Demolition update: California/Alaska building mostly gone

(MID-AFTERNOON UPDATE: Scroll/click ahead to bottom of story; building’s now mostly gone)

12:28 PM: As of noon, the western building on the heart-of-The-Junction development site was more than half gone. This one has far more history than the eastern building, which was torn down first; the one on the southeast corner of California/Alaska was the home of West Seattle Hospital for years, with multiple families welcoming new additions each day during the peak of the baby boom. Click ahead for photos and video from earlier this morning, when the facade started coming down (update: more images added @ 3 pm):

We happened to be in The Junction around 9:30 am when the heavy equipment first bit into the streetfront of the building along Alaska – here’s a short Instagram clip:

Looking at this site from the north, the crane for the separate 4730 California project down the block is a constant backdrop:

Before long, you could see through to the rest of the rubble pile behind:

This building is being taken down relatively quickly so that the site will be cleared before throngs come to The Junction for this Sunday’s Harvest Festival. Excavation will begin soon for a 200-plus-parking-space underground garage that will be beneath both planned 7-story mixed-use buildings, being developed by Chicago-based Equity Residential.

ADDED 3 PM: Work appears to be done for the day, with just the corner facade remaining. The sidewalks have been reopened. Here’s the view from Alaska looking SW toward California, with the remaining section in the background:

Here’s the exposed wall on the north side of Talarico’s, which is one of three businesses remaining between the Equity site and the under-construction 4730 California site on the south side:

On the other side of the temporary gap along California, a corner of the remaining chunk of facade – this section was once the Classic Barber Shop:

We haven’t yet found a good photo of this building from back in its hospital days; you can see it toward the bottom of this 1957 aerial from the Municipal Archives, which we also featured in an earlier story about the demolition:

Click here to see a larger view

A October 22, 2013 (1:08 pm)

It’s so sad what WS has become….

Josh W October 22, 2013 (1:41 pm)

its a shame they didnt save those dark rock slabs… there were more then enough to make something new out of them

cjboffoli October 22, 2013 (1:53 pm)

Josh W: Those relatively thin polished granite tiles were likely attached to the underlying substrate with some kind of mortar. So I doubt they could have been removed without breaking them. Even if they could have been salvaged the color is a bit dated.
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In general it would be great if construction could be made more standardized and modular so that parts could be more easily removed and reused, beyond pulling out and melting down the metals.

sgs October 22, 2013 (1:57 pm)

Wow, let’s remember what wide open skies feel like. A breath of fresh air.

lightreading October 22, 2013 (1:57 pm)

It is a shame, you’d think one of the recycling places would have been receptive to having the granite slabs. What are they doing with the large vault that is downstairs?

G October 22, 2013 (2:15 pm)

Growing up in WS, seeing that building go down has just now finally hit me. Nothing really spectacular about the structure itself, only that it was part of the “wallpaper” growing up WS.

cj October 22, 2013 (2:47 pm)

Sad. I fear the West Seattle I fell in love with will soon be a ghost of the past.

Al October 22, 2013 (3:21 pm)

Cj , I hear ya…most folks I talk to are not happy with this

Uncle Joe October 22, 2013 (3:36 pm)

We’re turning into Ballard!

Ballard October 22, 2013 (3:58 pm)

Criminy, Why do you West Seattleites always pick on me?

Sea October 22, 2013 (4:38 pm)

Boo hoo, an ugly moldy old building was torn down. God forbid anything ever change.

dawsonct October 22, 2013 (5:35 pm)

Jeez, no kidding! Look at that historic arial photo again. Sure is different today, and 2,3,4,10 years ago. I bet if you look at a photo from the same perspective 30-40 years before that it would ALSO look different.
What stays and what goes in your ideally stagnant West Seattle? If Jefferson Square isn’t the ugliest block-long mixed use development in the city, I don’t know what is. That something that brings fond West Seattle memories to mind? Or were you just looking at the abundant parking lots. If only you had had the foresight (if you lived here at the time, that is) to block construction of the high-level bridge, and we could have been Magnolia with better beaches.
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But guess what, Cj and Al, W. Seattle was different before you two arrived, and in one way or another, you both altered the lives of people who already were living here before you.
Get over it, or move to some small town where lack of economic development means things change only when something falls down.

artsea October 22, 2013 (5:45 pm)

Some of you criticize those of us who hate to see some of the changes that are quickly transforming the Junction. Keep in mind that many of us chose this area to live because we liked how it was when we decided to move here. Forgive us if we aren’t pleased with the changes.

Gatewooder October 22, 2013 (6:03 pm)

This is much worse than Ballard, where historic Market St. and Ballard Ave. have been preserved. Development isn’t a bad thing, but it is when it destroys the heart of West Seattle.

