...history, industry, adaptation... |
| TACOMA |
| SELF STORAGE |
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| CIRCA 1934 |
| Tacoma Self Storage is locally owned by Tacoma Self Storage LLC ~ Bill Bradbrooke, mgr. Rehabilitation & Adaptation: Robert L. Boggess, Inc. of Seattle, Architects ~ Bob Boggess, principal |
| The story of Tacoma is one of ships and railroads. Timber from Puget Sound was already leaving Tacoma's docks when The Great Northern Railway arrived in 1873. With the completion of the transcontinental link, the Atlantic was joined to Puget Sound and the Pacific beyond. In time Tacoma would grow into a city around its active rail head and the docks along its downtown waterfront. |
| In 1926 the Tacoma Ice Company built its cold storage plant on this historic railroad right-of-way. Through 50 years of good times and bad the building served the community. Ice was delivered out through its freight doors and food stuffs were received across its loading docks. By 1979 industry had left downtown Tacoma. The breweries had closed, home refrigeration had replaced cold storage and railroading had moved to the Port of Tacoma. The Tacoma Ice Co. building was shuttered and empty. In the 1990s Tacoma's Landmarks Commission designated the building as historically significant. The interior, constructed entirely of heavy timber beams and wood planking, was badly deteriorated; however, the concrete and brick exterior was little changed from the time it was built. In 2004 the property sold and reconstruction began. With care the concrete shell was shored up on its exterior and the wooden interior was demolished. Inside a steel and concrete floor system rose to replace the wood. Instead of cold storage the use of the property was adapted to self storage. So, as a new century brings life back to downtown Tacoma, this historic structure has been revitalized to serve Tacoma once again. |
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memberships:
local links:
making ice
stacking
vegetables
vegetables