Are more Capitol Hill buildings headed towards landmark status in 2019? If you ask Capitol Hill Historical Society, the answer is a resounding yes.

Now, with new funding, that might just become a little easier for the local conservation non-profit. 4Culture, the cultural funding agency for King County, recently awarded CHHS two-year funding support of $2,000 total for its preservation advocacy and historic neighborhood education. Other groups receiving 2019-2020 Preservation Sustained Support funding include Historic Wallingford, Kent Downtown, the Alliance for Pioneer Square and the Seattle Chinatown-ID Preservation and Development Authority, among others.

It is the first time Capitol Hill Historical Society, since its early 2017 founding, received public funding. Until now, the nonprofit has relied on individual donations and goodwill from unpaid volunteer board members and other volunteers.

“It gives me the sense that things are moving forward and that we’re getting recognition. We must be doing something right,” said Tom Heuser, board president of the nonprofit and a CHS contributor on Capitol Hill history.

Residents think 10th Ave E’s Fairfax building — built in 1923 00 is landmarks worthy

Last year, after a year of advocacy and educational efforts, the group made its first foray into the official landmarks fray. In partnership with Historic Seattle, CHHS helped “save” the Roy Vue Apartments from a microhousing overhaul with an emergency landmarking nomination. The Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board voted unanimously to make the 94-year-old “garden apartments” building a landmark late last year.

“It’s something I certainly want to take on more of in the future,” says Heuser. “If something equally urgent would come up, I’m certain that fellow board members and I could shift our attention to it if needed. There’s a sense that we can actually make a difference in the neighborhood.”

He said that there are discussions about potential nominations, though no concrete efforts at the moment. “We are providing assistance on the potential nomination of the Fairfax building on 10th,” Heuser added. “But that’s just support. The residents seem to have a good grip on it, and are moving forward with that nomination.”

Since the 4Culture grant award to the organization is preservation-specific, CHHS’s activities will be geared more toward historic buildings and parks in 2019, according to Heuser.

“The grant will help ease some of the financial burdens of preparing a nomination, such as research costs such as ancestry databases,” says Heuser, who was footing the bill out for those research tools until recently. “It will also help keep the lights on (website hosting fees, cloud storage, social media ads, etc.) allowing us to spend our existing funds on other things.”

The organization will also advise two student-prepared nominations through the UW Historic Preservation program. Heuser said CHHS is also planning to organize public tours of historic homes and buildings on the Hill. Heuser says the organization is working a tour of South Capitol Hill, scheduled for late spring. “A pretty interesting area. A lot of the regrading and civil engineering in the area has resulted in lots of little curiosities — such as Seattle’s smallest known piece of property at the intersection of 12th, Union and Madison. It’s just large enough to fit a couple of people standing up.”

Chances are low the entire CHHS board — currently around five people — will be able to fit on the tiny wedge of Capitol Hill. They’ll soon need more space than Seattle’s smallest property to stand on. Heuser says the group hopes to add a treasurer to the board to help manage finances. Because more money also means more bookkeeping.

You can learn more at capitolhillpast.org.

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