by StevenL, 5/19/10
I have a desire named streetcar. And it’s all connected with the so-called “Isthmus.” And the Isthmus issue is something that will never be fully settled because the Isthmus itself will never be fully settled. Or at least it hasn’t been in the brief history of its existence.
So.
I’ll connect the dots anon. Stay with me. At the end you’ll be rewarded with a couple of philosophical pennies of the realm.
Let’s start with a definition. The “Isthmus,” as I understand it, is bordered by Water Street and points west to the shoreline of the area where Budd Inlet and Capitol “Lake” are pinched apart by the 5th Ave Dam.
In pioneer days there was no Isthmus. There was no lake. Budd Inlet extended clear down to Tumwater, happily ebbing and rising as nature intended.
Downtown Oly was a calloused thumb of land separated from both the east and west sides by inlets. The east side gap was later filled with soil dredged from Budd Inlet. The original east arm of water stretched as far south as Union Street.
The west side would prove to be more elusive. Although a simulated peninsula would eke its way to the base of Harrison Street, nearly, the 4th Ave Bridge became the main artery to the side of Oly where the sun sets. The 5th Ave additional bridge didn’t arrive until the late 1950s.
How this chunk of fill dirt edging west was incorrectly dubbed “Isthmus” is a mystery to me. The term apparently didn’t exist as applied to this bit of real estate until the 21st Century when that slip of soil became a political, economic, and emotional point of contention.
What is it about this man-made peninsula that fires up the development debate?
I’ll offer some clues from the biased perspective of a long-time area local. Although I speak for myself, I’m sure there are many others in the family of Oly mossbacks who could add to my collage of “Isthmus” memories:
Standing on the old 4th Ave Bridge and watching the whales explore Puget Sound’s southern tip.
The view of the surplus WWII ships known as the “Mothball Fleet,” forming a gray wall in Budd Inlet until the early 1970s.
King’s, a drive-in located at the east end of the 4th Ave Bridge, and a popular hangout for teens in the pre-Beatle era. Today those kids get the senior citizen discount at Burger King.
In a previous life Bayview Market was a much different place. Mark-It had a gimmick where customers used a black grease pencil to price their purchases. It was messier, cheaper and more populist.
The big old wooden warehouse that stood where “The Kiss” sculpture now resides. A reminder the working waterfront used to be a more intimate part of downtown life.
Capitol “Lake,” when I was a kid, was a place where we used to go to – get this – swim! That was before leeches, nutria, exotic snails, and caimans started to populate that body of water. Today, many Oly residents correctly dub that pool of death “the FLOD”, i.e., the Fetid Lake of Doom.
I still have a little ceramic dog figure I won at some cheapo Lakefair game booth just about where the “Mistake by the Lake” tower now sits. We all hated that thing when it went up in the mid-1960s. And today it sits on prime land like a dead hot tub – initially exciting but ultimately an expensive hunk of junk no one appears to be able to unload or convert to a useful purpose. Incredibly, there are those who want to compound this mistake by erecting more high rises on the “Isthmus.”
Let’s not forget “Christmas Island.” This man-made island floating in a man-made lake off the shore of a man-made peninsula was a 50 x 60 foot pontoon raft with hundreds of trees, thousands of lights, and a baby Jesus manger scene complete with music.
Xmas Island was garish. It was hideous. It was sponsored by the Fort Lewis Army Engineers, the City of Olympia, and the Olympia Chamber of Commerce. And they thought it was pretty neat.
Just about the same time this floating fiasco made its debut, in November 1959, I was waiting for the arrival of another holiday baby – my little brother. The old St. Pete’s Hospital within eyeshot on the Westside hill didn’t allow visitors, so I had to wait in my uncle and aunt’s 1958 yellow Chevy in the parking lot. I recall drawing cartoons with my finger on the liquid condensation of the auto windows.
Seeing baby Jesus on Xmas Island was easy compared to seeing my own brother at St. Pete’s in November 1959.
An aside: I knew some troublemakers in Oly who proposed to kidnap Governor Dixy Lee Radiation and hold her hostage on Xmas Island as an art happening.
Meanwhile, the Island eventually was moved to the parking lot in South Sound Mall in Lacey. A more appropriate home, I think.
But, onward. The deserted clinic was a place where I have distinct memories of getting shots from a doc who looked like the dad in “The Patty Duke Show”. And that funky Anglo totem pole on 5th Ave was the product of my high school classmate, Daryl Wade – a good guy. And the structure at the base of the 5th Ave Bridge was originally a KFC built by Oly carpenter supreme Bob Ash – another good guy.
The SW corner of 4th and Simmons was a very special place for many of us Oly area boomers. That was the location where we went through the rite of passage to obtain our driver’s permit and license.
I know I’m not the only mossback with such charged memories of the “Isthmus”. I submit this narrow strip of land not only collectively belongs to the experience of us local walking relics, but also to the people of Washington State.
Oly is a company town. That company is the State. And Oly fought hard to be the Capital City. And that requires sacrifices, including giving the Capitol Campus a nice tourist view of the Olympics without more high rise warts on the “Isthmus.”
But, as you can see, I’m biased.
So, let me offer two alternatives for the “Isthmus.”
First, turn part of downtown Oly into a pedestrian mall. Then convert the “Isthmus” into a park-n-ride lot and use streetcars to transport consumers into Oly’s CBD.
Second, if the “Mistake by the Lake” must remain sitting useless and vacant, then why not convert it into a place to house Oly’s homeless population?
There’s my 2 cents. Thank you for reading.