The first city-sanctioned historic landmark on campus is going for a gold-medal makeover.by
hile Seattle has struggled to save The Showbox on First Avenue, another even more storied landmark is being singled out for revival. Boosted by a bestselling book and a movie in the works, that landmark is a little-known former military structure on the shores of Lake Washington.
It is the former home of the now famous “Boys in the Boat,” the University of Washington Husky men’s rowing team that won an Olympic gold medal at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, beating two boats from then-fascist Italy and Germany. It was an event that hinted at the American prowess that would later come to bear in World War II combat, represented by a generation of young men.
The University of Washington has not always gotten it right when it comes to protecting structures of historic significance. In recent years, the university claimed to be exempt from Seattle’s landmarks ordinance (the state Supreme Court disagreed) and proceeded to demolish the More Hall Annex, aka the Nuclear Reactor Building — a building on the National Register of Historic Places — despite pleas from preservationists.
But now the UW has embraced such protections in an effort to restore the old ASUW Shell House, located in the shadow of Husky Stadium on the Montlake Cut.