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Wednesday, October 14, 2009

History / Architecture / Theater Inside the Crumbling Washington Hall

Posted by Brendan Kiley on Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 3:06 PM

Washington Hall—where W. E. B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, and Martin Luther King Jr. spoke and Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Ray Charles, and Jimi Hendrix played—has been bought and is being renovated by Historic Seattle.

I slipped inside this afternoon and saw hallways of bare lath, leaky ceilings, piles of garbage, a squatter in a cramped room watching a soap opera, a black and soundproofed room that looked like a sex dungeon, and a desk full of computer-porn printouts.

Workers are busy inside, but didn't seem into having their photos taken.

More photos—of pigeon shit, the sex room, and the porn (NSFW/Not Safe for Life)—below the jump.

Close-up of pigeon shit on the stairs.

The desk full of porn.

Check the photo on the lower left:

In pencil: "You just can't imagine how many exemplay wives dream... being fucked by a black man. Only a few of them have the courage to admit it... while enjoying a black cock... obsessed by black cock. Where wifs [sic] crave dark meat."

The dungeon: pegboard set apart from the walls with inches of insulation between and a hole cut so a cord could reach the power outlet.

The dungeon: pegboard set apart from the walls with inches of insulation (soundproofing?) between and a hole cut so a cord could reach the power outlet.

Comments (12) RSS

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is there actually work going on or is the restoration more aspirational at this point?

Posted by Max Solomon on October 14, 2009 at 3:10 PM

uh, you weren't kidding about the porn...i can never unwatch that.

Posted by michael strangeways

on October 14, 2009 at 3:20 PM

I challenge somebody to recreate that at HUMP! 6. You know which one I'm talking about.

Posted by jackie treehorn on October 14, 2009 at 3:27 PM

Glad to hear that it's taken over by Historic Seattle. I remember seeing shows there in the late 80's and early 90's, and it was a great, if run down, old place.

Posted by en on October 14, 2009 at 3:36 PM

My eyes burn and a little part of my brain just melted.

Posted by TVDinner

on October 14, 2009 at 3:54 PM

So the old building was being used as a porn stash?

Posted by SpecialBrew on October 14, 2009 at 4:14 PM

I thought this was a new art installation Jen Graves was covering

Posted by nos

on October 14, 2009 at 4:29 PM

Washington Hall was my favorite venue for punk shows in the '80s and early '90s! Poison Idea, Christ on a Crutch, Jesters of Chaos, Green River, Steel Pole Bathtub, The Gits, Undertow, Coffin Break, Agent Orange, Aspirin Feast... I saw so many great shows there. It's sad to see it in such disrepair.

Posted by dan10things

on October 14, 2009 at 5:10 PM

@ 1. Work is going on—demo, rehab. I wanted to steal a few photos of its low point before it gets all gussied up.

Posted by Brendan Kiley on October 14, 2009 at 5:23 PM

My band played its first gig there. Hopefully the renovation will include air conditioning.

Posted by beatgrl on October 14, 2009 at 6:13 PM

I saw The Make-Up and Tight Bros From Way Back there about 10 years ago, so it was still in use at that point.

Posted by MFD on October 14, 2009 at 7:15 PM

Wow that is what happened after those sick bitches from Timberlake Christian fellowship based out of Redmond took over. It was a great place before I hope it doesn't become some yuppie friendly shithole

Posted by yuppiesstillsuck!! on November 25, 2009 at 2:29 PM