| Historic Name: |
SED Traffic Engineering Division Sign Shops |
Common Name: |
University Child Development School |
| Style: |
Other - Industrial |
Neighborhood: |
Wallingford |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1949 |
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| Significance |
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The Seattle Engineering Department constructed this building in stages between 1949 and 1967 to house the sign painting operations of the Traffic Engineering Division. The new paint and storage shops were located across North 35th Street from the original Fremont Shops building, now the location of the North Transfer Station. According to the Engineering Department’s Annual Report, the move did not occur until September of 1951. The new building contained a main paint room, a storage room, a locker room, and a stencil cutout and drafting room. The new building enabled all operations to be performed with movable racks for maximum efficiency. The main paint room featured the latest type of water-washed metal spray booth, making it the most modern paint shop of its kind in the city. The metal shelving in the sign storage room provided storage for over 3,000 of the various types of signs required.
This building was constructed at the same time as the Engineering Department’s new Charles Street Shops as part of a program to upgrade its aging physical plant. This program of improvements continued with the construction of the Hillman Garage, Office and Crew Headquarters in the Rainier Valley in 1952-53 as well as an additional facility in West Seattle in 1956. In 1989, the Department of Administrative Services entered into a lease agreement with the University Child Development School, a private non-profit organization, for use of the facility as an early elementary school. This utilitarian building is significant for its association with the development of the Seattle Engineering Department.
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| Appearance |
| This one-story concrete block building occupies the southern end of a large corner lot on Interlake Avenue North at its intersection with North 35th Street. A wood frame portable building is situated in the enclosed parking area at the northern end of the site. The structure features an H-plan, which resulted from the three stages of construction. Completed in 1949, the western main block has a flat roof and a rectangular footprint, which measures approximately 117 feet by 25 feet. Five years later, the long narrow eastern block was constructed as a separate shed roof building, measuring 80 feet by 8 feet. The structure largely acquired its current form in 1967 when the center connecting addition was completed. This flat roof section measures 58 feet by 22 feet. Subsequently, various alterations have been made, especially since its conversion to an elementary school. Curved parapet walls on the narrower north and south elevations of the western block distinguish this utilitarian structure. Five long narrow horizontal window openings with concrete sills line most of the structure’s west elevation. These openings contain the original multi-paned steel sash windows. Two larger and two smaller vertical openings are situated at the northern end of the elevation. The north elevation has a large exterior chimney on an otherwise blank wall. The south elevation contains two vertical window openings with multi-paned sash. A decorative paint scheme covers the south and west elevations. The eastern block has no openings on the north and south elevations. The east elevation has two windows at the northern end and an entrance door at the southern end. Both structures appear to have window and door openings in the walls, which face onto the connecting addition at the center. The north elevation of this section has an entrance door set in a window wall at the center between concrete block walls on either side. A newer steel and glass gable roof covers the recessed area between the eastern and western blocks. The southern end of the building has a similar recessed area covered by a shed roof. The concrete block wall on the south elevation of this center section has a door and two windows. Well maintained, this modest building displays good physical integrity. |
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| Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
| Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
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| Cladding(s): |
Concrete - Block |
Foundation(s): |
Concrete - Poured |
| Roof Type(s): |
Flat, Shed |
Roof Material(s): |
Other |
| Building Type: |
Education - School |
Plan: |
Other |
| Structural System: |
Concrete - Block |
No. of Stories: |
one |
| Unit Theme(s): |
Architecture/Landscape Architecture, Politics/Government/Law, Transportation |
| Integrity |
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Changes to Plan: |
Slight |
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Changes to Windows: |
Slight |
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Changes to Original Cladding: |
Intact |
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| Major Bibliographic References |
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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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Seattle Engineering Department. Annual report / Engineering Department, City of Seattle. Seattle, WA: 1944-1964.
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