page_title: University Unitarian Church
section_title: Preservation
hierarchical_section_title: University Unitarian Church / Architecture / Preservation
caption_attribution_description: English: Sanctuary, University Unitarian Church, Bryant neighborhood, Seattle, Washington, U.S.
context_page_description: University Unitarian Church was designed by Seattle architect Paul Hayden Kirk in 1959. The church is located in the Wedgwood, Seattle neighborhood at the corner of 35th Avenue NE and 68th Street. The building is approximately a mile and half Northeast of the University of Washington Campus and sits across from the Northeast Branch of the Seattle Public Library. It was designed during the time when architect Kirk was working as a sole practitioner.
  The University Unitarian Church won Paul Hayden Kirk the American Institute of Architects Award.
context_section_description: The University Unitarian Church, given both its age and architectural significance, may now be considered for historic preservation. The church, having been built in 1959, is now eligible to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places in respect to the ‘fifty-year rule.’ This rule is a commonly accepted principle that for a building to be listed on the National Register for Historic Places, it must be at least fifty years old, that is, unless they are of ‘significant importance.’ Aside from its age, there must be a case made for the building's historical significance and/or aesthetic significance to be considered for acceptance. In the case of the University Unitarian Church, it has clear architectural significance, with its ties to the roots of Northwest regionalism. The justification for acceptance of buildings on the National Register based on aesthetics came around the late 1880s, with the desire to preserve colonial revival style buildings. The National Register’s currant stance on determining significance of a property is association with events, activities, lives, or developments that were important in the past, have significant architectural history, landscape history, or engineering achievements, or if it has the potential to yield information through archeological investigation. The University Unitarian Church has the potential to argue for significance based on its connection to Paul Hayden Kirk as well as its connection to the origins to Pacific Northwest Regionalism, allowing it to be deemed significant in terms of architectural history.
  The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards' for the treatment of historic properties address four treatments of properties; preservation, rehabilitation, restoration, and reconstruction. Since the building is still in use today by the UUC congregation and is still in great physical condition, the most logical of treatments for the University Unitarian Church is preservation, defined by James Marston Fitch as, “the maintenance in the same physical condition as when it was received by the curatorial agency. Nothing is added or subtracted from the aesthetic corpus of the artifact. Any interventions necessary to preserve its physical integrity are to be cosmetically unobtrusive.”
caption: Sanctuary of University Unitarian Church, September 2016, after restoration.
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