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synopsis

John Charles Olmsted was called upon to layout the grounds of the new library the day he arrived in Seattle to plan the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition. Access to the library was complicated due to street regrading, but Olmsted notes discuss several alternatives.

John Charles Olmsted was called upon to layout the grounds of the new library the day he arrived in Seattle to plan the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition. Access to the library was complicated due to street regrading, but Olmsted notes discuss several alternatives.

The new fireproof library, built in 1906, was funded in part by a $200,000 grant from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie days after fire destroyed Seattle’s Yesler Mansion library in early 1901. One of his largest library donations, it was accompanied by the notation, “I like your pluck.” After two rancorous years the City purchased a full block downtown and held an architectural design competition. The 55,000 square foot Beaux Arts-style building, designed by Chicago architect, P.J. Weber, was nearing completion when Olmsted was consulted, but legal issues between the City and the Library delayed work on a solution to resolve the access issues.

Ultimately the library would have stairs descending north and south along Fourth Avenue to the corners. In 1960 the Beaux Arts building was replaced by a Modernist library which incorporated an escalotor (a first for an American library) that helped address the grade change between the east and west entrances.

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