
Tonight, December 11th 2006 at 7:00 pm
Link to the Tacoma Historical Society
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This was a great presentation. It was cool to see the history of Sixth Ave all the way from a sawmill at Sixth and Pine (huge logs, cross-section taller than a man) to the 80s, where one picture showed 2 lanes each direction with no center turn lane…
One interesting factoid is that the Division Avenue, the dividing line between North/South along its distance, originally was intented to continue past Sprague to eventually meet with South 12th. This would have made 12th the dividing line between North/South addresses. (In related info, both 6th and 12th were originally logging “skid roads” from the Narrows to Downtown, and the logging of 12th came first.)
Lots of great info and pictures on the streetcar lines that ran along Sixth from Downtown to Proctor. Sixth just looks right with streetcars. It would be great to see a similar presentation focusing just on streetcar history throughout the city…
I saw one or two people I know, but the audience skewed a bit on the “mature” side (they don’t call them the “historical society” for nothin’), so I’m thinking there weren’t a lot of other 133’ers there. Could be wrong…anyone else?
1 | Posted by jamie from thriceallamerican | Dec 12, 10:17 AM
Jamie,
I was there as well. Amazing pictures, nice treat. The mill on 6th and Pine in the late 1880 was surprising. The Salvation Army building on 6th used to be a jazz hall called the NewYorker.
I was also happy to see that the Schreiner Hall (across Shalabra)has a decent brick facade. I think the current Schreiner members are amiable to a restoration of the front, even if they lack the funds. Just nice to know what is under the siding…
The street cars do look smart, I agree.
Anyone know if the images of 6th will be shown at the Historic Society’s Exhibit Hall. I had other commitments last night, but would love to see some of the images.
On a side note, with all of these images available and catalogued, is it to early to start the “Tacoma: Then & Now” book?
3 | Posted by DavidS | Dec 12, 12:26 PM
There was some discussion of upcoming displays at the exhibit storefront on Broadway. I can’t remember offhand what they were, but there was no mention that the Sixth Ave photos would be displayed there. Maybe since they didn’t put the presentation together themselves, I guess. It would be cool to see them displayed somewhere along Sixth itself…good use for an empty storefront! (Like, say, Dad’s…) Or maybe in the front window of an existing business…
Claudia, you’re active in Sixth Ave Business District stuff, right? Maybe Brian Kamens would help pull together the photos if we had a place to post a little historical photo gallery that could be viewed from the sidewalk…
4 | Posted by jamie from thriceallamerican | Dec 12, 01:13 PM
I am the art chair of the 6th Ave Merchants Association. Just this morning we talked about possibly using some of the images for permanent art displays along the Ave, perhaps in ceramic or glass.
A temporary exhibit is a great idea, it perhaps could move from storefront to storefront. Any input is welcome. Beginning January we will seriously look at new art ideas and funding for 07.
Claudia, that’s awesome that the wheels are already turning. Let me know what I can do to help. I’d gladly chip in a few bucks to help pay for photo printing costs, framing, etc., if nothing else…
6 | Posted by jamie from thriceallamerican | Dec 12, 01:43 PM
I’d love to see pictures of what the buildings used to be located in the existing storefronts. As you walk into Dad’s you could see what’s been there before or what the street frontage used to look like. Same for Starbucks, Shakabra, Posh Home, etc…
This would allow people to start to identify with the history in the places they use today. I love comparing streetscapes to see how they’ve changed over time.
7 | Posted by DavidS | Dec 12, 02:45 PM
I’d love to see pictures of what the buildings used to be located in the existing storefronts.
Just offhand from last night and previous knowledge, here are a few before/after uses:
* Starbucks/Primo building sits on the site of the former Central Bank building, which was similar in size.
* Posh Home (formerly Speedy Auto Glass) actually contained a theater at one time, I believe it was called the Sunset Theater
* The little vacuum cleaner store apparently used to be Boyd’s Donuts…there was a big discussion last night of what happened to the donut recipe, as a bit of “Tacoma lore” for you. Apparently they were that good. (And no, the city didn’t buy this recipe…it’s apparently still in the family that last owned the place.)
* The Schucks building was originally the first Safeway in Tacoma
(hmmm, having issues getting bulleted lists to work in Textile…is that disabled?)
Very interesting…this really could be a great pedestrian feature for the district. Even if businesses are closed, it gives a reason to stop and peek in the windows.
