The architects who are working on the plan to renovate the Alki Homestead, closed since an electrical fire in January 2009, will return to the city Landmark Preservation Board‘s Architectural Review Committee this Friday morning. It’ll be the third time they appear before the committee, which doesn’t vote, but rather advises applicants on their project before they get to a vote of the full board – whose approval is required for an official city landmark to proceed with renovations/modifications. The meeting is open to the public and is scheduled for 9:30 am this Friday at the Municipal Tower downtown; here’s our report on the first review in January, and the second review last month. The proposal seeks to renovate the historic Fir Lodge as a restaurant, with banquet facilities, and an added structure to its rear (west side) that would house the kitchen among other things.

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

At the Muni Tower downtown, the architects working on the proposed restoration of the closed-by-fire-damage Alki Homestead appeared today for the second time before the Architectural Review Committee of the city Landmarks Preservation Board.

No vote was taken – meetings of the Architectural Review Committee are informal gatherings for architects, property owners, and developers to get feedback before bringing complete proposals to the full board, which has to sign off on projects affecting official city landmarks like the Homestead (historically known as the Fir Lodge). But the discussion represented another step toward restoring and reopening the Homestead, a popular restaurant for decades before a January 2009 electrical fire put it (for now) out of business.

As was the case at the January review, the architects from Alloy Design Group (above) made the presentation, with Homestead owner Tom Lin in the audience. When they appeared last month, the focus was on the overall concept of what they intend to do – this time, the focus was on the “accessory structure” that is being proposed on the east side of the Homestead, to hold its kitchen as well as an elevator for accessing proposed banquet facilities on the second floor. As the architects explained, they need feedback on what will be OK with the “accessory structure” before they can figure out the plan for restoring the fire-damaged Homestead building itself. And that’s part of why projects come before the committee before going for an official vote – to get feedback on whether they’re going down the right road.

Much of the discussion centered on a proposed third-floor view deck, 598 square feet. Here’s a rough sketch from this morning’s informal presentation:

Alloy’s Mark Haizlip and Greg Squires suggested that a third-floor deck would bring back a historic aspect of the Homestead – the reason the Fir Lodge was located on that site in the first place – what was then a view of Elliott Bay.

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For those tracking the future of the Alki Homestead (historically known as the Fir Lodge) and owner Tom Lin‘s new plan to restore it – the project is scheduled for another review before the Landmarks Preservation Board‘s Architectural Review Committee, a required step before the full board votes on the project (their approval is required because the Homestead is an official city landmark). The agenda for the meeting has just arrived. It’s open to the public, with this item scheduled at 10 am next Friday (February 25th) on the 40th floor of the city Municipal Tower downtown. (Here’s our recent coverage – last month’s committee meeting here, a look into the city files regarding the restoration plan here; our Homestead coverage is archived here.)

Tomorrow marks two years since the fire, blamed on a Christmas-lights malfunction, that blackened the inside of the city-landmark Alki Homestead and forced its beloved restaurant to close. While its owner has proposed “reconstructing” the historic log structure and including other businesses on the site, and even took steps toward applying for a permit, it’s been 14 months since that proposal went before the Architectural Review Committee of the city Landmark Preservation Board, whose signoff is required – and it has not reappeared in that venue.

Last July, owner Tom Lin announced he would sell the Homestead, offering it first to preservation/cultural groups, then to the general public. No public listing ever appeared, and no deal has ever been announced. We have left Lin messages asking for comment on its status, but no reply. However, an announcement came Friday afternoon from the Southwest Seattle Historical Society, headquartered half a block away at what was the Homestead’s carriage house: They plan a media event Sunday morning, on the fire anniversary:

A coalition of four heritage organizations — the Southwest Seattle Historical Society, Historic Seattle, 4Culture and the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation — will hold a press conference to provide updates on the potential for protection, preservation and restoration of the city-landmark 1904 log building known as Fir Lodge and the Alki Homestead Restaurant.

Those are the same four Lin mentioned in his July announcement offering the Homestead for sale. They also were part of last July’s “This Place Matters” photo gathering, part of this nationwide historic-site-awareness campaign. But at the time, at least one of those organizations made a point of saying they’re not in the building-buying business. So what’s their plan? They’ll discuss it at the Log House Museum, 11 am Sunday.

