The hardest blow personally was the closure of University Heights School, where my daughter attended kindergarten. I still remember the last day of school. The building emptied out, everyone joined hands to circle the structure and we gave it one last hug. School district number-crunchers had decided the old building was too expensive to maintain. They forgot to factor in the economic blow to the district. It's been pretty much downhill ever since.
Over the years, the relationship between the neighborhood and the University hasn't always been cordial. But as the Ave. deteriorates, both sides are finally waking up to one important fact--they are more allies than enemies.
The stunning success of the UW's UPASS program has defused neighborhood anger over traffic and parking. This spring, the UW architecture department devoted an intense design competition to U District solutions. Earlier this year two UW-related projects looked particularly promising: renting the old JC Penney Building for UW Extension and starting a UW-affiliated retirement center. Both projects were sidetracked recently, but other cooperative efforts may come.
Alumni have known the Ave. in the best and worst of times. Our cover story by Associate Editor Jon Marmor lays it all out in black and white. But there is still one more chapter to write. It will either be a colorful piece on the recovery of a Seattle treasure, or its final obituary.
Tom Griffin,Editor
EDWARD BASSETT, Director, UW School of Communications
KEITH BENSON, Past Chair, UW Faculty Senate
VICKI LANDER BREMS, '68, Vice President for Marketing, TCS Expeditions
JAMES R. COLLIER, UW Vice President for University Relations
AUDREY EDWARDS, '69, Editor at Large, Essence Magazine
JACK EHRIG, '52, Retired Vice Chairman, EvansGroup Inc.
JUDD KIRK, '76, President, UW Alumni Association
ERIK PETERSON, '66, Senior Vice President, Communication Northwest
JON K. RIDER, '63, Director, UW Office of Alumni Relations
ROBERT ROSETH, Director, UW Office of News and Information
Send a letter to the editor at griffin@u.washington.edu.
Return to December 1995 Table of Contents.