Seattle Historical Sites

Summary for 1747 NE 106th ST NE / Parcel ID 8901500065 / Inv # DPR092

Historic Name: Victory Heights Center Common Name: Style: Tudor Neighborhood: North District Built By: Year Built: 1938   Significance In the opinion of the survey, this property appears to meet the criteria of the National Register of Historic Places. This attractive brick building was constructed in 1938 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) through the efforts of the Victory Heights Community Club. Created in 1935, the WPA consolidated and superseded several earlier programs, including the Civil Works Administration (CWA) and the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), both of which were established in 1933. In its first six years of existence, the WPA allocated 78% of available funds for projects involved with public works, construction and conservation of natural resources. The remaining 22% of the funds were used for a wide range of community services, including education, recreation and the arts. This building is very similar in design, materials, and massing to the WPA shelter houses built within the Seattle city limits at the same time. These include structures at Highland Park, Madrona, and Van Asselt Playfields. At the time of its construction, the building was located in unincorporated King County where services were limited for burgeoning suburban neighborhoods. In these areas without municipal services, local community clubs often worked to provide more recreational and social facilities in response to their local needs. In the Victory Heights neighborhood, the Victory Heights Community Club acquired the property and developed the center and the adjoining playground with the assistance of the WPA. Subsequent to the building’s construction, the land reverted to county ownership when the Community Club was unable to pay its property taxes. From the early 1940s to the mid-1950s, the City of Seattle annexed extensive areas north and northeast of the existing city limits to 145th Street. 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 the Victory Heights neighborhood as part of the Sand Point District in 1953. The following year, the City of Seattle acquired the property from the county and placed it under the jurisdiction of the Department of Parks and Recreation. This building is significant for its design and for its associations with the WPA, the Victory Heights Community Club, and the development of the Victory Heights neighborhood.   Appearance Completed in 1938, this brick community center occupies a site at the northern end of Victory Heights Playground where NE 106th Street intersects with 19th Avenue NE. Set into the hillside along the western edge of the park, the one-story Tudor Revival building has a lower level within the high concrete foundation, which opens onto the children’s play area at the rear. The side gable main block has a small front gable wing, which extends from the principal west elevation slightly south of center, creating T-shaped footprint. Overall, the Tudor Revival building measures approximately 47 feet by 26 feet, excluding the wing. The north elevation of the small gabled wing contains the main entrance to the building. The west elevation has a single large opening at the center with a pair of multi-paned wood casement windows behind a metal screen. These are the only remaining original windows. Modern aluminum sash replacements have been installed in all of the other openings. The west elevation of the main block has large window openings on either side of the gabled wing. The larger northern opening has three windows while the smaller southern opening has two. The north elevation presents a blank brick wall with the exception of the substantial chimney at the center. The south elevation has a large opening with three windows centered within the upper floor level above two narrow windows within the foundation at the basement level. An entrance door is situated at the western end of the elevation at a landing level between the two floors. The rear east elevation has four window openings across the façade, each with the same three-window configuration. The lower basement level has an entrance door at the bottom of a short stairwell located south of center. The southern end has two narrow windows set high on the foundation wall, while the northern end contains two additional large window openings. Despite the extensive window alterations, this building retains good physical integrity.

Detail for 1747 NE 106th ST NE / Parcel ID 8901500065 / Inv # DPR092

Status: Yes - Inventory Classication: Building District Status: Cladding(s): Brick Foundation(s): Concrete - Poured Roof Type(s): Gable Roof Material(s): Asphalt/Composition Building Type: Other Plan: T-Shape Structural System: Unknown No. of Stories: one Unit Theme(s): Architecture/Landscape Architecture, Community Planning/Development, Entertainment/Recreation, Social Movements & Organizations, Other Integrity Changes to Windows: Extensive Changes to Original Cladding: Intact Changes to Plan: Intact Major Bibliographic References King County Property Record Card (c. 1938-1972), Washington State Archives. Sherwood, Don. Seattle Parks Histories, c. 1970-1981, unpublished.

Photo collection for 1747 NE 106th ST NE / Parcel ID 8901500065 / Inv # DPR092

Photo taken Aug 15, 2000