That’s our view from the third floor of the apartment building across from the Alki Homestead, as the official ‘This Place Matters’ photo was taken as part of a rally organized by preservation groups including the Southwest Seattle Historical Society, whose headquarters are in what was the Homestead (originally Fir Lodge)’s old carriage house. By our rough count, around 200 people had gathered by the time the photo was taken. (6:10 pm update: We used our photo-from-above to count: 162.) The photo was preceded by short speeches from those groups’ reps as well as King County Executive Dow Constantine, State Sen. Joe McDermott, County Councilmember Jan Drago, and former mayor Greg Nickels. This came one day after Homestead owner Tom Lin (whom we did not see at the event) announced he’s putting the Homestead up for sale (WSB coverage here), starting with a one-month offer for $2 million to preservation groups. We talked to reps of two – SWSHS executive director Andrea Mercado told WSB they have no official comment yet on the offer; Washington Trust for Historic Preservation field director Chris Moore (a West Seattleite) says his group “unfortunately” doesn’t buy buildings. ADDED 5:53 PM: Video of the politicians’ speeches. SWSHS’s Clay Eals said they’d been asked to speak for 30 seconds each (here’s Eals with a historic Homestead photo during a pre-rally talk at the Historical Society’s annual picnic):

By our count, most of the rally speeches ran closer to a minute-thirty, still relatively brief. Here’s former mayor Greg Nickels:

King County Executive Dow Constantine, more formally dressed than he was in his appearance at the Admiral 4th of July Kids’ Parade three hours earlier, alluded to that as he began:

Next, State Sen. Joe McDermott – a West Seattleite like Nickels and Constantine, and also a candidate for the County Council seat vacated last year by the now-executive:

Finally, the former city councilmember who currently holds the County Council position for which McDermott is running (though she’s not seeking to keep it), Jan Drago, who – Eals pointed out – sponsored the council resolution that made the Homestead a landmark:

Regarding the crowd count, always a thorny issue in any story in which turnout might matter (ever seen those protest stories where police say 2,000 and organizers say 10,000?), our estimate was a rough count, looking at the photo we took with the view from above. Just because we love precision when it’s possible, we’re working right now to blow it up and print it out so we can do an exact count. We can tell you unequivocally that the “nearly 100” in the lead line of KING’s story is too low. 6:09 PM: Finished the photo count: 162. Have adjusted the headline. MONDAY MORNING: As noted in comments: The “official photo” is now online. You can click on it, then click again, for a very high resolution version. We are told Historic Seattle counted 199 in the mega-high-resolution version, to which we didn’t have access yesterday. So we are going to revise our headline to “more than 150” and leave it there, for WSB purposes … no time to print and count yet again … this isn’t an election; we’ll leave the counting from hereon out to the folks who are directly involved.

With a rally/group photo planned tomorrow afternoon at the Alki Homestead, organized by local preservation groups including the Southwest Seattle Historical Society, owner Tom Lin says he’s offering those groups first crack at buying the fire-ravaged landmark, now that he’s decided to sell it, a few weeks after he told us he was considering that option. Here’s the text of his letter (from this PDF):

Alki Homestead/Fir Lodge is being offered for sale to Seattle’s concerned historical organizations such as:

Historic Seattle
4Culture
Southwest Seattle Historical Society
The Washington Trust for Historic Preservation

Sale Price – $2,000,000 An endowment fund of $500,000 would be provided from these funds by the current owner Tom Lin

Alki Homestead/Fir Lodge was offered to the Southwest Seattle Historical Society under the same terms in 2004 by the previous owner, Doris Nelson, according to her family.

These historical organizations claim to have more extensive resources and the expertise needed to ensure that the Alki Homestead/Fir Lodge retains its historical place in the community and would not be torn down.

Tom Lin will accept offers from interested historical organizations no later than July 31, 2010. Beyond July 31st the property will be offered to the general public at a different sale price and terms.

Contact Information: Tom Lin at savealkihomestead@yahoo.com

Lin had been trying to proceed with a plan to rebuild the historic log building and add other uses to its site – uses without which, he says, it wouldn’t be financially viable; he discussed his challenges in this story we published two weeks ago. This morning, he tells WSB, “It has been over a year and a half since I have tried to bring Homestead back. The cost has become a burden. I had a long conversation with [previous owner] Doris Nelson’s estate yesterday. They understand the dilemma I am in and they respect my choice. In fact, [they] had already told SWSHS to buy the building again 6 months ago … I think when I spoke to you a few weeks ago, I told you I was pretty close at giving it up. Now it is time. I hope they can address that during the rally.”

