HAT AND BOOTS
By Lewis Naysmith & Bruce Olsen
The HAT'n'BOOTS was a very attention-getting gas station; rest rooms were in the Boots (which still smell that way), and you paid under the Hat. Located in the Georgetown neighborhood on E. Marginal Way at Corson Ave. S, this local landmark was designed by Lewis Nasmyth and engineered by Bruce Olsen. Constructed of custom-made steel trusses covered in a reinforced concrete shell (wet concrete was slathered on sheets of steel mesh stretched over a rebar skeleton welded to the trusses), it was opened in 1955. Originally intended to be part of a much larger mall with a Wild West theme, the Hat'n'Boots were the only structures completed when the developer went bankrupt. Later the gas station became a property of the late James Dootson, who, with Ivar Haglund, ranked as one of Seattle's most colorful entrepreneurs; it operated continuously as a service station, under various owners, until its abandonment in 1988.
By 1992 the onetime showpiece was a decaying relic, sadly in need of preservation. They faced imminent threat of demolition: the land on which they stood was about to be sold by the State and the structures were not part of the deal. The shell of the Hat had been stressed and cracked by skateboarders illegally practicing their moves on the brim. Large clumps of stucco fell off the underside when the Kingdome was demolished in early 2000, exposing the structural steel to the moist climate. However, a subsequent survey by original engineer Bruce Olsen and State Natural Resources personnel foundthe structures sufficiently sound to withstand a move.
Fortunately, help was at hand. A coalition of neighborhood residents from the Georgetown Neighborhood Council worked to save the structures and move them to a 35,000-square-foot park soon to be constructed a few blocks away on Corson Ave. S.; park funding was resoundingly approved by the state's voters in the November 2000 election. The preliminary plan for the park--enthusiastically accepted in a neighborhood meeting--centers around the Hat'n'Boots (revamped as a gazebo with benches and a pair of toolsheds, respectively). Opened in late 2004, the Oxbow Park also features a graphic kiosk of Georgetown history, a P-Patch community garden, a picnic area, and a children's playground. Widespread support by Washington political heavies and local businesspeople brought the park to completion by late 2004, saving this glorious relic of Seattle's kitschy programmatic architecture for future generations to enjoy. Anti-vandalism measures are an integral part of the park as planned.
Realizing this dream required extensive fund-raising to cover the over $160,000 cost of moving and restoring the structures. Thanks to major grants from the City Parks Dept., Starbucks Coffee, and the South Downtown Foundation -- and grass-roots spadework in the Georgetown community -- the park opened in late summer of 2004. The Hat'n'Boots are set off by a beautiful P-Patch garden and other features. The Boots were beautifully restored and repainted in original colors; but for its first four years, the Hat remained in skeletal form while fund-raising continued to restore it. Funds became available to redo the Hat's shell in 2009, completing the park's design. The only community park of its kind in Georgetown, it is seeing high utilization. The park is a fun community gathering place, site of evening gardening activities, picnics, chili cook-offs, and occasional concerts and silent-film video screenings. This is a great example of community activism preserving a slice of Seattle's history for generations to come.
