ROSLYN — There could be new life ahead for the town that once was home to the 1990s television show “Northern Exposure.”
For the past 10 weeks, a dozen students have been taking part in a program to help the community of Roslyn develop a plan that enhances its authentic character while improving its economic viability.
In recent months, several businesses have closed in the town that sits off Interstate 90 on the east slope of the Cascades.
The University of Washington program, called Storefront Studio, is handled through the school’s architecture program.
John Todd, a UW senior taking part in the program, said Roslyn’s rich history provided plenty of fodder for the project.
“For me the challenge was trying to make sure what I did fit with what the community wanted,” he said. “The best part was working with the people themselves. Roslyn’s such a unique place. It’s original. That makes it exciting.”
Todd is headed to Harvard University next fall for an advanced degree in architecture.
Roslyn was filmed as the fictional village of Cicely, Alaska, for “Northern Exposure,” a television series about a transplanted New York doctor’s culture clash with the town’s eccentric characters.
About 45 residents attended a program this week to highlight photos of Roslyn today and suggest changes for the future.
Mayor Jeri Porter, a member of the Roslyn Revitalization community group that brought the project to town, was pleased with what she saw. Porter said she thought the project had done a good job of capturing and honoring Roslyn’s history and character in a way that will help strengthen its economy.
“I think they got it,” she said.
Alice Davis, a native of Roslyn who now lives in San Diego but has a home near Ronald, Wash., also appeared impressed.
“We’re very much interested in this,” she said.
At least one of the changes the students envision will happen this summer: Students plan to paint an image of railroad tracks along the street from Runje Park to the NWI Building.
Other ideas will take longer to achieve. They include placing life-sized sepia images made from photographs of real-life historic Roslyn characters on buildings around town.
The images are like removable public art, said professor Jim Nicholls, who supervises the Storefront Studio program.
“In some places, they might be stenciled onto wood. In other places, it might be painted on a piece of plywood or on a thin sheet of metal,” he said. “We’re still studying this.”
Part of the plan also includes increasing the number of places for people to stay in town when they come to visit. One idea involves creating a bed-and-breakfast economy, in which homeowners renovate the small outbuildings on back alleys that once housed miners into nightly cabin rentals.
“Other communities have done it,” Nicholls said. “There are precedents.”
Nicholls said he and his students also believe the community needs to be vigilant in making sure “that development does not overtake” the ruins of the No. 4 Mine.
For the first time in the program’s history, Nicholls plans to bring the Storefront Studio back to Roslyn next spring.
“This is the beginning of a long relationship,” he said. “This is the best body of work we’ve ever done. There’s probably more authentic character here than in any other place we’ve done. This place has so much going for it really.
“It feels to me like the rest of the world needs to find it.”
Information from: Daily Record, www.kvnews.com
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