The rally – to which Lin tells us he finally did get an invitation, after he pointed out to Historic Seattle that he had not received one – is scheduled for 1:30 pm tomorrow on the sidewalk and street (which will be closed for the event) in front of the Homestead. Clay Eals from SWSHS says there’s been one change in the slate of political leaders scheduled to be there – City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen will be out of town, but County (and former City) Councilmember Jan Drago will be there, which Eals notes is “quite fitting because (she) was the Seattle City Council sponsor of the landmark designation ordinance for the Alki Homestead building in 1996.”

Previous WSB coverage of the Alki Homestead is archived, newest to oldest, here.

To preview next Sunday’s 4th of July “This Place Matters” group photo on the street/sidewalk in front of the Alki Homestead – the Southwest Seattle Historical Society‘s plan to show community concern about its future – Paul Dorpat‘s “Seattle Now and Then” in today’s Seattle Times (WSB partner) looks at the Homestead and its history, while previewing the event. Dorpat published even more Homestead history on his own website the yesterday, recalling it as “A Soap Manufacturer’s Log Mansion on Alki Point.” (His site also republishes the Times piece with a few “Web extra” photos.) Here’s our original June 8th story about the photo plan; here’s our June 20th story about where the Homestead stands from its owner’s perspective.

Two weeks from today is the 4th of July, the day the Southwest Seattle Historical Society plans a rally of sorts outside the Alki Homestead to take a group photo to publicize how many people are concerned about the landmark’s future. Its owner Tom Lin, meantime, says concern is great, but contends nobody’s contacting him directly to help save it from sitting, idle, indefinitely, as it has for a year and a half since the electrical fire that charred its interior and closed the restaurant. As noted in our original report on the Historical Society’s plan, we asked him for comment – to respond, he sat down with us this past week at an Alki coffee shop:Read More

(Wikimedia photo of Alki Homestead, pre-fire)
Almost a year and a half after an accidental electrical fire gutted the historic, city landmark Homestead Restaurant in Alki, it remains empty; its owner has publicized a proposal to “reconstruct” it and add other commercial buildings on the property, but has not taken it to the next step of city Landmark Board approval, after an early review by its Architectural Review Committee last November. Now, the Southwest Seattle Historical Society is planning a Fourth of July event to call fresh attention to its plight – and inviting public participation in a big way. We’d gotten a few hints about it (as noted here) but tonight, the full announcement is public:

Independence Day event says ‘This Place Matters’ for Alki Homestead
Southwest Seattle Historical Society plans July 4 group photo in front of Fir Lodge

The people of Seattle will have a public opportunity to stand up for a century-old West Seattle city landmark at a mid-day rally on July 4, 2010.

The Southwest Seattle Historical Society has organized a mass photo event to take place at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, July 4, in front of Fir Lodge, the 106-year-old log structure that many have known for decades as the Alki Homestead restaurant. The building was damaged by a January 2009 fire and since then has sat vacant.

A crowd of neighbors, joined by prominent political leaders, will gather on the sidewalk and street in front of the structure at 2717 61st Ave. S.W., just a half block from Alki Beach. Participants will hold signs saying, “This Place Matters,” a slogan promoted by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The resulting photo will be used in a poster that will be disseminated throughout Seattle and distributed widely online.

Those attending include King County Executive Dow Constantine, Seattle City Council member Tom Rasmussen and former Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, all residents of West Seattle, and other representatives of the Seattle City Council, King County Council, and Seattle city government.

The announcement continues after the jump:Read More

Right in the middle of West Seattle’s bright beautiful Saturday morning, its headquarters for history – the Log House Museum – got some love from a small but dedicated cleanup crew – below, that’s Southwest Seattle Historical Society president Judy Bentley and a young volunteer in the next photo, checking out the “to do” list.

For the latest roundup of what the Historical Society is focusing on – including a current pledge drive – you can check out their most recent newsletter (PDF) here. And expect to hear more soon about the Alki Homestead awareness event announced by board member Jim Del Ciello at this past week’s Southwest District Council meeting. Meantime, the museum’s open Thursdays-Sundays, noon-4 pm, 61st/Stevens (map), and well worth a visit.

