Seattle Press on Line - Greenwood Library Design Proposal Meets Skepticism from Neighbors

Greenwood Library Design Proposal Meets Skepticism from Neighbors

Chris Carlson of Buffalo Design explains firm's ideas for the new Greenwood Library at a joint Phinney/Greenwood Neighborhood Council meeting.

Dec 13, 2000 -- Seattle Public Library officials stepped into a hornets' nest of criticism when they unveiled preliminary drawings for the new Greenwood branch library on December 5, at a joint meeting of the Phinney Ridge and Greenwood Community Councils.

The new library, scheduled to open in 2002, will occupy the current McDonald's site on the west side of Greenwood Avenue North, about a block north of 85th Street.

Chris Carlson of Buffalo Design presented drawings of the proposed library, a see-through building with large glass expanses that would glow in the night like a beacon. A walkway winds around the north edge of the site, with a large parking area to the west, on the Palatine Avenue side. He said the building would have two faces, one toward Greenwood Avenue and one toward Palatine. The library site would also link the older Greenwood Avenue business district with the newer shopping area to the west, which includes Fred Meyer, Blockbuster Video, Bartell Drugs and several other major stores, all surrounded by vast asphalt parking lots.

Neighborhood activist Kate Martin blasted the library planning process for not seeking more neighborhood input and for "pointedly and repeatedly ignoring and excluding me from raising questions and making suggestions." Martin displayed her own model of a possible library design.

A barrage of questions and comments followed from many of the 100+ Phinney Ridge and Greenwood residents at the meeting.

Critics of the design said it didn't fit into the cherished circa-1920s look of Greenwood Avenue, with its one- and two-story brick facades. Several people criticized the size of the parking area, which occupies over half of the site.

Kate Martin displays her alternative design for the Greenwood Library.

Martin said the library board's design showed "a horribly squished building in the opening at Greenwood with a pitiful pedestrian alley on the north side of the building. For the future of our downtown Greenwood to be forever hidden behind a blocking building on Greenwood, where there should always have been an opening, is really sad."

Others commented that windows should be oriented to the south rather than the north to capture precious southern winter light.

Following the discussion, the two community councils set up a new subcommittee to meet with library officials and architects, so citizens could provide more input into the design process. "[The new library] is so important to the character of the neighborhood, I think it justifies taking a little more time to get it right," commented Mike McGinn, chair of the Greenwood Community Council.

Alexandra Harris, Seattle Public Library's capital program director, said the library board would consider the subcommittee proposal at its December 19 meeting. "I think they'll be receptive to the idea," she said, but warned that design changes could delay the scheduled 2002 completion of the building, and inflation could increase costs.

Harris said, "Only one previous meeting was held for community input on the new branch library, on October 25, with a much smaller group. The December 6 meeting was the first time a coherent design proposal was shown to the public."

Irene Wall, chair of the Phinney Ridge Community Council, said, "I don't agree with everything Kate Martin raised, but her bold manifesto really got people thinking."

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