AUGUST 2009 ENDANGERED MESSAGE

Citizens for Sand Point Naval Station Historic District
“Saving the Past for the Future”

November 5, 2009

 

The members of Citizens for Sand Point Naval Station Historic District are writing in support of placing Naval Air Station Seattle on the list of Federal and State historic places.

 

Naval Air Station Seattle meets standard A for designation since it is associated in a significant way with a historic event with a significant effect on the community, City, state, and nation.

 

The first Round-the-World flight took off from here in 1924 and returned triumphant to a crowd of approximately 50,000 people six months later on September 28.  The monument commemorating the event is at the 74th St. entry to the former base.  This event is considered the second most significant event in aviation history after the Wright Brother’s first flight.  Charles Lindberg landed here in 1927 as well with his plane the Spirit of St. Louis to promote airmail and was given Seattle’s first tickertape parade.

 

Naval Air Station Seattle meets standard C for designation because it is associated in a significant way with a significant aspect of the cultural, political, or economic heritage of the community, City, state or nation.

 

The military history of this site is significant.  It was the first naval aviation facility established (1926) within the Thirteenth Naval District prior to WWII.  It is remarkably intact and gives a sense of history as one walks north past officers’ houses, enlisted men barracks, administrative buildings, hospital, a fire and gas station to the hangers on the north and Ramp I where seaplanes were hauled in and out of Lake Washington.  Explosive munitions were stored in bunkers along the shoreline away from the housing but are still intact.  During WWII NAS Seattle served as one of only four Naval Air Centers in the nation.  At its height in defense in the Pacific Northwest WWII support and operations front lines, 7,000 people lived or worked at the site.

 

Naval Air Station Seattle is important to the history of Seattle, Washington State, and the United States of America as part of its military and aviation history.  We urge you to recognize this site so that we can help with its protection and celebration as “smart” development goes forward.  Thank you for your consideration.

 

Lynn Ferguson, Citizens for Sand Point Naval Station Historic District

www.sandptnavsta.org

lynnferguson65@comcast.net


Historic Naval Air Station at Sand Point - ENDANGERED

          In April 1924 four Army pilots and their mechanics took off for first Flight Around the World from the airfield at Sand Point on Lake Washington.  Traveling at about 75 miles per hour, the three remaining planes landed wing tip to wing tip in September at Sand Point to a crowd estimated at 50,000.  There was a huge parade in Seattle and a marker was placed on the station in October commemorating the first global flight. Three years later Charles Lindbergh on a national tour landed his “Spirit of Saint Louis” at Sand Point before a ticker tape parade in downtown Seattle.  Air flight was coming into its own as important to the country in time of war and peace.  The Navy wanted an air station close to the shipbuilding at Bremerton and the new Boeing plant.  Sand Point was the perfect spot. 

          Early Boeing NB1 biplanes were sent to Sand Point in crates and assembled to be flown to other bases.  Boeing Model 40’s were barged from plants by the Duwamish River and assembled.  They carried 450 pounds of airmail and four passengers crammed into a little space in front of the pilots open cockpit.

          Gradually the trees were cut, hills were flattened, the lake was filled, and more runways built until most of the 400 acre waterfront base was complete.  Training, support, transport and repair of planes for the Navy northwest fleet was the order of the day.  All the buildings in the historic district were complete before 1941. Art deco buildings and Colonial Revival style architecture prevailed. Many of the runways and buildings were built as WPA projects during the 1930’s.  The original runways were made of handcrafted 3 by 3 inch granite cubes.  Later asphalt covered the wetlands and peat bogs as the 15 acre lake was filled.  All was ready for the time of most use during WWII, when up to 7,000 military and civilians lived or worked on the base.  Officers houses, enlisted men’s quarters, administrative buildings, a hospital, chapel, fire station, steam plant, parade ground, dock, hangers, and even a small bowling alley, theater, swimming pool, and golf course provided housing and recreation.   Most of the buildings remain today in close to their original condition but the old runways are gone.

            About ten years ago the historic district was defined by the Navy when they turned the site over to the city.  It was declared eligible for listing as a Federal and State Historic District.  However this was never done. Several of the buildings remain vacant and the roof has collapsed on one.  Washington Trust for Historic Properties has just named Sand Point Naval Base one of its 2009 Most Endangered Historic Properties.  Now is the time to protect this historic district as a city of Seattle Landmark District.  Old buildings can be put to new uses while preserving the exterior and sense of Seattle’s early military and aviation history.  Smart growth is possible with historic designation.  Use is not controlled, just exterior treatments, signage and lighting.

            Much positive development has already happened.  Old enlisted men’s barracks house transitional homeless families; the old Officers Houses are group homes for teenagers; the theater is now home to the Civic Light Opera, and the University of Washington has many activities in their buildings including one currently being redone to house a Pediatric Dental Clinic. Seattle Parks and Recreation historic buildings are being used for administration, and the headquarters of several non-profits like Cascade Bike Club, Washington Native Plant Society, Conservation Corps and Bats Northwest.  Arena Sports soccer, Sail Sand Point, and a group of twenty artists have found homes here as well.

Seattle now has a wonderful chance to celebrate our past while developing this historic waterfront urban park.  It has been twenty years since Seattle had a new Landmark District.  Fort Lawton was the last.  It would be highly appropriate for Naval Station Puget Sound at Sand Point in Warren G. Magnuson Park to become the next.

Lynn Ferguson, Citizens for Naval Station Puget Sound at Sand Point Historic District    lynnferguson65@comcast.net
Rev. April 14, 2010