Historic Name: |
Link-Belt Co. |
Common Name: |
Alaskan Copper Works |
Style: |
Modern, Other - Industrial |
Neighborhood: |
Duwamish |
Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1946 |
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Significance |
In the opinion of the survey, this property is located in a potential historic districe (National and/or local). |
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Engineer: Melvin O. Sylliaasen
Although there may have
been replacements in kind of some of the exterior materials, this industrial
building still has an appearance very similar to what is shown in early
photographs and original construction drawings. Along 6th Ave South,
the building has a strong presence. Structural engineer M. O. Sylliaasen
designed this building, which was granted a permit in early1946. Based on photos
on the King County Tax Assessor’s Record Card, this is the only significant and
reasonably intact building within the larger complex at 3405-15th Avenue South.
The complex originally included other structures, which over time have been
significantly altered and usually demolished. The original complex, which
initially housed the Link-Belt Company, was apparently also completed in 1946.
Sylliaasen made additions and alterations in 1952, as well.
Melvin O. Sylliaasen was
a structural engineer of some importance in his day. During the 1930s, he was
also the City Engineer for the City of Seattle. In 1931, he produced a report
documenting the run-down condition of the wood planking, trestles and paving
along Railroad Avenue, now Alaskan Way, and urged the construction of a
seawall, which was completed in 1934. During the mid-1940s, he also was
involved in the remodel of Pier 55.
Although Seattle Polk’s
directories indicate that the Link-Belt Company was housed in the building and
or complex until at least 1970, other records suggest that the Alaskan Copper
Works may have already been associated with the building as early as the 1960s.
In any case the directories definitely list “Alaska Copper (Fabrication
Division)” at this location by 1980. The Alaska Copper Works is the present
occupant. The distribution company for the Alaskan Copper Works is the Alaska
Copper and Brass Company. The two companies operate as a “combined metal
service center, manufacturer and fabricator of corrosion-resistant alloy products.”
In the vicinity of this complex alone, both companies’ names appear on several
buildings. Within the Industrial District, the two companies are a major
landowner and, as of 2003, owned 19 acres. Morris Rosen founded the Alaskan
Copper Works along Alaskan Way during the early Twentieth Century. The company
has been run by at least three generations of the Rosen family.
Additional Sources
Frank Eugene Kidder and
Thomas Nolan, The Architects and Builders Handbook, 17th
edition, New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1921, p 819, available at <http://books.google.com/>, accessed April
17, 2010.
John F. Brewer, Chemical
Engineering Staff, Sr., Lockheed Martin, “Appendix A, Technical Description of
Robertson Protected Metal,” January 4, 2005, available at http://www.bracpmo.navy.mil/base_docs/moffett/documents/enviro_docs/0068-0001_EECA_Hangar1_Pt6_APPENDIX_A.pdf,
accessed April 17, 2010.
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Appearance |
This industrial
warehouse building is part of a larger complex located on the southwest corner
of 6th Avenue South and Hinds Street. The building is located on the
southern end of the property and sited along 6th Avenue South. It is
rectangular in plan, with its shorter dimension parallel to 6th
Avenue South. The building façade presents a more or less central bay with a
low-pitched monitor roof with clerestory. Two side bays, also covered by low
angled roofing, flank the central bay. The composition is, in fact, slightly
asymmetrical, with the south bay, slightly longer than the north one.
The building structure
includes repeated steel trusses on the interior, concrete exterior walls,
particularly on the north and south side elevations. There is also metal siding
on some of the exterior, particularly on the facade. Early construction
drawings indicate that the original metal cladding was “RPM corrugated steel,”
that is Robertson Processed Metal corrugated steel. This type of processed
steel sheeting, available at least by the 1920s, consisted of layers of gauge
steel sheeting, which were enveloped by several layers of asphaltic material,
put under pressure and then treated with a special waterproof coating. The
present metal cladding is probably a replacement in kind.
Much of the building’s
main façade, as well as the north and south elevations, stand out, however,
because of the profusion of multi-pane steel sash. Although siding and even
some metal sash may be replacements in kind, the building façade retains the
same pattern of steel sash versus metal siding. A long band of steel sash runs
across the façade at the clerestory level. Below the clerestory level, a larger
rectangle of steel sash runs a good portion of the length of the façade. A
large rectangular service entrance, set slightly off center, is cut into the
rectangle. There is also another service entrance on the south side of the
glass rectangle.
The north and south
elevations, which are not entirely visible or accessible from the street,
consist of even more steel sash, set above low concrete wall.
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Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
INV |
Cladding(s): |
Concrete, Metal |
Foundation(s): |
Concrete - Poured |
Roof Type(s): |
Flat with Parapet, Monitor |
Roof Material(s): |
Asphalt/Composition |
Building Type: |
Industry/Processing/Extraction - Manufacturing |
Plan: |
Irregular |
Structural System: |
Mixed |
No. of Stories: |
one |
Unit Theme(s): |
Commerce, Manufacturing/Industry |
Integrity |
Changes to Plan: |
Moderate |
Changes to Original Cladding: |
Moderate |
Changes to Windows: |
Slight |
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Major Bibliographic References |
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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Drawings, Microfiche Files, Department of Planning and Development.
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King County Assessor Property Characteristics Report, database at http://www5.metrokc.gov/ --parcel locator
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Dorpat, Paul. Seattle Waterfront: An Illustrated History. Seattle, June 2005.
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