Third Avenue in Seattle

The Smith Tower (located on 2nd Avenue) is seen behind this brick building on 3rd Avenue & Jefferson Street.

Walrus Heads decorate the Arctic Building on 3rd Avenue & Cherry Street.

This building, on 3rd Avenue & Madison Street, housed Seattle City Light for 60 years before it was sold in 1996, then remodeled with a sleek new facade.

Bus stop on 3rd Avenue in front of the Wells Fargo Center.

The Olympic Tower was built on the corner of 3rd Avenue & Pine Street in 1929.

Macy's (originally the Bon Marché) on Pine Street between 3rd Avenue & 4th Avenue.

Old & new residential buildings on 3rd Avenue in Belltown.

The Space Needle is seen here from 3rd Avenue in Belltown.  All photos of 3rd Avenue in Seattle were taken in May 2014.

Two tall & distinctive historical structures mark the two ends of Downtown Seattle.  At the sound end is the Smith Tower at the edge of Pioneer Square.  At the north end is the Space Needle, at the edge of Belltown.  They can be seen in the first & last of these photos from 3rd Avenue.  Third Avenue is the main transit corridor in Downtown Seattle, both on the street & in the transit tunnel below.  Buses that operate within the City of Seattle can be found on 3rd Avenue with a myriad of bus stops, signs & shelters.  Beneath 3rd Avenue run the buses from outside the city, as well as the Seattle's only light rail line.  A single lane in each direction serves both buses & trains.  There are four stations in Downtown Seattle: Chinatown, Pioneer Square, University & Westlake.  This will be always be, unless the Stadium District comes to be considered part of Downtown.  The northward expansion of light rail places the next station on Capitol Hill.  Notable buildings along 3rd Avenue (from south to north) include the King County Courthouse, Arctic Building, Safeco Plaza, Wells Fargo Center, Seattle Tower, 1201 3rd Avenue (formerly the Washington Mutual Tower) Benaroya Hall, Olympic Tower, Macy's, Grandview Condominiums & Mosler Lofts.  The most notable restaurant is Wild Ginger.

Jim Ellis Freeway Park

Freeway Park in September 2013

Jim Ellis Freeway Park opened to the public on July 4, 1976.  It was built on a lid over the Interstate 5 freeway along the the Washington State Convention Center, to which it connects.  At 5.2 acres, it is by far the largest park in Downtown Seattle.  It was designed by the San Francisco Bay Area landscape architecture firm Lawrence Halprin & Associates under the design direction of Angela Danadjieva.  The park is dominated by a huge waterfall set among a series of plazas that are linked & enclosed by concrete planters, walls & smaller water features.  This is a very well-designed park with pleasant open spaces, plenty of shade from mature trees & a broad walkway that runs throughout.  There are benches & small lawns for sitting & reclining. It's a good place for a picnic lunch. The park & especially the waterfall are among the most interesting features of Downtown Seattle.  You can find the park at 700 Seneca Street.

For the first few years of its existence, Freeway Park was considered a success. It was architecturally & structurally innovative. It also showed how to make the most use out of limited urban space. Landscape architects from throughout the world came to see it.  It became popular with area employees & residents.  But over the years, the park became a bit seedy.  Vegetation matured & cut sight lines.  The park became darker & more difficult to navigate. The homeless became frequent park users.  Drug dealing was a problem. Security patrols were improved & illegal activity lessened. Concrete walls were reduced & trees were pruned to open up views & add more daylight.  There was general improvement of overgrown & deteriorated landscaping.  And all of those big trees are a welcome sight in the urban core.  I highly recommend a visit.
 

Lake Union Park

 Lake Union Park, Museum of History & Industry January 2013

Lake Union Park, Museum of History & Industry January 2013

Lake Union January 2013

Lake Union Park, Center for Wooden Boats (Boat Shop) January 2013

Lake Union Park, The Center for Wooden Boats January 2013

Lake Union Park, The Center for Wooden Boats January 2013

Lake Union Park is a unique urban gem, close to the center of downtown Seattle. The park provides access to green space & the lake.  It celebrates the cultural, maritime & industrial heritage of the city. The site’s role as a park became possible on July 1, 2000, when the US Navy conveyed the deed to its five acres of land to Seattle Parks & Recreation. The transfer consolidated the South Lake Union site into a 12-acre park. The new park opened on September 25, 2010.

