Nostalgia clashed with historical-preservation standards over saving the Chapel on the Hill in Discovery Park at a Magnolia Historical Society meeting last week.
Magnolia resident Heidi Carpine, who has led the charge to save the chapel, noted it has become a very emotional issue for many Magnolians. "As the only World War II building remaining from Fort Lawton, which was the Navy's point of embarkation for World War II and the Korean War from 1940 to 1955, the chapel has historic significance in its own right," she said, reading from a petition that calls for saving the building.
Moreover, Carpine added, the Protestant chapel underscores Discovery Park's Master Plan goal of being a place away from the bustle of the city. "To me, [the chapel] is definitely a pocket of quiet and tranquility."
Magnolia Historical Society member Monica Wooton begged to differ on the chapel's historical value. She stressed, however, that she was speaking only for herself and not for the historical society, which has decided not to take a stand on the issue.
Still, the effort to save the building "goes against some of the standard procedures that we use in Seattle when we talk about preserving buildings," Wooton said.
Those procedures include the city's Landmarks Preservation Board approval of a building's historical significance (see sidebar). "They do not give you points for sentimentality or love," she said.
There's plenty of that to go around, though, and the petitions to save the chapel have approximately 1,600 signatures on them, Carpine said. In addition, many have publicly spoken up in favor of preserving the building.
Veteran Tom McKay, who spoke at the historical society meeting, said he was a member of the chapel back in 1967 and 1968, adding that his son was baptized there: "I have a lot of close feeling about that church."
The First District of the American Legion and legion Post 123 in Magnolia both support the preservation of the building, McKay added.
The chapel is also in a dominating position at Fort Lawton and was seen over the years by countless military personnel from the parade ground below, he said. "And for that reason, I think the Chapel on the Hill should be preserved - even the structure only," McKay said.
That's significant because, many worry, efforts to fix up the interior of the building could be complicated by the presence of asbestos and lead paint. Seattle Parks and Recreation officials also have said the chapel needs an expensive seismic upgrade before the public could use it.
Carpine, attempting to place the chapel within a broader historical context, noted that a granite plaque on the north side of church is dedicated to Korean War veterans. She also pointed out that the chapel abuts an historic district that includes many buildings given landmark status by the city.
Seven Fort Lawton buildings that dated from 1898 to 1908 were nominated for landmark status, and six were saved and sealed up, Wooton said of a process that took close to a decade.
"But there's a big difference between those buildings... and this chapel, which was built in 1942," she said. The buildings from the turn of the century were built to last, in contrast to the buildings like the chapel, which weren't, Wooten said.
"Is it aesthetically, architecturally perfect? Heavens no," Carpine countered, adding that the chapel, like many buildings from that era, was built in a hurry. "So, therefore, it's an example of that very hurried architecture."
The building hasn't been nominated for landmark status yet, although that may change. Carpine said she was going to a weekend workshop that was set up to explain the landmarking process, and she may apply for the designation, she added.
Parks Department plans to demolish the building fold into a larger picture involving a $5-million mitigation settlement with King County over the expansion of the West Point sewer plant in the early 1990s.
The entire mitigation package will be discussed at the City Council level for the first time on May 19, when council member David Della's parks committee is scheduled to consider the matter.
News reporter Russ Zabel can be reached at rzabel@nwlink.com.
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