Photo & Text Copyright 2006 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
One morning in 2001 this landmark 1909 cast iron and glass pergola all came crashing down, hit by a commercial truck trying to turn the corner. The pergola, built to shelter passengers of the early street car system from downtown to Lake Washington, had been proclaimed a national landmark in 1977. The pergola sits over a lavish underground public comfort station (washroom) which has been closed for decades. It was said of these toilets, "After opening, they are flushed approximately 5,000 times a day; 8,000 times on Sundays when saloons are closed." The pergola's cast iron poles, framing, and ornamentation pieces were shattered. The trucking company paid for an ironworks company to painstakingly restore all the broken pieces to their original condition and reassemble this lovely curved shelter in its original location at Pioneer Square. After yesterday's election results and announcements, today in the US and elsewhere many have new reason to share a similar hope that precious things seemingly knocked down and shattered by excesses in political power can, with careful work and focused effort, begin to be salvaged and restored. Click the link above for many more pergola photos (including the wreckage) and a full history. Seattle+pergola Pioneer+Place Pioneer+Square Seattle+streetcar+stop pergola+distroyedSeattle+comfort+station Seattle+Underground Seattle+national+landmark pergola
9 comments:
hahaha what a great way to tell a story and relate it to todays events ;)
Very clever writing =)
beautiful shot and great post Kim!
You have your way with words and photos.
Good story. Beautiful photo, Beautiful piece of architecture. Good for Seattle
Fascinating story. Great metaphor. Things will work out. America is strong, no matter what they try to do to it.
tres belle photo b&w et l'histoire est tres interessante. la comparaison entre l'histoire du pergola et des resultats des elections d'hier est tres bonne.
very beautiful photograph b&w and the history is very interesting. the comparison between the history of the pergola and the results of the elections of yesterday is very good.
What a beautiful piece and interesting history. Let's hope that we don't have a "painstaking" restoration, although I'm skeptical that it will be short and easy.
Beautiful. Kind of French-looking, would you say?
Absolutely superb?
And French-looking, Meg ? Maybe, it's true we have our share of that type of architecture in Paris. A few in Sydney too. Love them...
Meg & Nathalie, So many good things in design and the decorative arts originated in France, espcially during the era the Pergola was designed. I wonder what this style would be called. Maybe someone can enlighten us.
-Kim
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