The Museum of History and Industry is dedicated to preserving, sharing & teaching the diverse history of Seattle & the Puget Sound region. The MOHAI, as it is commonly known in Seattle, has collected & made public important artifacts, documents & photographs from the Puget Sound region since 1911.  The museum moved to the old Naval Reserve Building at Lake Union Park in 2012 & opened in December.  It is free on the 1st Thursday of every month.

At The Center for Wooden Boats you can explore boats on & off the water. Admission is free & free public boat rides are offered on Sundays. This is a living museum. The exhibits are historic wooden boats you can take rowing or sailing. The collection varies throughout the year as boats are restored in the boat shop & new vessels are added. Row boats are available for rental with no prior experience. Sail boats require a check out process to assure safety.

Olympic Sculpture Park

 Eagle by Alexander Calder, Olympic Sculpture Park April 2011

Love & Loss by Roy McMakin, Olympic Sculpture Park April 2011 

 Perre's Ventaglio III by Beverly Pepper, Olympic Sculpture Park April 2011

 Pocket beach, Olympic Sculpture Park April 2011

 Split by Roxy Paine, Olympic Sculpture Park April 2011

 Wake by Richard Serra, Olympic Sculpture Park April 2011

Wandering Rocks by Tony Smith, Olympic Sculpture Park April 2011

The Olympic Sculpture Park in Seattle is a wonderful place.  There are views of  Puget Sound & the Olympic Mountains.  There is a remarkably realistic beach constructed in an area where the sea wall was removed.  There is sculpture.  There is an abundance of late 20th century & early 21st century architecture to be seen from the park.  There is a lot of open space divided into areas including a valley, meadows & a grove.  The grove is an excellent example of a traditional European bosque, with trees planted at equal distances with geometric precision.  These trees are native Populus tremuloides (Quaking Aspen) & quite a number of native forest plants grow in a natural fashion beneath them.  In fact, all the plants used in the Olympic Sculpture Park are native to Washington, making it the most impressive native plant garden in the state.  The Olympic Sculpture Park came about from a commitment by the Seattle Art Museum & the Trust for Public Land to preserve downtown Seattle's last undeveloped waterfront property. The museum purchased property on Seattle's central waterfront in 1999 with private and public funding.  92,986 cubic yards of dirt was removed from the site of SAM's downtown museum expansion project, and transported to the park for use as recycled fill in 2004. Construction of the Olympic Sculpture Park began in the summer of 2005 & was completed in 2006. The Olympic Sculpture Park opened to the public in January 2007.

Victor Steinbrueck Park

Victor Steinbrueck Park April 2011

Victor Steinbrueck Park April 2011

Victor Steinbrueck Park April 2011

Pike Place Market & Downtown Seattle from Victor Steinbrueck Park April 2011

Victor Steinbrueck Park April 2011

Victor Steinbrueck Park, Alaskan Way Viaduct April 2011

Victor Steinbrueck Park isn't a very large park.  But there are very few parks in Downtown Seattle.  This is the only park in the Pike Place Market.  Here you can hang out with market regulars &, during the summer, hordes of tourists, especially when the cruise ships are in town.  There are places to sit at tables in the sun, which you might find in summer.  There are also sheltered benches, if you encounter rain.  There are excellent views of the market, Downtown Seattle, Elliott Bay & Puget Sound.  On a clear day, the Olympic Mountains are stunning.  Let me warn you that an easy way to annoy a native Seattleite is to ask for directions to Pike's Market.  While we've all heard this said, we are often inclined to answer that there is no such place.  The Pike Place Market is named for Pike Place (an extension of Pike Street) which runs through the market.  Pike Street was named for Seattle pioneer John Pike.  It bears no relation to Pike's Peak in Colorado.  But perhaps that peak is the source of confusion among tourists about the name of the market.

Victor Steinbrueck was a well-known advocate of historic preservation. A University of Washington alumnus & architecture professor, he opposed the city's redevelopment plans for the Pike Place Market & helped to establish the city's Pioneer Square Historical District during the 1960s. Steinbrueck's sketches of the market & other Seattle scenes appeared in his books Seattle Cityscape (1962) Market Sketchbook (1968) and Seattle Cityscape II (1973). Steinbrueck's work to save the Pike Place Market came in response to the city's plans to tear it down, along with other nearby structures. In response, Friends of the Market was formed in 1964, led by Steinbrueck. Their campaign resulted in a successful ballot initiative in 1971 which established a seven-acre Pike Place Market Historical District, saving it from demolition, & formed a commission to oversee it, on which Steinbrueck served.