8 | Posted by jamie from thriceallamerican | Dec 12, 04:28 PM
You can still see the Sunset Theater name imprinted in the concrete by the front door. I like the idea of having past images displayed like ghosts in the merchants windows. Thank you for offering your support, Jamie. I will definitely take you up on that come January.
Sixth Ave is an enigma. It has the successful restaurants and shops, now it needs a little residential. The entire district should be built at the same density as House of Records. I’m tired of showing out-of-towners a bunch of one-story suburban sprawl buildings and labeling it a “hip, cool business district.” Is there anything at all historical about that building where the tattoo parlor is or Shakabrah? Built 1956!!!! Looks like it meets the minimum criteria for being a historic site! Let’s preserve this suburban junk and continue to deny Tacoma “real city” status.
10 | Posted by drizell | Dec 13, 09:48 AM
“Let’s preserve this suburban junk and continue to deny Tacoma “real city” status.”
We could tear it all down and just call it Towne Center. Build a Nike Town and have $600,000 condos above with a grand view on 6th Ave. Urban enough? We could use another Convention Center, or a new Mega Church – that builds community. Why not up here in the suburbs?
I don’t know about tearing the commercial buildings down along 6th. It would be nice if some of them were gone like the pay day loan places.
The neighborhood really does need more residential density. The zoning is there and more dense development is slowly coming. The district has a ton of potential to become more than what it is. Right now a lot of people have to drive into the neighborhood (parking issues), it does not sustain itself. Get some more density around it and then you will have a great sustainable neighborhood.
12 | Posted by Jake | Dec 13, 10:47 AM
I always thought it would be nice to live in the Sixth Avenue. Unfortunately, the only available options at the moment are single family Craftsman bungalows and a couple new townhouses. I would love to be able to look out onto Sixth Avenue from my modest, 400 square foot, $600/mo apartment and be able to walk across the street for an evening at Chopstix. Nothing fancy, just a place to live.
For the many Exit133ers who have lived in places like Brooklyn, Edinburgh, San Francisco, and Tokyo, our love for Tacoma is borne out of a desire to not only enjoy the city’s best qualities, but also change the city and create the atmosphere in such successful large cities.
The problem is that overzealous historic preservation inhibits the ability of a city to grow naturally and continually redefine itself. If our standards are to preserve EVERYTHING ALL THE TIME, then how is Tacoma ever going to change? We might as well turn back the clock to say, 1990.
There is plenty of opportunity for infill everywhere in Tacoma. We don’t have to preserve EVERYTHING, and we certainly don’t have to rename it “Towne Center.”
13 | Posted by drizell | Dec 13, 10:51 AM
The problem is that overzealous historic preservation inhibits the ability of a city to grow naturally and continually redefine itself.
I’m surprised and distressed to hear these comments from an urban planner! Is this really Tacoma’s problem? I seriously doubt it! I would say that the opposite is true! But that’s just my opinion.
As far as I am aware, and I may be wrong on this, but the only designated historic landmark on 6th Ave is E9. So, I don’t see many buildings being saved by overzealous historic preservation… at least for now.
There is another way though:
With the market the way it is, I don’t see many of these buildings being bought up for tear-downs – it’s just too expensive. What to do? It is possible to add a floor or two to existing structures in much of 6th Ave (I’m talking commercial structures). Maybe we should give more consideration to working with what we have. But first we need property owners that are willing and able to make the investment.
On another topic:
The City of Tacoma Historic Preservation office has made available online a series of neighborhood walking tours (scroll to bottom). They are very cool and include: Hilltop, Warehouse District, and Old City Hall District. Wouldn’t it be cool to have one for 6th Ave?
14 | Posted by morgan | Dec 13, 09:55 PM
Thanks for the tip on the walking tours, Morgan, we will work to get on that.
In a perfect world, there would be cheap apartments and public transportation and density that keep green spaces from being eaten up. In a capitalistic world, the market dictates what is. There are very few buildings up for sale along 6th Avenue. Some property owners have looked into development upwards that would allow for rental units above retail. From what I hear, it is not financially feasible in every case.
I the mean time, we will continue working on a more pedestrian friendly neighborhood. I don’t believe celebrating the past and creating a historic photo tour of the AVE counts as preserving “this suburban junk and continue to deny Tacoma “real city” status”. It takes long term dedication to bring about change. We welcome people to attend the merchants meetings every second Tuesday at 8 a.m. at Shakabra. Bring your ideas and volunteer.
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