BIZNOTE: Distinctive White Center building to become West Seattle day care/preschool’s future home

It’s been a year and a half since Chase Bank closed its White Center location in that distinctive round building at 1616 SW 100th. At the time, we reported on partner site White Center Now that Chase planned to put the half-acre site up for sale. This week, a reader asked us about fencing that has gone up around the site, and whether that indicated the building’s future had been determined. Our subsequent research revealed that the site has been purchased by the owner of West Seattle’s Evergreen Learning Center. ELC’s current location at 6007 California SW has long had a redevelopment plan – mixed use with ~50 apartments – so the preschool/child-care center needed a new home. Contacted by email, ELC owner Cassie Ragsdale confirmed that the former bank building is ELC’s future home: “I just recently closed on this location to move Evergreen Learning Center to, since the location that we are currently in will be redeveloped. We are in the permitting stage but are hoping to begin construction this fall. We’re excited to be bringing our school to the White Center community!” This also continues a mini-trend of preschool/child-care renovating and reusing former institutional buildings, such as WorldKids School (WSB sponsor) renovating Fauntleroy’s former Christian Science church as an expansion location.

7 Replies to "BIZNOTE: Distinctive White Center building to become West Seattle day care/preschool's future home"

  • John August 18, 2023 (12:19 pm)

    Great repurposing.  It is now once again a pleasure to see the newly freshened former Christian Science church being utilized.  It is tops among West Seattle’s mid century architecture.

  • Interesting architecture fan August 18, 2023 (12:20 pm)

    Happy to hear this unique structure will be repurposed for another use vs. torn down or abandoned forever. Good luck to the school! 

  • WS_CSH August 18, 2023 (1:22 pm)

    My first bank (Washington Mutual) as a kid in Grade School with deposits every Tuesday and then as a teenager in the late 70’s cashing checks or depositing.  The branch in White Center was built in 1963 and “sold” to Chase in 2008.  Didn’t realize there was a basement.

  • Kt August 18, 2023 (2:57 pm)

    Excellent use of that space!

  • D Martin August 18, 2023 (3:40 pm)

    Was Georgetown and White Center the only two places that had these round mid century modern buildings for the former Washington Mutual Bank branches? I was a young child when they were still open, so now the WSB has me 🤔 wondering!

  • WS_CSH August 18, 2023 (9:45 pm)

    The build in Georgetown (303 S Michigan St.) opened in 1967 as a branch for NBC (National Bank of Commerce.  The name Rainier National Bank was adopted in 1974.Rainier Bancorp. was acquired by Security Pacific Corporation in 1987. In 1992, Security Pacific Bank merged with San Francisco-based Bank of America.   Federal regulators forced the divestiture of over half of the branches in Washinton State – 38 branches were sold to West One Bancorp (now itself merged into U.S. Bancorp) and 48 to KeyBank.US Bank closed the Georgetown branch in 2020 or 2021 and its now leased as a pot shop.https://www.instagram.com/p/CPeL9e7Nly2/?img_index=7This building is an interesting oval-shaped bank designed by Mandeville and Berge Architects in the Georgetown neighborhood. Example of New Formalism architecture in Seattle. This style often employed the newly discovered plastic-like qualities of concrete to create new forms such as umbrella shells, waffle slabs and folded plates. Note the use of concrete in this building to create graceful curves of the overhanging roof supported by segmental arches on columns.

  • John August 21, 2023 (2:18 pm)

    Awesome news! Great repurposing.

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