Waterfall Garden in Pioneer Square

Waterfall Garden April 2010

Waterfall Garden April 2010

Waterfall Garden April 2010

Waterfall Garden April 2010

The Waterfall Garden in Pioneer Square in Seattle is an amazing place, the finest artificial waterfall I've seen.  The size of the waterfall & the amount of water that cascades over the basalt boulders seems barely contained by the tiny park.  Yet there is room for tables, benches, planting beds & 2 small fountains.  The space is covered on 2 sides by canopies, making it possible to sit, eat & watch the tumbling water while it rains!  The Waterfall Garden was designed by Masahiro Kinoshita and completed in 1977. It was commissioned by James Casey, a founder of the United Parcel Service & funded by the Annie E Casey Foundation. The garden sits on the site of the 1907 birthplace of United Parcel Service at 2nd Avenue S & S Main Street, very near Occidental Park & the Klondike Museum.  You can grab a sandwich from the Grand Central Bakery in the beautifully restored Grand Central Hotel at 1st Avenue S & S Main Street.  Enter from Occidental Park.  The Waterfall Garden, Klondike Museum & Grand Central Hotel (which also contains shops) together make a very satisfying excursion to Pioneer Square, an easy walk from Downtown Seattle.

Waterfall at Union Square

2 Union Square April 2010

Source of the Waterfall at Union Square April 2010

Waterfall at Union Square April 2010

 Waterfall at Union Square April 2010

Waterfall & Courtyard at Union Square April 2010

The waterfall in the courtyard at Union Square in Downtown Seattle is a treat.  You will find a bountiful amount of splashing water, easy to approach on several levels because it is flanked by flights of stairs.  (Kids are sure to love it!)  The design of the waterfall works well with the tall building (2 Union Square) behind & above it.  The water leads your eye up toward the skyscraper & appears to spring from the tower's base.  There is a 2nd, smaller waterfall across the courtyard.  The planting design isn't wonderful, the paving is mundane & there is very little seating.  But the cascading water is reason enough to visit the courtyard during your jaunt downtown.  It is located very near the center of the retail district at 6th Avenue & Union Street.

Harbor Steps

The Harbor Steps April 2010
 

 The Harbor Steps April 2010

The Harbor Steps April 2010

The Harbor Steps in Downtown Seattle is a broad flight of stairs that span the width of University Street between 1st Avenue & Western Avenue.  The planting design is spare & uninspired.  But the hardscape (a series of steps, terraces & expansive water features that qualify as both fountains & waterfalls) is quite nice.  Restaurants & shops line the steps.  There are many places to sit, some with shade from trees.  The land is too steep here to accommodate a street with vehicular traffic.  Before the Harbor Steps were built, there was a fence across a high retaining wall & a narrow staircase.  The Harbor Steps are a very pleasant way to move from Downtown to the Waterfront.  They are directly across from the Seattle Art Museum, very near Benaroya Hall & the Garden of Remembrance, close to the Pike Place Market.  Post Alley connects to the Harbor Steps at their center.

Garden of Remembrance

Garden of Remembrance in Seattle April 2010

 

Garden of Remembrance April 2010

Garden of Remembrance April 2010

Garden of Remembrance April 2010

Garden of Remembrance April 2010

The Garden of Remembrance shares space with Benaroya Hall on 2nd Avenue at University Street in Downtown Seattle.  It is impossible to fault the design in any way.  It is exquisitely tasteful.  The paving & stone work is beautiful.  The planting design is unusually complex for such a small, intensely urban space.  Many trees, a small waterfall & plenty of seating make this a very pleasant, shaded place to rest. The contrast with the nearby Harbor Steps could hardly be greater. This memorial to Washingtonians who died in military conflicts was designed by Murase Associates, with engraved black granite slabs similar to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC.  The Garden of Remembrance is near the Seattle Art Museum & the Pike Place Market.  The University Street Station of the Seattle Transit Tunnel has an exit that leads to the Garden of Remembrance.