Originally published Saturday, June 21, 1997

By MARK HIGGINS
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

The socially and culturally diverse Market of today was the vision of Victor Steinbrueck. The late University of Washington professor of urban planning and architecture led the charge 25 years ago to save the Market's nine-acre core from the threat of "urban renewal."

"My father realized the social importance of it," says Matthew Steinbrueck, owner of Raven's Nest Treasure in the Market. "In every culture, the market is a social center, a focal point."

For years leading up to the crucial November 1971 public vote to preserve the Market as a historic district, critics argued it should be redeveloped.

In 1968, Seattle Mayor Dorm Braman labeled the Market "a decadent, somnolent fire trap," according to the entertaining book, "Pike Place Market: People, Politics, and Produce," written by Alice Shorett and Murray Morgan.

Victor Steinbrueck and many others came together under the umbrella organization called Friends of the Market, defending the vision of the Market and its standing as Seattle's most treasured neighborhood.

That spirit lives on. The Market Foundation last year completed a $3Êmillion capital campaign, which included money for local social services.

A friend of the working man, Steinbrueck saw the Market as a place big enough for all income levels, where a person could find an affordable home and a helping hand. Today, the Market has four low-income apartment buildings, a public health clinic, senior center, food bank and child care center.

It also has a minister (the Rev. Susan O'Shey), a dentist (Douglas Leen), a matchmaker (Noel McLane), a hatmaker (Sharon Hagerty) and its own security team, which keeps panhandling and public drinking to a minimum.