Seattle Landmarks Board rejects Bruce Lee’s first dojo for historical designation

By Carolyn Bick
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY

After lengthy discussion that took up most of its Sept. 19 meeting, the City of Seattle’s Landmarks Preservation Board decided not to designate the site of what advocates call Bruce Lee’s first formal dojo as a historical landmark.

Seattle’s Bruce Lee Fan Club submitted the building for historical preservation designation. Located at 4750 University Way, the building was one of the last places Lee trained and lived before moving to California. While the building—which still holds apartments—has been modified since Lee’s time, a landmark designation would have protected the building from further change and development without specific authorization from the board.

The designation failed by just one “yes” vote, with six of the nine board members voting “yes.” A landmark is approved for designation by seven or more members voting “yes.”

In addition to sending in documents (a “main points” document and a more detailed document) supporting the designation, a handful of people showed up to advocate for the site, including two of Lee’s students, CID Coalition member and longtime Chinatown-International District (CID) resident Sue Ann Kay and Jun Fan Gung Fu instructor Abe Santos. Advocates said that the building is the site of Lee’s first formal dojo, which distinguishes it from his more informal ones, like the basement of Ho Ho Restaurant in the CID.

In his public comment period, Santos offered to open a school in the building, in order to preserve the site’s legacy. Santos remembered that, about 12 years ago, he and Taky Kimura—Lee’s best friend and senior student—visited the building. The owners at the time asked whether the pair wanted to start a school there, he said.

“At the time, I was very busy with Sifu Taky, and we said no,” Santos recalled. “But in order to preserve this building, I think it’s important to do that.”

Kay took classes from Lee in 1963. The self-described “80-year-old retiree” was 16 years old, when she started taking classes from Lee.

“What Bruce gave to me especially was just an aura of safety, and he taught me self-defense, which in those days was not popular,” Kay said. “He also taught me about acupuncture when the University of Washington doctors that I knew were still calling it voodoo. And the space in the University District is really special to me, because we first learned in the basement of one of the buildings in Chinatown.

Later, Kay would introduce Lee to Linda Emery. The pair would end up marrying. Kay herself later became one of Kimura’s top female students.

In their designation request, applicants included both the fact that the building is an example of Spokane-born William G. Morris’ mid century modernist architectural style, as well as its association with Bruce Lee. The Landmarks Preservation Board considers architecture on several merits, including its association “in a significant way with the life of a person important in the history of the City, state, or nation” and/or whether it “embodies the distinctive visible characteristics of an architectural style, or period, or of a method of construction.”

Deputy Liaison for the Landmarks Preservation Board Erin Doherty also said that the owner of the building currently has no plans to create a museum in the building or space.

Following significant discussion—about 90 minutes’ worth—the board ultimately rejected the site for a landmark designation. However, there wasn’t full agreement among all members on this matter.

Throughout the meeting, board member Lora-Ellen McKinney repeatedly stressed that she understood the building’s significance in Bruce Lee’s legacy.

Before voting yes to preserve the building, McKinney said that her original leaning towards a “no” vote was because she believes it’s important to connect stories with places. But this is “not a perfect tool,” she said, and because she could not find a good architectural reason to preserve the building, she said that if designating the building based solely on Lee’s association was the only option, “then I will do that.”

Roi Chang disagreed, though she admitted that she saw the merits of what fellow board member Katie Randall had been saying about the board being “too hard” on the building.

“But … what’s catching me is the ability for this building to face significance,” Chang said. “I think without knowing it, without any other stand-up form, I wouldn’t be able to recognize this building for its significance, looking at what it was then versus now, so I’m voting no.”

Following the vote, Seattle Bruce Lee Fan Club President Charlette LeFevre sent out a press release stating that the club directors were “extremely disappointed,” but would be looking into getting the building designated as a state and national landmark.

She also wrote that the club’s directors are “still strongly encouraging the owner of the University Way Apts and the City of Seattle to recognize a site for what they feel is a culturally important landmark.”