Historic Name: |
Noonan Clinic |
Common Name: |
Greenwood Senior Center |
Style: |
Modern |
Neighborhood: |
Greenwood/Phinney |
Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1951 |
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Significance |
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Dr. Clayton T. Noonan constructed this building in 1950-51 as a clinic and office for his medical practice, which he named the Noonan Clinic. At the time it was built, the clinic was located in a largely residential neighborhood of single family homes. Since 1891, the northern limit of the city had been at North 85th Street in this vicinity. However, it wasn’t until the later 1940s that the City’s population center shifted substantially to the north. This trend accelerated after extensive annexations north to 145th Street between 1950 and 1954. Since that time, the area around the clinic has become more commercial in nature and has seen the construction of more multi-family housing. The architecture firm of Charles A. Lawrence Jr. and George W. Hazen designed this clinic building. The Modern design for this building is typical of the era, especially in the integration of the building’s form and structure and in the clear legibility between exterior forms and finishes and interior functions. The building’s low-scale design and siting on a slope help to mitigate the presence of the professional facility in a residential neighborhood of single family homes.
This building was operated as a doctor’s clinic for just over twenty-five years before the City of Seattle acquired it in late December of 1977 for use as the Greenwood Senior Center. The city acquired and converted the building for use as a senior center with funding from State of Washington Referendum 29 grant funds and federal Block Grant and Title V monies. Currently, the Greenwood Senior Center is one of three facilities owned by the city but operated by Senior Services of Seattle/King County, a non-profit agency serving seniors in the Seattle/King County area since 1967. The other two facilities, the Central Area Senior Center and the Northwest Senior Center, are also located in buildings acquired by the city during the 1970s for the same purpose. The city leased this building to Senior Services to operate the senior center within a year of its acquisition and renovation. This building is significant for its associations with the development of the Greenwood neighborhood and with the provision of services to the city’s senior citizens.
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Appearance |
Completed in 1951, this Modern one-story office building occupies a large midblock lot on the southern side of North 85th Street between Dayton and Fremont Avenues North. The site slopes down from north to south allowing for an exposed lower level at the rear south elevation. A parking lot surrounds the building on three sides. Originally, the brick clad structure had a rectangular footprint, which measured approximately 112 feet by 27 feet. A one story glassed in reception area extended at an angle from the principal north elevation near the western end. Subsequently, a large one-story addition was constructed along the eastern end of the north elevation, resulting in the present L-plan configuration. This may have occurred at the time of the building’s conversion to a senior center. Both portions have overhanging flat roofs lined with wide paneled fascias. Large window openings with modern metal sash line the north elevation of the addition. At the western end of the addition, a lower roof supported on a brick post covers an entrance door on the west elevation of the addition. This roof continues around the corner block, which connects the addition to the original building at the rear, and extends over the building’s main entrance doors. The western wall of this block has a band of windows in a single opening set high on the wall adjacent to an entrance at the southern end. A second entrance is situated nearby at the eastern end of the north elevation of the main block. A glass-enclosed porch covers both entrances. A series of windows line the western end of the north elevation, while the south elevation has only a single small window opening.
The southern half of the east elevation has a small window opening flanked by two larger openings. The addition at the northern end of the elevation presents a blank wall with the exception of an entrance door set at the juncture where the two sections meet. Wide cedar siding covers the rear south elevation lined with various sized window openings along the upper and lower floor levels. A chimney is situated at the center of the elevation. Five single entrance doors are spaced along the ground floor level of the building. Situated west of center, a large window opening covered with an awning lights an interior stairwell between the two floors. Although well maintained, this building has only fair physical integrity due to the many alterations. |
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Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
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Cladding(s): |
Brick, Wood - Clapboard |
Foundation(s): |
Concrete - Poured |
Roof Type(s): |
Flat |
Roof Material(s): |
Other |
Building Type: |
Health Care- Clinic |
Plan: |
L-Shape |
Structural System: |
Balloon Frame/Platform Frame |
No. of Stories: |
one |
Unit Theme(s): |
Architecture/Landscape Architecture, Health/Medicine |
Integrity |
Changes to Windows: |
Extensive |
Changes to Original Cladding: |
Intact |
Changes to Plan: |
Extensive |
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Major Bibliographic References |
City of Seattle DCLU Microfilm Records.
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King County Property Record Card (c. 1938-1972), Washington State Archives.
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Polk's Seattle Directories, 1890-1996.
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City Council Bills and Ordinances, Seattle City Clerk's Office Legislative Databases (http://clerk.ci.seattle.wa.us/~public/leghome.htm
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