BONUS ENCORE EPISODE: Memorial Stadium Doomed by Seattle's "Anti-Nomination" Landmark Process

The City of Seattle and Seattle Public Schools are inviting the public to say goodbye to Seattle High School Memorial Stadium this Thursday, June 26, 2025 from 4pm to 7pm. Memorial Stadium – built in 1947 - was deemed to be not worthy of landmark status in Seattle and will be demolished, while the 1951 wall engraved with names of Seattle Public Schools’ WWII war dead was given landmark status and will be preserved. With the stadium’s imminent destruction prior to construction of a new facility, Feliks Banel's focus on this BONUS ENCORE EPISODE of CASCADE OF HISTORY is what's often called the "anti-nomination" process for potential landmarks. These "anti-nominations" are reviewed by the City of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods' Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board, and this unofficial term applies when a building's owner does NOT want the building designated as a city landmark. Consultants and attorneys join in a process that probably runs counter to how many people believe historic preservation programs should operate in the United States. On Wednesday, October 4, 2023 the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board voted to designate only the 1951 memorial wall at Memorial Stadium as a city landmark, and to not designate 1947 Memorial Stadium. Through audio from the meeting and excerpts from email correspondence, we use Memorial Stadium as a case study to show how public resources are being devoted to processes that appear to be lacking some key elements of what might be called good government. This episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY was originally broadcast live at 8pm Pacific Time on Sunday, October 8, 2023 via SPACE 101.1 FM and streaming live via space101fm.org from studios at historic Magnuson Park – formerly Sand Point Naval Air Station - on the shores of Lake Washington in Seattle.