Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Spring Needle & 9 Year Old McGwire Highrise Teardown


Spring Needle
Photo & Text Copyright 2010 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Spring blossoms continue to grace nearly every scene in Seattle, despite cooler temps and mostly cloudy skies. I took this shot including the Space Needle from Bhy Kracke Park. I wanted to show you the 25 story apartment building to the far left which is swaddled head to toe with scaffolding. It is the 9 year old McGuire Apartments in Belltown, and unbelievably was found to have such severe deterioration that it has been deemed unrepairable and is slated for demolition due to construction materials defects. My heart goes out to the many floors of residents who must relocate, and to the businesses which lease space there. This is a highly unusual occurrence and it makes my head spin just to think of the lawsuits involving contractors and subcontractors who worked on this project and the many years it will take to process all the levels of loss on a fiasco like this. I am wishing everyone involved well, and just can't imagine the enormity of the situation. I'm hoping the many other Belltown developments that have shot up in the last decade are not subject to similar bad news.

7 comments:

Jake Garn said...

Cool shot!

HanM said...

Beautiful!!!

brattcat said...

It's even more horrible to think of what might have happened if the building had collapsed. Better this way. Fine image, Kim.

Louis la Vache said...

Nice shot - sad story.
We heard of building projects like this in the USSR that started deteriorating before they were even finished. Was this built with Soviet contractors?! Heavens!

cieldequimper said...

I just hope that they can get some sort of financial compensation. Oh... very nice shot btw! ;-)

Unknown said...

Oh Kim, thank you for this (very fine) photo and information. I read the story and was angered--and then sent it to my son, who all these years has been an independent contractor (and I've been wanting him to work for a firm, for financial stability). But I am proud of him for the high standards he keeps. Thank you again: so often your wonderful photos also keep us informed of important social and political events.

Home Sweet Seattle said...

Hi Kim,
I just found your blog and have been enjoying every minute of it! My husband was the first person to move into the McGuire when it was built. He lived in a huge corner unit on the 25th floor~ with ridiculously beautiful views! He lived there for 7 years before we met. Once we married, we bought a home in Magnolia. But we have fond memories of the McGuire. Great shot here. I better take a photo myself before it's dust!