nwasianweekly.com
July 26, 2008

‘Seattle’s Fortune Cookie’

By Michelle Kang

Northwest Asian Weekly

If you focus on the number of boarded windows and peer down narrow and dingy alleys in the International District, you might miss a greater story. It’s the story of how one neighborhood holds the hopes and dreams of a wide and varied population.

Stories are usually told in words, but how about something up front and personal? How about a tour that takes you into those alleys and through those streets?

The Seattle Architecture Foundation, eager to showcase the city’s neighborhoods to residents and visitors alike, has a series of tours that are both informal and informative. On July 19, it hosted a tour of Seattle’s International District. Led by volunteers, the tours are valuable because they talk about more than the obvious. And the history inherent in the International District may not be obvious to the casual observer. If appearances are any indication, the neighborhood could use a face-lift. This tour may help you get beyond appearances, to see that beauty is not always found in shiny skyscrapers.

Primarily an architectural tour, what you remember may not be that the Panama Hotel on Sixth Avenue South was built in 1910. You probably won’t remember the technical definition of a pediment or who Sam Chinn was (one of the first Asians architects to graduate from the University of Washington).

But you probably will come away with a better grasp of the area’s growth over the years. Personal anecdotes, little-known facts and articulate observations tie the two-hour tour together, making it easy to digest the history lessons.

One of those history lessons is evident in the abundance of single-occupancy hotels in the area, such as the Bush, NP and Panama hotels. As Elaine Wine, one of three guides, explains early in the tour, construction of the railroad led to a boom in the labor market. Many of these workers were Japanese and Chinese immigrants; with this influx of single, immigrant men, hotels were quickly constructed to accommodate them. These six to eight-story structures are the tallest buildings in the neighborhood and are reminders of the hard-earned life of the International District’s earliest residents.

The prominent and ornate two to three-story community association buildings are also highlighted. The Chong Wa Benevolent Association, Gee How Oak Tin Benevolent Society and the Bing Kung Association buildings are designed with western-style, classical facades that feature Asian detailing.

All three are marked by elaborate balconies that separate them from the surrounding buildings. Nowhere else is the clash of western and eastern architectural styles more obvious, yet it would take a conscientious eye and the help of a tour guide to point these details out.

One of the surprises of the tour is a walk down Maynard Alley, a grimy and slightly menacing lane between Maynard Avenue and Seventh Avenue. Halfway into the alley is the boarded-up Wah Mee Club, site of the 1983 Wah Mee massacre. Guide Matt Masuoka tells the tale of three robbers who enter the gambling club to murder 13 men to steal their winnings. The club’s interior hasn’t been touched since the day of the rampage, and the site holds a haunting appeal. You can peer through the glass peephole of the side door to see a dusty table and filing cabinet. The rest of the gruesome happenings are left to your imagination.

The easy-going feel of the tour is due mostly to the comfortable and familial tone of the tour guides. Elaine Wine, whose day job is with Vulcan, works directly above the King Street Station transit center. Working so close to the International District, she has an intrinsic feel of the place. Her own impression is that “this place is full of diversity. There are white collar workers, hard on their luck workers, but everyone respect each other.”

The tour is billed by the foundation as a visit through a “thriving multi-cultural, multi-use neighborhood, rich in art, music, history and design” and names the walk the “Seattle’s Fortune Cookie” tour. It’s a catchy name but not quite apt in capturing the complex spirit of the area, especially given the neighborhood’s attempts at preserving its historic treasure while also bringing in new businesses and residents. The neighborhood is among the poorest in the city.

Still, why do people hold onto and cherish old street signs and aging storefronts? Guide Kevin Eng relays a memory about Osami’s Barbershop, on Sixth Avenue and Main. He remembers, “In high school, I went to Osami’s and, once, the barber asked me, ‘Do you know your great uncle?’ I said no and then the barber said to me, ‘You’re sitting next to him!’”

It’s really for those surprising reminders of community and shared history that an aging structure holds any significance.

For more information on the Seattle Architecture Foundation and its tours, visit www.seattlearchitecture.org. The next “International District: Seattle’s Fortune Cookie” tour is scheduled for Aug. 16.

Michelle Kang can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com
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