March 2, 2005
Julie Humling
Senior Manager, Long-Term Space Planning
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
P.O. Box 23350
Seattle, WA 98102
Dear Ms. Humling:
The Greater Queen Anne Chamber of Commerce wishes to express our support for the development of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Campus at the Fifth Avenue site adjacent to Seattle Center. We support the concept of a new multistory parking garage at Fifth Avenue and Harrison Street. We endorse the idea of having a master plan process for the new campus.
The Seattle Center Masterplan 2000 as amended provides for softening the boundaries between the Seattle Center Campus and the surrounding Uptown neighborhoods. With due consideration for security issues, we hope that the new campus will provide attractive frontage on Mercer Street, Fifth Avenue and Harrison Street.
The Uptown Urban Center is an attractive, pedestrian-friendly place. A good first step in designing a frontage on Fifth and on Harrison can occur with the design of the proposed multistory garage.
We hope that the design will address the sidewalk on Fifth, on Harrison and at the northeast corner of Fifth and Harrison with attractive commercial spaces and a gracious pedestrian-entry portal to the garage. We want to avoid the sterile sidewalk frontage presented by the existing Mercer St. garage structure between Fourth and Third avenues on both Mercer and Roy streets.
We know that you share our concern for excellent design in urban centers.
David Peterson
President, Greater Queen Anne Chamber of Commerce
cc: Mayor Greg Nickels, Councilman Peter Steinbrueck
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