Great article on Sullivan. Tacoma is doing better on protecting old buildings from being knocked down.

However, the city is doing poorly lately in facilitating the restoration of our larger historic buildings.

Year after year, Tacoma’s central historical buildings are sitting vacant and blighted, the condition of which has been present for so long it is now accepted as “normal.”

1) Old Ciy Hall

Almost nearly empty, yet sitting open for anyone to walk thorugh. Perhaps Tacoma’s most photographed building sitting vacant.

2) Elks Temple/Lodge

Vandalized and vacant.

3) Winthrop Hotel

After years of hand wringing, the building still sits chopped up, in poor condition and could be closed at any time.

Tacoma seems simply current incapable of restoring the Withrop as Spokane restored the Davenport.

4) Luzon Building

Still no activity.

There are countless more.

Worse, Tacoma’s clocktower looms over downtown broken for residents and visitors to see with no plans by anyone to fix the city’s clock.

these are all privately owned buildings – there’s not a lot the city can do.

The city has actually taken some modest supportive steps with all of these buildings, however, they could be given a higher priority.

is that Michael clown any relation to the Trib’s own ultra-attractive Niki Sullivan?

Michael is a great storyteller, and Tacoma has so many stories to tell. (Plus he’s paid up on his Lodge dues.) Sullivan’s vision of Tacoma was way ahead of the curve than most of us currently reading this blog, and he has witnessed more than a few emerging Tacoma renaissances. Artists lofts, the never-realized Testle: Ancient, Union Station, are examples that were long ago in his belief system. And at a time when it was often all an uphill battle. Michael looks to the future, but still embraces Tacoma’s past, not the least of which are its historic architecture and Tacoma’s strong ties to the railroad.

Here are a few published quotes I dug up from my jumbled Tacoma files:
“I think it’s a sense of comfortableness now, with being sort of a second city….I think it’s just a different time and there are different people here and it’s just a different attitude about this kind of thing. There’s no self-consciousness about being a lesser place in anything other than population….Our sense of place is based on being a traditional city, with traditional buildings.” Of Tacoma’s image, he said “A certain set of perceptions or characterizations of a place done from afar can only hold up for so long. Sooner or later it’s going to break down. And that’s what’s happening here. It’s really broken down.”

A recent interview? No, those quotes are from 1991.