A group of developers has proposed demolishing the three-story Hahn building at the entrance to Pike Place Market and replacing it with a 14-story hotel. This would forever destroy one of Seattle’s major cultural icons, the intersection of First and Pike streets.
Standing under the Pike Place Market sign, watching the famed fish-throwers and listening to the street musicians playing next to the brass pig would not be the same with a modern building looming in view only a block away. The market entrance, as featured on so many postcards and souvenirs, would be irreparably damaged.
The proposed 14-story tower would be a monstrous blight on the Pike Place Market. No new building, however well-designed, would give the same experience, not even if the new building were only the same height as the Hahn building. The appearance and scale of the historic 1869 Hahn building are in proportion to the Market and other buildings at the intersection.
The design of the proposed building is under review by the City of Seattle. Comments can be emailed by Monday to prc@seattle.gov, attention: #3028428 / 103 Pike Street.
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Alice Winship, Seattle, president of the Association of King County Historical Organizations