That’s the question members of the city Landmarks Preservation Board will want to see sorted out, as became clear during this morning’s meeting of the board’s Architectural Review Committee. This was the first public meeting at which Tom Lin, owner of the fire-damaged landmark, and his consultants have discussed its status and its future since a comprehensive presentation before the Alki Community Council two months ago (WSB coverage here). The meeting also provided a reminder of the fact the historic building’s future is of interest outside West Seattle – those who offered comments included representatives from the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation, which five months ago declared the Homestead among the state’s most endangered buldings, and Historic Seattle; the Southwest Seattle Historical Society was represented as well. Read on for details on what was discussed and what the landmarks board – which has jurisdiction over the site’s future because of its landmark status – will do next:Read More

Because the Alki Homestead is a city landmark, any change to its landmark-designated features must be approved by the city Landmarks Board – and the first step in this case is a meeting with its Architectural Review Committee. We’ve just confirmed with city Landmarks Board coordinator Beth Chave that Homestead owner Tom Lin is scheduled to take his proposal for the closed-by-fire property before the ARC next Friday, for the first public presentation since he discussed it with the Alki Community Council in mid-September (WSB coverage here). No final decisions will be made, as this is truly a group that reviews proposals and offers suggestions to those working on them, before they are brought up for official board action, but it’s a public meeting, 8:30 am, Room 4070 at the Municipal Tower downtown.

(Wikimedia photo of Alki Homestead, pre-fire)
Two weeks after Alki Homestead owner Tom Lin stood before the Alki Community Council to discuss his proposal for the fire-ravaged landmark’s future (here’s our story) – possibly a restaurant/bar/B&B complex – the Southwest Seattle Historical Society has forwarded news outlets a letter they and other groups have sent to Lin. It expresses concern for its condition and a request that it be “restored … to its pre-fire condition.” It’s similar to a statement the SWSHS issued last March, two months after the fire (read that statement here). Here’s the full text of the letter:

Dear Tom Lin:

We are writing to you today to express our collective concern regarding the state of the Alki Homestead Restaurant, a City of Seattle Landmark, also known as the Fir Lodge Estate. As a result of the fire in January, 2009, this site is now included in the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation’s “Most Endangered Property List,” announced in May this year. The Washington Trust, together with other preservation and community organizations noted below, have indicated their support for the preservation of this landmark.

Given the state of the Homestead and the on-going damage that inactivity brings to the structure, we collectively urge you to decide and act upon your vision regarding this property.

We collectively ask that you (1) take immediate action to prevent further decay by securing the property and building from vandalism and protecting it as the rainy season approaches; (2) restore the Homestead to its pre-fire condition as befits a city landmark.

We firmly support preserving “a bit of old Seattle” (as Doris Nelson referred to the Homestead) and we believe the community of West Seattle and the City of Seattle will be enhanced by retaining this amazing Seattle landmark. We look forward to working with you to restore the Homestead to its rightful place on Alki. The Southwest Seattle Historical Society stands ready to assist you at every point in preserving the Homestead/Fir Lodge site.

Sincerely,

Judy Bentley
President, Southwest Seattle Historical Society

Andrea Mercado
Director, Log House Museum

Jennifer Meisner, Executive Director
Washington Trust for Historic Preservation

Joe Follansbee
Association of King County Heritage Organizations

Jim Kelly, Director
4Culture

Patricia Mullen, Executive Director
West Seattle Chamber of Commerce

We have e-mailed Lin a request for comment/response and will publish anything we hear back.

Washington Trust for Historic Preservation has just officially announced its 2009 list of the “state’s most endangered historic properties,” which includes the fire-damaged Alki Homestead – one of four Seattle “resources” on the list, along with the P-I Globe. Washington Trust sent media organizations a preview of this for planning purposes last week and we honored its requested “embargo” of the list until this afternoon’s planned announcement, which explains:

Inclusion in our annual list is intended to raise awareness of the challenges and opportunities facing historic resources across the state and to encourage collaboration with all stakeholders to develop preservation strategies. In numerous instances, Most Endangered status has worked to facilitate solutions that promote the historic significance of sites while retaining important resources as viable, functional components of our neighborhoods and communities.

So what else does today’s announcement mean for the Homestead? We are at the media briefing right now and will add more later. Meantime, it’s been 4 months since the fire — blamed on an accidental electrical malfunction involving Christmas lights — that closed the Homestead. City records do not yet show an application for repair permits, but they do show that the complaint filed because of roof and window areas “open to weather” was resolved earlier this month and the case is closed.

ADDED 2:30 PM: Video from this afternoon’s announcement – starting with a special sign noting the Homestead’s inclusion, then to comments from Andrea Mercado from the Southwest Seattle Historical Society:

Afterward, she told us the group has been in touch with Homestead owner Tom Lin through an intermediary, and is working with him to make sure he has all the available information regarding potential financial help for restoration. Also at today’s announcement, West Seattle-residing King County Council Chair Dow Constantine – who is on the Washington Trust board – with a few words about the Homestead and more about a Vashon property on the list, the Vashon Elementary Gym:

Read on for the full text of today’s announcement, including the complete list:Read More