It's gritty, blue-collar
and sometimes home
By ELLIS E. CONKLIN 
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
With nearly $1 billion worth of sports salons rounding third and heading home, restless forces are stirring in Sodo, the industrial brawn of Seattle built on silt and sand nearly a century ago.
This south-of-the-Kingdome district -- hence the name Sodo -- is the single largest manufacturing area in the Northwest. But its muscular blue-collar commercial character could very well be transformed -- at the very least, diluted -- in the coming decade.
By day, 60,000 workers collect inside imposing brick warehouses, massive trucking yards and low-slung cement business parks in this rough-hewn district. It is home to such heavyweight industries as the Rainier Brewing Co., Gai's Bakery, Markey Machinery, Rabanco and Alaska Copper. The annual payroll in the Sodo district is nearly $2 billion.
At night, few people remain to hear the sounds of rumbling, horn-blaring trains and the drone of cars shuttling along Alaskan Way to the west and Interstate 5 to the east.
But this is the unorthodox home to dozens of artists in search of airy lofts tucked inside converted warehouses.
The biggest lure, says glass artist David Huchthausen, is that Sodo's neighborless community is not only in close proximity to the industrial supplies that wouldn't be welcome in residential areas, but it also permits them to "make a lot of noise."
Sculptor and goldsmith Lezlie Jane wasn't interested in a cute house with a manicured lawn. She wanted space. So she and eight other artists formed a cooperative and bought the Sunny Arms on South Snoqualmie Street. Amid the grit and grime of the Sodo district, a once-dilapidated five-story shoe manufacturing building is now outfitted in pastel colors. It is home to a colony of 22 artists toiling in funky comfort under 12 1/2-foot- ceilings.
"It's strange at first, but it grows on you," says Jane as she takes in the night view of skyline lights. "I love that it's close to downtown."
Later, atop the building where fellow artisans sometimes gather for a dip in the hot tub, Jane says there are pluses and minuses to Sodo. Sure, it's easy to get the unconventional materials she needs for her work creating a seawall at Alki beach, complete with cut bronze in the image of rolling waves and dragons fashioned from driftwood.
"But there's nowhere to shop for groceries, and you got to go some other place to shop," says Jane.
Scott Hove, a kinetic sculptor who has taken up residence in a 1,200-square-foot loft in the old Bemis Building, says there is a feeling of isolation living amid so much industry.
"But after while, you don't notice it. The train horns now are sort of like a strange lullaby," Hove says.
Saturday, April 11, 1998
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