Think bold, designers of building near old Tacoma Elks Temple told
KATHLEEN COOPER; Staff writer
Published: 01/20/1112:05 am | Updated: 01/20/11 9:23 am
The apartment and hotel building proposed for a space adjacent to the old Tacoma Elks Temple will soon rise in a historic district, but that doesn’t mean it needs to shrink back or stand as a second-best within its surroundings.
The apartment and hotel building proposed for a space adjacent to the old Tacoma Elks Temple will soon rise in a historic district, but that doesn’t mean it needs to shrink back or stand as a second-best within its surroundings.
That’s the feedback one of the developers and the two lead architects heard last week when they brought some preliminary building designs to the Landmarks Preservation Commission – which will perform an official review given that part of the site sits in Tacoma’s Old City Hall Historic District.
Architects Corinne Kerr and Randal Bennett of ZGF made the initial presentation, taking care to emphasize that the new building was not going to be flashy and overwhelm the Elks Temple, despite the difference in the size of the buildings.
“We are setting the building back from the temple to defer to the building and to provide a backdrop. We view it as a background element to the Elks building,” Kerr said.
“The idea is that this becomes a more neutral background building. It’s not waving its arms and asking for attention,” Bennett said.
After the commission saw some of the initial renderings, at least two members of the commission suggested that the new building could, in fact, ask for a little more attention.
“I’d like to see something much more high-tech,” said Pamela Sundell. The building, which rises 10 stories above Broadway, “is so out of character (for the neighborhood), I’d like it to have more of a statement. It’s not going to blend in. It’s too big. The Elks is the Elks and it’s going to be beautiful by itself. I don’t think (the new building) has to blend in.”
Chairman Mark McIntire mentioned the Museum of Glass and the Tacoma Art Museum as other examples of iconic, modern Tacoma.
Other commissioners mentioned the building on the other side of the planned apartments: the white five-story Union Club, built in 1888 as a clubhouse and most recently the home of the steakhouse David’s on Broadway.
Ken House reminded the architects that “there are two ends of this project” and wanted to know how close the new building would come to the Union Club. He also said he was a little concerned about the new building’s size.
Fred King was more pointed:
“I don’t think you’ve achieved the sensitive contextual compatibility that you talk about with the two historic end buildings. I’m not sure a stainless steel or mirror building or chrome building will answer that problem. I think you need to search further to make this building an appropriate member of this historic cluster.”
Developer Grace Pleasants told the commission at the end of the presentation that she’d bring their thoughts to the next weekly design meeting.
“We are talking about how muted or how strong a statement” the new building should have, she said. “We’re not trying to mimic the Elks.”
Other highlights of the presentation from Bennett:
• The retail tenant hasn’t been chosen yet.
• The McMenamins hotel rooms will have interior, or windowless, rooms. “They like that layout,” Bennett said. Plus, it allows for more rooms in the space.
• The apartments are “targeting a modern industrial loft aesthetic.” Kerr said the designers are “looking for something that was unique in Tacoma and differentiating itself from other products on the market.”
• The McMenamins rooftop bar will be opposite some of the residential amenities, including private entertainment spaces and dog showers.
