Ask most people in Everett if they know about the Collins Building and they will look at you quizzically, until you say “You know, the huge 3-story red building down on the waterfront? The one with the cool windows on all sides?” Then people know.

The Collins Building has been a quiet landmark in Everett since the early 1920s. Built as an adjunct to the Hulbert Mill, it was originally built on pilings and a pier, completely surrounded by water. After fires destroyed most of the old Everett waterfront, after dredging the Snohomish River and in-filling the entire waterfront shoreline, after decades of time and industrial development, countless storms and earthquakes, the Collins Building is still standing, testament to all that has gone before. It is the last historic landmark of Everett’s early waterfront days.

If the Port of Everett has its way, the Collins Building will be torn down in the fall of 2004 to make way for the North Marina Redevelopment Plan. This plan has been in the works for three years, but now destruction of the Collins Building is imminent. Why only now are people beginning to talk about the saving the Collins Building?

It is because very few people have ever been inside. It has never been open to the public and most residents don’t know what a treasure it is. Walk into the main floor and once inside you fall in love with the huge expanse of fir floor, the high ceilings that are supported by old growth wood columns and beams the size of tree trunks. Windows surround you creating a light, airy, lofty space, even on gray Northwest days.

All three floors, equaling 60,000 square feet hold great promise as a historically authentic, public space. Imagine a year-round indoor public market here, alive with people. Imagine the upper floors dedicated to an Everett/Snohomish Historic Museum, full of people learning about our history. The possible public uses for such a structure are endless and exciting.

Everett’s future needs the port’s North Marina Redevelopment Plan and the many benefits that it will bring. Everett also needs to preserve our authentic places. The Collins Building should be the showcase at the 13th Street Gateway to this wonderful new development, not a lost opportunity.

Everett