Site Report #3

Since its main building development in 1921, the focus of block 7 has been entertainment. This trend began in the roaring 20's, when consumerism found its way into American culture. This phenomena has been constant throughout history, especially in the University District. Block 07 started this trend when the first, and most prominent entertainment center, Neptune Theater, opened. It was established on November 16th of 1921, the same year that the major building construction was underway. Of the other 5 theaters built in the neighborhood during the silent film era, the Neptune Theater was the only survivor of the 5. The theater made the Seattle Times on the same day that it was opened and was described as (and i quote) "...the finest suburban theatre in the Northwest." The theater has since gone through many changes. What started as a single screen silent movie theater is now a performing arts center, renovated in 2011 by the Seattle Theater group.

Another unique fixture of Block 07 is its small record shop, located under the Neptune Theater. This shop is unfortunately the only surviving record shop in the entire University District, and it helps to show how usually businesses have to keep changing and evolving to stay ahead of new ideas. This little record store however helps to demonstrate how there is still niche markets and really just all sorts of consumers. With the invention of CD’s and especially now you can stream music, it is surprising that something as unwieldy and inconvenient as vinyls find a way to be sold and traded.

As the block has changed over time so has the consumption, and businesses have cycled in and out. The theme of entertainment however, is where block 7 thrives. One of the buildings facing the street, a building owned by Roy Meister and constructed in 1921 by architect William White, contained several grocery stores. The grocery stores were owned by the Peha family, who also owned a shoe store, (not located on block 07). The grocery stores couldn’t survive in the new metropolitan area and were closed down. The closing of a business is not something that is  usually noted in the flow of history and the much bigger American trends. Capitalism typically makes the business world a kill or be killed world. The closing of these grocery stores really exemplifies how the small time community that used to define the University District was over. The closing of the store however opened up the building for other uses. So as the world turned its sights on the second world war, there was a demand for entertainment to ease Americans minds away from war time thoughts. Thus the opening of the Varsity Theater in 1940, a year before America officially entered the war. Originally the theater only contained one screen and could only show one movie at a time. The population kept growing however and the theater kept getting enough business to want to expand. The interesting thing about Block 07 however is that there was no room to expand outward so the theater had to expand vertically. This makes for a very confusing movie experience for the viewer. A walk up the mostly unadorned twisting stairs of the theater gives the moviegoer a sense of confusion as the two other theaters are located about 3 floors above the first theater. The walk is mostly low lighting with bland walls staring back at you. Upon arrival into one of the top theaters you find that the equipment is modernized and the picture quality is amazing. The theater is truly another world. Today block 7 is still defined by its 2 theaters and other small businesses. A walk down block 7 will make the businesses pop and give the wanderer a sense of timelessness.