Courtesy Brice Maryman

Threat

The Fair’s landscape and its buildings have gone through several periods of neglect and revitalization in their four decades of existence. In 2008, the Seattle City Council and Mayor’s office approved the Century 21 Master Plan. While the Science Pavilion was designed as one of the Fair’s major landmarks, the renovation plan calls for the removal of the original campus axis/walkway that connects the Pacific Science Center courtyard with the rest of the campus. Removal of the original circulation path will not only affect Seattle Center visitors’ access to the Pacific Science Center and its courtyard, but it will change the historic relation of the pavilion to the entire campus.

While the pavilion is located within the City-owned Seattle Center and has been occupied by the Pacific Science Center since the 1960s, it has been under continuous ownership of the Federal government since its construction. Within the last several years, the Pacific Science Center purchased the buildings and property and undertook strategic planning for the site. Initial plans suggest that the organization intends to demolish several of the original Yamasaki-designed structures to increase the open space on the site and to update the facilities. While key architectural elements such as the white arches would remain, such dramatic changes to the landscape would negatively impact the site’s historic design integrity. Moreover, the renovation plans are not subject to the same review process as the City-owned Seattle Center campus because the pavilion site is under private ownership.

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