BH in the News, Neighborhood Pride

Cleveland High School “Beacon Hill’s best building”?

3 Comments

The Stranger’s Charles Mudede suggests that Cleveland High School (the new portion) is “Beacon Hill’s best building.” The new addition, designed by Mahlum (see a slideshow of the building here), was an AIA Project of the Month in May, 2010*. It also won a Citation Award in 2008 from the American Association of School Administrators.

Do you agree? What do you think is the best building on Beacon Hill? What makes a “best building” anyway? Tell us in the comments.

*Mudede’s post says “Cleveland High School, which was designed by Mahlum Architects, won one of the AIA’s 2008 Honor Awards for Washington Architecture.” As far as we can tell, this is an error; the award they won in 2010 is for projects which were previously nominated for Honor Awards but did not win. The website design at the 2008 awards website is ambiguous so the error is understandable.

3 thoughts on “Cleveland High School “Beacon Hill’s best building”?”

  1. well…the Pacific Medical Center is one of my favorites in the whole region, let alone on Beacon Hill. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. In 1992, the building received landmark status from the city. It received the Award for Excellence in 2000 from the Urban Land Institute but hey, who is going to bother arguing with The Stranger?

  2. 1) The old building at Cleveland High to me is the best building on The Hill – especially the front which faces West. The interior of course was stripped of its character in the remodel.

    2) Pacific Medical Center would be 2nd – Art Deco at its finest.

    3) The fire station at the corner of Beacon and Spokane

    4) Jefferson Park Clubhouse – which is not in its original state but still retains enough character and original appointments that you can imagine its original configuration.

    57 years old – and 57 years on the Hill…..

  3. I also love PacMed. We don’t have any other examples of Art Deco around here. It’s striking. When pressed to describe Beacon Hill to people who vaguely know south Seattle, they can place us either by PacMed or the Rainier (now Tully’s) building.

    El Centro is also a great landmark, but doesn’t stick out as much visually for me. Cleveland is too monolithic for my tastes, but it’s an okay building. Not our best, by any means.

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