Belltown lies northwest of Seattle’s downtown and is the city’s hip and chic district. Its hub lies along the 1st Avenue between Virginia and Vine.[1] This corridor is lined with luxury condominiums whose dot-com and young professional residents enjoy the convenient access the strip’s myriad boutique shops, upscale hair salons, trendy restaurants, and happening clubs and bars.[2]
Some have compared Belltown to Manhattan’s Upper West Side. The neighborhood was originally a lackluster and unremarkable area. It was inhabited by union halls, inexpensive apartments, sailors’ taverns, and car lots. In the 1970s, it became a haven for artists who were attracted to the cheap rents and studio spaces. In the 1980s, however, upscale condominiums began appearing as more and more Seattleites became interested in urban living, dismayed by the city’s notorious traffic and looking for a place closer to the downtown offices. The dot-com boom of the 1990s created even more well-paid professionals who were attracted to Belltown, which fueled the neighborhood’s transformation into the amenity-rich and chic dig it is today.[3]
Belltown does not feature many tourist attractions, but its restaurants, bars, and clubs make it a destination for visitors looking for some nightlife fun.
Olympic Sculpture Park
Belltown’s main attraction is the Olympic Sculpture Park, which was only recently opened to the public. The park is an outdoor sculpture museum and beach occupying a nine-acre site at the south end of Myrtle Edwards Park. Among the highlights of the outdoor sculptures include di Suvero’s Bunyon’s Chess, which is a steel-and-wood structure whose wood points to the sky like a telescope. Also of note is Richard Serra’s Wake, which features two 125-feet long sheets that are composed of curved steel. As you walk through the structure, the shape of the steel pieces change, thus providing an interesting visual experience for the visitor.[4]
Austin A. Bell Building
The Austin A. Bell Building is another attraction of Belltown. This brick-facde building with Gothic features was built at the end of the 19th century. It is a handsome four-story structure commissioned for the wealthy pioneer, William M. Bell, from whom the neighborhood’s name is derived. Unfortunately, Bell did not live to see the building’s completion. In 1981, the interior suffered damage from a fire, although the exterior remains as it did when it was originally completed. The building has been designated a national historic place and hosts tenants on the upper floors, and a restaurant and coffee shop on the ground floor.[5]
Virginia Inn
The Virginia Inn was built almost a hundred years ago and has operated continuously. It was once a beer parlor for waterfront workers. During the Prohibition era, it was a cardroom and lunch restaurant. In the 1970s, it became a pub that attracted the artists in the neighborhood. Today, the Virginia Inn remains an old-time bar popular for its rotating exhibits by local artists. The bar is known as a great place to sample local microbrew.[6]
References:
“Belltown, Seattle, Washington.” <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belltown%2C_Seattle%2C_Washington>
Brewer, Stephen, Constance Brissenden, and Anita Carmin. Pacific Northwest. New York: Dorling Kindersley Publishing, Inc., 2003. ISBN: 0789496801.
“Olympic Sculpture Park.” <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_Sculpture_Park>
[1] Belltown
[2] Brewer, 149
[3] Id.
[4] Olympic
[5] Brewer, 148-49
[6] Id. at 149
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