MOHAI's Montlake home will be history

Museum of History and Industry officials confirmed Wednesday their intention to move to South Lake Union and transform the former Naval Reserve Armory into a "first-class" local heritage museum.

Leonard Garfield, MOHAI executive director, told Seattle City Council members that recent studies of the armory building, financial feasibility and public interest all point to a change of address from the museum's longtime Montlake site.

		Seattle P-I

"We've done quite a lot of work analyzing the armory's architecture ... and it will in fact be a wonderful site," Garfield told members of the City Council's Finance and Budget Committee during a briefing Wednesday.

Engineering, seismic and architectural analyses show the building is not only more structurally sound than museum officials thought, but would lend itself to a compelling redesign that "resonates with our mission of telling the story of Seattle," Garfield said.

MOHAI decided to pursue the armory after research showed a strong public preference -- 79 percent -- for the South Lake Union site over downtown or Montlake.

"We were very encouraged; there really is an audience for this kind of project," Garfield said.

He said the new museum could start construction by late 2010, opening in spring 2011.

Garfield also confirmed MOHAI has found a buyer -- the Washington State Convention and Trade Center -- for its property at 800 Pike St., and hopes to close the sale by Oct. 1. MOHAI, concerned it would be displaced from Montlake by a future Evergreen Point Bridge replacement project, bought the property from the convention center in 2003. MOHAI never moved, but the Seattle Public Library leased the spot during downtown library construction.

When the maritime community proposed using the historic armory as a new museum site, the idea rapidly gained steam. Seattle Parks and Recreation, which owns the armory and is developing a park at South Lake Union, considers the museum a perfect fit.

The Seattle Parks Foundation, a private non-profit raising money for the park, views MOHAI as the best organization to carry out the park's maritime heritage and Seattle history themes.

Phyllis Lamphere, a Seattle Parks Foundation board member, told the committee the proposed MOHAI move has been met "with great enthusiasm on all fronts."

"We took a roundabout way of getting there, but we've always looked at the armory and asked, 'What's the best thing we could do for the city?' " Lamphere said.

Committee members Jean Godden and David Della expressed support.

"I'm excited about this," said Della, chairman of the council's Parks, Education, Libraries and Labor Committee. "It'll be a good thing for everyone."

Garfield said sales terms with the convention center are still being negotiated, and that other fiscal terms must be approved by the full City Council.

Committee Chairman Richard McIver said the city will negotiate assurances that its $2 million appropriation to MOHAI in 2003 to help buy the downtown property will ultimately result in a museum.

"We still have ... to create an agreement everyone can be happy with," McIver said. "But we do believe this is an excellent idea."