Executive Director Leslie Smith from the Alliance for Pioneer Square and Mayor Ed Murray at the press conference announcing Weyerhaeuser’s move to the neighborhood.
Local timber company Weyerhaeuser has announced plans to move its headquarters from Federal Way, WA to Pioneer Square. The company’s new home will be at 200 Occidental, a new development by Urban Visions that is planned for completion in 2016. The move will bring 900 employees to Pioneer Square. See Weyerhaeuser’s press release here, as well as Mayor Ed Murray’s blog post about the big news here.
Thank you to Urban Visions and Weyerhaeuser for bringing this development and activation to the neighborhood. The announcement was made public on August 26, 2014 in a press conference in Occidental Square Park, next to the site of 200 Occidental and Weyerhaeuser’s future home.
Steel beams are installed to temporarily support the structure.
The Washington Street Boat Landing pergola is in the process of being removed, protected, and restored in anticipation of the Elliott Bay Seawall project. The move is slated for Sunday, February 9th and Monday, February 10th.
There is a rigorous documentation process in place to record every detail of the historic pergola.
The historic boat landing’s iron shelter was built in 1920, and is one of three pergolas in Pioneer Square. The Pioneer Square Preservation Board gave its Certificate of Approval to move the structure to a storage site on Terminal 25, thereby ensuring its safety during construction. After the Seawall Project is completed, the pergola will be moved back to its original site and will be restored. Overseeing the project is the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) under Section 106 MOA agreements.
In part one of the move, the structure will slide off of the pier to the steel transfer beams that will support the structure during the move to Terminal 25.
From supervising project manager, Jessica Murphy, PE with SDOT: “Preparations for the relocation have been ongoing since early January 2014. Bracing of pergola walls, removal of the roof, lead abatement and other preparatory work has been performed under the oversight of Ron Wright, our architectural specialist. We are now in the final stages of preparation for the structure relocation to a site at Terminal 25. The move will happen in two steps: 1) The move eastward off the current pier structure, and 2) The final move south to Terminal 25.”
Steps have been taken to ensure restoration of the pergola will be historically accurate. Under the Section 106 MOA rules, a rigorous documenting process has been put in place and organizers are actively photographing and video recording every part of the structure that is removed.
This move and plans for restoration could not have come any sooner! In September 2012, the Alliance for Pioneer Square contacted SDOT about signs of deterioration on the historic boat landing. We look forward to see it renewed on a world class waterfront in the near future.
We are moving our office to a larger space next door! The move will help us accommodate internal growth as we make further progress in the neighborhood.
Please note that our email and servers will be down for most of the week starting Tuesday, October 8, 2013. We hope to be back online Monday, October 14th. Communication will be challenging, so we thank you for your patience as we get back up and running.
