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Building History

This was the third Armory built in the City of Seattle, the first built on Union Street in 1888 and the second on Virginia Street and Western Avenue, used from 1909-1968. This Streamlined Moderne facility was built in 1938-1939 to accommodate the Army's 146th Field Artillery and its half-ton tanks, as well as the 66th Field Artillery Brigade. Maurice Thompson was the WA National Guard's Adjutant General, its senior officer at the time.

The Armory, costing $1.25 million, opened to great fanfare on 04/16-17/1939 including a military parade of 7,000 US and Canadian soldiers and remarks by WA Governor Clarence D. Martin (1886-1955).

An article in the Architect and Engineer in 1939 said of the Armory: "In Seattle there are two recent buildings of public importance which present interesting contrasts in architectural treatment and building accomplishment. One, a new armory for the National Guard Field Artillery, was finally realized after many years of persistent effort. The largest armory on the Pacific Coast, this has, beside its drill hall an acre and a half in area, provision for most efficiently meeting the practical requirements of the Field Artillery Regiment, Field Artillery Headquarters and the Headquarters Battery. While the building is essentially a concrete structure, apart from the steel columns and trusses supporting the roof of the drill hall, brick is introduced in the exterior walls to add variety to the architectural effect. This was a Public Works Administration project." (See Charles H. Alden, "Recent Architecture in the Puget Sound Country," Architect and Engineer, vol. 138, no. 3, 09/1939, p. 20.)

Building Notes

Originally, the armory had a swimming pool and firing range in its basement.

A presentation drawing, illustrated in the Architect and Engineer, vol. 138, no. 3, 09/1939, p. 21, listed the names of A.F. Hennessy and S. Richardson as delineators on it.

Remodeling to the Armory/Center House occurred in 1962, 1995 and 2011. The Armory was transformed during the Seattle World's Fair of 1962, becoming the "Food Circus" eating area for the exposition. It was later renamed the "Center House" after the fair, being part of the Seattle Center. The Center House continued to offer food choices and other spaces. Beginning in 01/1995, a $1.5 million renovation occurred in the building, that moved the existing Food Circus's stage and dance floor to the building's northwest corner. Workers repaired and shined concrete floors, installed new lighting and erected new storefronts. The Seattle Children's Museum took over significant space on the Center's first floor, forcing the food and tourist shops to the second. The first phase of Center House enhancement project concluded in 10/2011. The SRG Parternship, Incorporated, served as the architect for this 2011 renovation, working with Coughlin Porter Lundeen, Structural Engineer, and Skanska USA Building, Incorporated, the Building Contractor. These 2011 improvements were paid for by a 2011 multipurpose bond fund.

PCAD id: 16959