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Overview

This Modern administration building for the Seattle Public Schools operated between about 1948 and the early 2000s.

Building History

This new building contained 42,428 square feet for a variety of Seattle Public Schools' (SPS) administrative and pupil-personnel services. This was the fourth space to serve the district's rapidly expanding administrative needs. An article in the Seattle SundayTimes stated in 1950: "New quarters for the general offices of the Seattle Public Schools provide much-needed space for administrative and pupil-personnel service. The first general offices on record were in the Central School at Seventh Street and Madison Street. In 1914 they were moved to the Central Building on Third Avenue between Marion and Columbia Streets. A building for maintenance shops and warehousing was erected at 810 Dexter Av. in 1921 and in 1934 space for the general offices were converted by W.P.A. labor. The fact that there was not enough room to handle two important types of school services resulted in this Roman brick building of 42,428 square feet." (See "New Headquarters for Seattle Public Schools," Seattle Sunday Times Rotogravure Section, 03/12/1950, p. 2.)

The SPS Administrative Building's architect was J. Lister Holmes, who at the time was the Chair of the Seattle City Planning Commission. Holmes obtained the commission for the Seattle Public Schools Administration and Service Center and one for a school in Magnolia during the late 1940s, a point that aroused discontent among some in the city who felt that he got the jobs because of his city employment.

The architectural historians Sally Woodbridge and Roger Montgomery said of the Seattle Public Schools Administration Building and Service Center in 1980: "A well-detailed building in the post-World War II modern aesthetic. The different functions of the building are expressed by changes in scale, structure, and use of material." (See Sally Woodbridge and Roger Montgomery, A Guide to Architecture in Washington State, [Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1980], p. 195.)

Building Notes

J. Lister Holmes and Associates won an Honor Award for this building from the American Institute of Architects, Washington State Chapter in 1951.

Demolition

The Seattle Public Schools Administration Building and Service Center was demolished to make way for Merrill Gardens at Queen Anne, an elder care facility, completed in 2006. This facility was later known as "Cogir of Queen Anne," after it became managed by the Montreal-based Cogir Real Estate.

PCAD id: 8833