Seattle Historical Sites

Summary for 12531 28th AVE / Parcel ID 3834500635 / Inv # DPR042

Historic Name: Lake City Youth Center Common Name: Lake City Community Center Style: Modern Neighborhood: North District Built By: Year Built: 1957   Significance The Lake City Lions Club constructed the earliest portion of this large building between 1954 and 1957 for use as a community club building. After the City of Seattle acquired the building in 1964, it was substantially enlarged and renovated over the next year. The firm of Alfors V. Peterson and John W. Adams designed the original portion as well as the later addition and alterations. At the time of its initial construction, the City of Seattle had recently annexed the unincorporated neighborhood in the northeast corner of the city. Since 1891, the city’s northern limits had been set at 85th Street between 8th Avenue NW and 15th Avenue NE, then considered a great distance from the center of town in Pioneer Square. Twenty years later, the city had annexed Ballard on the west and portions of Ravenna and Laurelhurst on the east. Over the next thirty years, the city’s population shifted further to the north and to the northeast, pushing into the unincorporated areas. This eventually resulted in further annexations by the city of these neighborhoods, including Lake City in 1954. The later 1940s and early 1950s had brought a building boom to Lake City as veterans of the Second World War built new homes, however the area was without many city services. In anticipation of the area’s annexation, King County sold what had been King County Park #31 to the Lions Club in 1953 for $1.00 for use as a park and recreation area. Over the next several years, the Lions Club then constructed the original portion of the center and staffed it for recreation by youth. The former park had originally been developed to serve the area’s first school located on the parcel to the south. Constructed in 1914, the old school building was abandoned in 1954 with the construction of a new facility across NE 125th Street. Four years later, the community petitioned the Seattle Parks Board to acquire the old school property for recreation purposes. The Lions Club subsequently leased the property to supplement their program but found the old building inadequate for their needs. Further public pressure for increased recreation space and facilities resulted in a unique agreement between the Lions Club and the city in 1964. The Lions Club donated their recreation building and grounds to the city on the condition that the former school site be sold to the Seattle Library Board for a new Lake City branch library. Proceeds from the sale funded the enlargement and remodeling of the center, which continued to be operated by the Lion’s Club. The old school building was demolished, and a new public library building was completed in 1965. This simple utilitarian building is significant for its association with the development of the Lake City neighborhood, especially after its 1954 annexation.   Appearance Largely completed in two phases between 1954 and 1965, this one-story building occupies a mid-block parcel on the eastern side of 28th Avenue NE between NE 125th and NE 127th Streets and adjoins Albert Davis Park to the southwest. The southern half of the building was constructed in the first phase between 1954 and 1957. The original shed roof structure had a rectangular plan, which measured approximately 42 feet by 93 feet. A large hall filled the majority of the building with a kitchen and furnace room at the eastern end and a recessed entrance on the north elevation. The northern half of the building was added as part of the conversion to a community center between 1964 and 1965. The shed roof addition doubled the size of the building and created a rectangular footprint, which measured 84 feet by 94 feet. The interior of the original building was reconfigured as well. Two smaller additions were also constructed at each end of the south elevation of the original building. The addition on the western end measured 16 feet by 24 feet while the addition on the eastern end measured 16 feet by 22 feet. A large patio occupied the space between the two additions. Subsequent alterations resulted in the enclosure of the patio and a higher flat roof addition along the rear west elevation, increasing the size of the building by half again as much. The principal east elevation of this concrete block and brick structure presents a mostly blank wall below the overhanging roof with exposed rafters. Plywood panels line the upper wall below the roofline. Vertical slat screens cover the three large windows near the northern end of the elevation. The recessed northeast corner contains a glassed in entry porch with double glass doors on the east and north sides. Brick veneer clads the south and west walls within the recessed corner. Large turned posts support the overhanging trusses, which, in turn, support the roof. On the north elevation of the building, the upper wall has vertical slat screens alternating with large plywood panels above the concrete block lower wall. The far western end of the building has an entrance covered by a flat roof below a tall narrow opening covered by a slatted screen. The projecting northern end of the higher rear addition also contains an entrance door under the flat roof canopy. The north elevation of this addition has a very large overhead door within a recessed opening. A narrow band of windows lines the east elevation of the rear addition, which extends above the roof of the main building. The south elevation has an additional entrance at the eastern end covered by a small shed roof porch but no other window or door openings. Brick veneer clads the curved southwest corner of the rear addition, which contains a recessed entrance and opens onto the adjacent park. Plain concrete blocks comprise the remaining portion of the rear west elevation. Due to the numerous alterations, this building retains only fair physical integrity.

Detail for 12531 28th AVE / Parcel ID 3834500635 / Inv # DPR042

Status: Yes - Inventory Classication: Building District Status: Cladding(s): Brick, Concrete - Block, Vertical - Board and Batten, Vertical - Boards Foundation(s): Concrete - Poured Roof Type(s): Flat, Shed Roof Material(s): Unknown Building Type: Recreation and Culture - Sports Facility Plan: Rectangular Structural System: Concrete - Block No. of Stories: one Unit Theme(s): Architecture/Landscape Architecture, Community Planning/Development, Entertainment/Recreation, Social Movements & Organizations Integrity Changes to Original Cladding: Slight Changes to Plan: Extensive Changes to Windows: Extensive Major Bibliographic References City of Seattle DCLU Microfilm Records. King County Property Record Card (c. 1938-1972), Washington State Archives. Sherwood, Don. Seattle Parks Histories, c. 1970-1981, unpublished.

Photo collection for 12531 28th AVE / Parcel ID 3834500635 / Inv # DPR042

Photo taken Nov 03, 2000