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<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Mike Benbow, Business Editor benbow@heraldnet.com   Published: Monday, October 15, 2007 Buildings bring change and growth into focus By Mike Benbow Herald Columnist As I was going over the week's local news, a clear theme emerged: buildings. We're tearing a lot of things down around here and putting a lot of things up. I normally don't think of buildings as all that exciting. It's hard to get enthusiastic about concrete and wood. But what surprised me last week is our fascination and our passion for buildings. They're symbols, and we get pretty excited when those symbols are knocked down and when new ones emerge. Tuesday, the talk at the Port of Everett was against tearing down what's called the Collins Building, the 81-year-old red building on the waterfront that was leased for a long time by the Collins Casket Co. The port is interested in tearing it down, but has given a redevelopment group some time to come up a plan to find financing and tenants who can keep it going as a memory of the style of buildings that used to be common on the waterfront. Next month, the redevelopment group has a deadline to come up with its plan. A group of neighborhood residents would like to see the building saved, in part because it's really the last building of its era along the waterfront. "The neighborhood just needs to feel that at some level you understand their passion for this building," said Charlene Rawson of the Port Gardner Neighborhood Association in urging the port to help look for a way to save it. You can argue whether it's the best building to evoke that time period, but you can't argue that if you want to save a historic building in that location, it's really all we've got. Port Commissioner Don Hopkins raised a good question Tuesday when he asked why the building is called the Collins Building. He noted it was owned by the Hulbert family and was only rented by the casket company. "Why aren't we calling it the Hulbert building?" he asked. Good question. On Wednesday at the Everett Country Club, the local chamber of commerce was talking about erecting a building -- or a lot of them. The talk was about a new branch campus of the University of Washington. There are four locations in play -- two in Everett, one in Marysville and one in Lake Stevens. All three communities want those buildings, considering them crucial to their future. "If we don't take care of our kids, our future will be service jobs," Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson said at the chamber luncheon. He sees training for good jobs in that group of hoped-for buildings. On Thursday, the Tulalip Tribes hit a milestone in the development of a 12-story luxury hotel in their Quil Ceda business area. Tribal Chairman Mel Sheldon said it may vault the tribes into encouraging a whole new group of visitors to the nearby casino and outlet mall. Some 66 tribal members helped build the hotel, which some see as an important symbol. "This is a monument," said Glen Gobin, chairman of the tribal business committee. "That's our future," said tribal board member Tony Hatch. "We're growing so fast that we're going to need a second tower." The hotel, which will be the most imposing building on the reservation, clearly means a lot to tribal members. Some spoke about being proud that they were members of the Tulalip Tribes and that it could create such a thing, and do it, at least so far, ahead of schedule and below budget. On Friday, The Herald wrote about how the Elks Club building, which has housed the social club for about 100 years, will be razed soon for a new high-rise that will house a blend of 200 apartments and condominiums. Nobody's trying to save it. While I'm sure people have many fond memories of events there, it's not the sort of place from our architectural past that demands preservation. OK. Let me be honest, it's pretty ugly. But the $30 million building that's replacing it has an important role to play in the city's redevelopment plan. It will bring people into downtown. Economic growth downtown. Life downtown. The city also has a plan to "humanize" Rucker Avenue, where the new building will be located. Developer Craig Skotdal called the street right now "an enormous concrete chasm." He wants more landscaping and less traffic, a whole "redo" of the street and its sidewalks. The city wants that too, but it's unclear when that will happen. Buildings. We love them. We hate them. Not for what they are, but for what they mean to us and how they can change our lives. Last week was an interesting week, and a lot of it had to do with buildings and the passions they can stir. Mike Benbow: 425-339-3459; benbow@heraldnet.com.

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