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posted 01/18/11 02:15 PM | updated 01/18/11 02:15 PM
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A Tale of Two Buildings Threatened by the Deep-Bore Tunnel

By Michael van Baker
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Federal Office Building

Unfortunately I can't envision the scenario where the downtrodden artists and federal functionaries team up to stop the deep-bore tunnel; but on the other hand, the artists may appreciate the chance to sit back and let the Feds do the heavy lifting. 

At a "Guess the Dow" lunch at the Met last week (I'm holding off on writing that up until I can get all my stock picks locked in), I heard an interesting expression used to describe the pro-tunnel strategy: an "assumptive close." Maybe that's why a general lack of interest has greeted the news that the tunnel will mean the demolition of the 619 Western building.

Artists colony aside, Seattle has fought harder for historic buildings than this. Nor is 619 Western the only building threatened--as Cary Moon has said elsewhere, the project's DEIS mentions "possible damage to 12 historic structures (Ch 2 pg 31), and possible collapse or dramatic damage to two buildings (Ch 6 pg 142) because of difficulty controlling soil loss or preventing over-excavations or sinkholes."

Contrast this tone with the more peremptory federal General Services Administration letter sent to WSDOT in November, uncovered by Erica Barnett at PubliCola: 

...Graf noted that the GSA has not given WSDOT the right to drill its tunnel under the building, and that "consequently, we will not be granting any further access to the federal property by the project team, their contractors, or potential bidders."

By December, the GSA was noting that the tunnel would either run just below their building's piered foundation or through it, placing "this historic building and its occupants in permanent jeopardy." "The Federal Office Building is an exuberant example of Art Deco architecture." (It may be a wonderful tunnel, but absolutely no one seems happy to have it beneath them. Earlier, the Gates Foundation threw the tunnel plan a curve.)

This led to Ron Paananen, WSDOT's tunnel team lead, telling the City Council today that:

"We believe we can satisfy all of their concerns," he said. "The letter was a good indication of their concern to protect federal property, we take that seriously." Paananen said now that there's a specific plan and contractor it will be easier to address federal questions.

Well. Yes. Federal questions. Those need to be taken seriously. Apparently you can't assumptively close on the Feds. 

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fiasco in the making
as always WSDOT is giving us the 'don't worry, be happy' explanation for the latest bump in the road of their mega-project day-dream. i mean really, what is wrong with those whacky feds? why would they think that there could possibly be a problem with sending a massive tunnel boring machine not under, but through the wood piles that support a hundred year old unreinforced masonry building? what could possibly go wrong? let me say this one more time: "WE HAVE A SIGNED CONTRACT!! PROBLEM SOLVED, EVERYONE GO HOME AND STOP ASKING QUESTIONS!"

having watched this project from the early days (the first design briefings to the city 7 or 8 years ago) i have gone from scratching my head in disbelief that the state would propose digging a cut and cover tunnel through a swamp, to laughing in delight as they disclosed the surface solution as the selected option (the only reasonable proposal to come out at any stage of the process) only to see the state declare that the bored tunnel had won the day after it had never been publicly discussed or assessed. as the process continues we see the bored tunnel route getting closer and closer to that same said swamp, perfectly good buildings being slated for demolition as they will likely crumble as the boring machine rumbles by, the state requiring a billion dollar bond in case of the (highly unlikely, hardly worth mentioning, teensy weensy) possibility that the boring machine grinds to a halt under a high rise building downtown, the state anteing up another $100M to help cover that bond, the winning bidder having at least one conviction for racketeering and fraud, the state refusing to change the wording in the state statute that requires seattle taxpayers have to pay the cost overruns for a state designed and controlled project and at every turn every question is answered with 'DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY!' or sometimes the more snippy 'THE DECISION HAS ALREADY BEEN MADE!' this is now beyond a project going badly, we are headed full bore into a full blown fiasco. anyone with their eyes open can see it. WSDOT and the city council are great great actors, even when there was an accidental stabbing on stage, the lead actor fell off the stage and broke his leg and the stage and the curtains are on fire after an earthquake that brought down one wall of the theater, they are still hobbling around the stage and staying on script, "THE SHOW MUST GO ON". make no mistake this fiasco will be spectacular and while i hope that the feds manage to stop the project in its tracks, i also secretly hope that they don't and that we see the whole massive play unfold into its third cataclysmic act. the hubris of the governor, WSDOT and the Seattle City Council are of epic proportions. this has the potential to make Boston's Big Dig look like a rip roaring success. this is the sort of material that Shakespeare loved to write about.
Comment by nic rossouw
2 days ago
( +1 votes)
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