Ferryboat October 22, 2013 (6:23 pm)

Was the old hospital the same building as the former Peoples Bank or did the hospital just stand on the same property? When I was a kid I remember being told that the old White House that looked southern (now gone as well) up the street from new QFC was the old hospital.

gina October 22, 2013 (6:41 pm)

There were several buildings that served as hospitals, the white house was one of them.

WSB October 22, 2013 (6:51 pm)

Including, just steps away, 4532 42nd SW, we were told by a commenter in 2006 …
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https://westseattleblog.com/2006/08/the-junctions-second-main-street/#comment-589
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It was subsequently torn down, but the development plan for the site has been idle now for years.

patt October 22, 2013 (8:14 pm)

The Dr Who you started out with is the real Dr Who.
The West Seattle you started out with is the real WS
fyi
Those thin polished granite tiles aren’t dated they are vintage Mid- Century modern :)

miws October 22, 2013 (9:29 pm)

According to Westside Story, there was also a hospital at the NW corner of California & Morgan, where Zeeks is, and another up in North Admiral.

Then there was the old Shadel Hospital, which was up at 35th & Myrtle, on what is now Our Lady of Guadalupe property.

Mike

Mary E OConnor October 22, 2013 (9:43 pm)

Artsea, I agree! I love the small town feel of West Seattle. I’m not a native of the area although I have been in Western Washington for 48 years. I’m disappointed in the shortsightedness but it’s not the first time.

AEL October 23, 2013 (8:30 am)

So it seems like there are three maybe four buildings standing on this block. I would be interested in seeing an aerial photo to get the full scope of the construction here.

WSB October 23, 2013 (8:41 am)

AEL – so would I! Unfortunately even if we had a chopper or plane, the fog this past week-plus has thwarted such things. Basically, once the teardown is complete at the corner (today, I’d expect), at midblock, it’s Talarico’s/Elliott Bay/Dr. Yi, then the other development site, then another remaining group of businesses stretching to Edmunds – Sneakery, Curious Kidstuff, Q Cleaners, Yummy Teriyaki, tobacco shop, Bang Bar, Terrible Beauty, that’s from memory so I hope I’m not missing someone. Remember that you CAN walk past the 4730 site to get to those businesses, and as soon as California/Alaska demolition is over, those sidewalks will reopen too – yesterday, in fact, they pushed back the fences once they were done for the day. – TR

Lisa October 23, 2013 (5:11 pm)

Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you got til it’s gone

What always struck me was we never heard about hearings for the project until it was a done deal. The time for effective comment is over

West Seattlite For 50 Years October 23, 2013 (9:48 pm)

What’s happening to West Seattle and the junction is so sad. I have to agree with “Gatewooder”. They’re not only tearing down the buildings, they’re destroying the uniqueness of West Seattle. Excluding how the new, unstylish buildings, with stacked apartments above them, completely ruin the small town feel of West Seattle, try taking any of the main roads out during rush hour. We can’t accommodate all the added traffic. It’s all about greed. I will place bets that the people defacing West Seattle, did not even grow up here. Go back home and ruin your own community. Leave West Seattle alone!

patt October 23, 2013 (9:56 pm)

Are there email alerts for building permits, etc in our community? That may get us way a head of the hearing.
That would be easier then putting random addresses in to the DPD page.

WSB October 23, 2013 (9:59 pm)

Not for just any old building permit. You can get on the Land Use Information Bulletin list, but that doesn’t include everything. One of the easiest things to do if you want to catch what’s in your neighborhood early, is look at the map on the DPD home page http://seattle.gov/dpd every week or so.

Beth W October 24, 2013 (8:06 am)

Considering we don’t know if there was an issue with the structural integrity of the building, or other factors that led to the decision to tear it down, I’m surprised that so many folks are jumping to the conclusion that this is somehow detrimental to WS. I’m impressed as hell that we have aerial photos of the lifetime of that area of the ‘burb, and a record of what it used to be and has been….and that WS has a very active historic preservation society. THAT is more respectful of WS history than an empty building.

And does anyone know what is happening with the other building sites in that area? I counted 5 at my last stroll-through, but all I see are large cranes, no signs to indicate what is going in there.

(and lastly, to “West Seattlite for 50 Years”- your words make me feel extremely uncomfortable and unwelcome. I hope they don’t represent the feeling of the West Seattle community which, in my 5 years in Western Washington, has been the ONLY neighborhood that felt welcoming. I’d hope that a year of buying from West-Seattle-based businesses exclusively, and volunteering for West-Seattle-based nonprofit organizations, would make my opinion as valid as anyone who was born here.)

Sorry, comment time is over.