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Building History

The firm of Thomas and Grainger designed Seattle's 7th Church of Christ, Scientist, in the mid-1920s.

The developer, 2555 Project LLC, worked with the church's congregation to buy the 18,795 square-foot property on which he planned to build four houses. The Queen Anne Historical Society opposed the demolition on the grounds of the 81-year-old building's potential entry on the National Register of Historic Places. No church can be designated a landmark, however, without the approval of its congregation, and, in this case, they are working with the developer for demolition.

Aubrey Cohen, writing in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, said of a solution found to save the church: "City landmark designation can prevent buildings from demolition, but state law bans applying preservation rules to churches without the congregation's consent. In May, Seattle deputy hearing examinger, Anne Watanabe, ruled in the neighbors' favor, saying city planners inadequately reviewed potential environmental impacts before approving the demolition and requiring them to revisit those impacts. The neighborhood opposition prompted [David] Fletcher to say he was willing to back out, according to Bill Merkle, a Windermere Real Estate agent representing the developer. 'We had told them: 'If you can find a buyer that would leave it a church, we'll step aside,' Merkle said. 'It was to the point where we were happy to make everyone happy.'" (See Aubrey Cohen, "Salvation for Queen Anne church," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 09/01/2007, p. B2.)

In 08/2007, the Seattle Church of Christ, a congregation with 270 members, agreed to purchase the property for $1.56 million, with a $250,000 down payment. According to Cohen, "The new congregation plans to put $100,000 to $300,000 toward shoring up the building over the next four years, with a larger retrofit in the future, [minister Jay] Kelly said. " (See Aubrey Cohen, "Salvation for Queen Anne church," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 09/01/2007, p. B2.)

Floor plans, elevations, sections, details, and structural drawings by architects, Thomas and Grainger, for the Seventh Church of Christ Scientist exist at the University of Washington, Department of Special Collections, Grainger and Thomas Collection; Job No.62, Medium: Blueprint reproductions; Sheets: 11; Comments: 2 sets of drawings, quality is very poor; Location: HA0046; ID: 6016; use http://db.lib.washington.edu/arch/ to access drawings record;

This church was in danger of demolition in 2007, when the Christian Science congregation decided to vacate this location; developers eyed the site for townhouses in the dense Queen Anne neighborhood. The demolition controversy ended when the Seattle Church of Christ purchased the Seventh Church of Christ Scientist in 08/2007. The Washington Trust for Historic Preservation helped to broker the salvation of the building. A charity auction was held 05/31/2008 to raise funds for building maintenance.

PCAD id: 4851