Under The Watchful Eyes Of The Protectors

With the world ever racing toward tomorrow, there seems little being done about preserving our past. With the increasing use and development of technology, and the passage of time itself, it's easy to forget how those old, corroded buildings got there in the first place.
Soon those buildings and monuments and old bricked streets of old will be gone. Buildings that offer a window to the past will be knocked down and new ones will be put up. The voices of the generations that came before the 21st century will be silenced.
However, there is hope. The Seattle Chinatown International Preservation and Development Authority (SCIDPDA) are hard at work to preserve the community’s heritage. Established in 1975 as a community funded organization, they thrive to make the community a safe and prosperous place.

"It's important to preserve this area because this is the only Chinatown," says Program Coordinator for the Chinatown International District Business Improvement Area, Julia Nelson.
Armed with their mission to “preserve, promote and develop the Seattle Chinatown International District as a vibrant community and unique ethnic neighborhood,” volunteers and workers go out to protect the community’s most precious positions.
Originally founded in the 1880s when Chinese immigrants were employed for labor, the neighborhood is one of Seattle’s oldest. The Chinese immigrants were put to work on the new railroad system, coal mine digging and salmon harvesting.
In the 1900s, workers lowered the slopes that surrounded Pioneer Square and Beacon Hill neighborhoods to make room for Seattle’s first business district. Soon hotels and office buildings lined the streets of Jackson Street South and the people flooded in. Immigrants from other parts of Asia such as Japan, Vietnam and Korea came to the newly remodeled city in search of a new life. In the 1930s the area was proclaimed the official Chinatown of Seattle and was later renamed in 1951 as the International District that’s known today.
These sites are what the SCIDPDA and others are fighting so hard to protect. Through fundraising and spreading awareness through the city, the SCIDPDA raises money for affordable housing, public safety and transportation.
"Without these buildings being here," says local business owner Donny Chen, " [the surviving buildings] would never have stayed [standing] to this day."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RB1zONFvQz4

Echos of an Empty Room

The building stands as a memory of its former glory, with its windows boarded up and its rooms empty. The scattered debris of the hundreds of people who used to roam the lobby and live in its rooms is a reminder that nothing lasts forever.
Built in 1928 the Publix Hotel stands out among the buildings in Seattle’s International District. It’s chipping white and blue paint brings a perfect image of antiquity to the mind. As people pass by its long silenced walls and locked doors they don’t even seem to notice the voices of residents that haunt the dusty building.
“On a sunny day, it shines,” says local business owner and lifelong International District resident Donny Chen, “no matter where you are in the neighborhood you always know where it is.”
Originally housing laborers, the Publix Hotel towers over the neighborhood and its white walls seem to glow around the stout dark colored buildings. In the 1920s, with the arrival of the first wave of immigrants to Seattle, the hotel housed many Chinese laborers who were brought to the city’s shore to help build the railroad.
Later, during World War II, the second wave arrived consisting of Japanese refugees trying to escape the treat and turmoil that was taking place in their homelands. Being a place with many rooms and cheap rent, the Publix Hotel was a perfect fit for the bachelors who suddenly found themselves in a strange new land. Unable to bring their families with them, many men took up residency in the building and worked as laborers and waited patiently for the chance to bring their families over to the land of opportunity. http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20050119&slug=museum19m
“There were never any kids to play with,” remembers Chen.
Over time, wave after wave of Asian immigrants arrived in the once small port town of Seattle. Between the 1930 and the 1960s many immigrants from all over Asia such as Vietnam, Korea and the Philippians and many found a safe haven in the Publix Hotel.
Eventually, used as a half way house, the hotel always seemed to have open doors for those in need and provided a safe place for those who had low income, but trying to piece their lives back together. Seattle residents such as former drug addicts, victims of abuse, bankruptcy and depression, all found a roof over their heads with the help of some Seattle case workers and were only charged an average of $75 dollars a month.
In 2002, the long time Japanese American family owned hotel shut its doors once the economy made it impossible to maintain the building. With the plumbing and lighting going, the building was seemingly falling apart and the family decided to sell the building to the Uwajimaja Company for later renovations. http://www.seattlepi.com/frontpage/seattle_pima1x220030719.pdf
The plan was originally to turn the building into an apartment complex for low income families, just as it always seemed to provide for. However, with the economy spiraling to new lows each year the renovations seem to be being put off longer and longer.
“We’re just waiting,” says one Uwajimaja representative Mr. Heroshi.
The Publix Hotel still stands tall, surrounded by the neighborhood that grew up around it. It’s soul reaching out to those who would listen to its lonely cries and the echoing voices of all the people it’s walls protected and waiting for the next chance to help those in need.

http://www.wingluke.org/

Going Back To The Playgorund

The squeaking of sneakers on the shiny gym floor instantly set the mood for fun as the players pile in and take their places behind the far black line on either side of the court. The co-ed teams fidget as they wait for the whistle to blow. Once the high pitched sound rings in the ceiling the players are off, grabbing the rhino skin balls and searching for their first target.
This is a typical sight on Tuesday night at the International Community Center on 8th Avenue in Seattle’s International District where people from all walks of life flock excitedly to their dodge ball practice in the upstairs gym of the community center. http://gocitykids.parentsconnect.com/attraction/international-district-chinatown-community-center-709-8th-avenue-s-seattle-wa-98104-usunity-center-709-8th-avenue-s-seattle-wa-98104-us
“It’s a lot of fun. You meet a lot of interesting people,” says Seattle Central Community College student and Dodge Ball League veteran Chris Kirby.
The league was established in January of this year and has had a great deal of success. Five adult league teams ranging from ages 18 to 60, with names such as The Pink Godzillas and Barb’s Bunch, they demonstrate their best plays every Tuesday night from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. With three out of four teams returning of this quarter, the community center is pumped to see the turn out for the fall quarter sign ups.
“I’ve never been on a team before and [the dodge ball league] really teaches a lot of team work,” says long time community center volunteer and dodge ball team captain Kyle Paulson.
Similar to what’s played in the elementary school yards around Seattle, six players can be found on the court at all times, but in the Dodge Ball League, all is fair. It is required to have at least two on each sex on the court at all times as well or the team that’s lacking must forfeit. There is allowed to be up to fifteen players on a team and although there seems to be more men than women, the women seem more than willing to show what they’ve got on the court.
“It’s a game that everyone can play,” says the International Community Center assistant recreation coordinator Lori Van Norman.
They play five minute games continuously throughout a forty-five minute period. If the five minutes are up and they are still players on the court, the team with the least amount of players gets the point. The games move fast and the teams can get in as much as fifteen games per session. The rhino skin balls insure safety due to its soft texture and head shots are banded with the penalty on an automatic “out” if a head shot is made by a player.
“It’s really fun and exciting to play,” says Garfield High School senior Terhas Muruts, “It’s like being a kid again.”
Anyone can play, no membership or prior experience required.
“[It’s] open to everyone,” says community center recreation leader Britler Jacobson.
Signup sheets are available on the web at http://www.seattle.gov/ or enter the community center itself and sign up. It costs $20 per quarter and there’s three months or 6 games per quarter. Full teams are allowed to sign up at once or players can sign up individually and be assigned a team. And although the league is not city wide yet due to transportation obstacles, it seems that that is just around the corner.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2ddLe7i7e0&feature=related