Ballard is old. It used to be its own city, and the history is rich. But things are changing. Structures that make up Old Ballard are being torn down as new development moves in. Walking the streetscapes one cannot wonder what came before this new jungle of gentrification. Cranes, hipsters, apodments and traffic congestion are the symptoms of a population boom and a sign of a new era.

Finding out what has come before the present and what remains from the past helps shape how society grows, and the Ballard Historical Society launched a project last Nov. 12 that does just that.

“Mapping Historic Ballard: Shingletown to Tomorrow” is a project that will develop an original Historic Resource Inventory and turn it into a dynamic, “living” interactive map. The Ballard Historical Society received a Department of Neighborhoods Small & Simple grant to launch the project.

“Many of the houses have stories and if they get torn down they could be lost, but in this way we can record the ghost stories,” said Peggy Sturdivant, a member of the steering committee. “So even if there’s new construction, the story of what was there may still exist.”

Other members in the Steering Committee include architect Bill Singer of Environmental WORKS and Caelen Ball of The Urbanist, a third generation Ballardite.

So what’s the plan?

According to Project Manager and architect, Davidya Kasperzyk, the project will gather information from 1907 City of Ballard maps and surveys to create an updated and interactive product that will visually display how Ballard has changed over the years. They will also gather info from a Crown Hill/Ballard Community Association study and a federal government post Depression Civil Conservation Core map.

Kasperzyk has worked with the city as a comprehensive architect and planner, and most recently was the Design Manager of the SR 520 Corridor Project. A longtime Ballardite he is a co-founder of Groundswell NW, an organization devoted to community-based projects in habitats and parks. He said that there is a real need for a project like this.

Kasperzyck said that Ballard has experienced four major growth periods.
In the 20s and 30s there was population boom and people were building Tudor, bungalows and craftsmen style homes in the area. Later in the 1940s to the 50s there was another spike and people started building brick homes. Most notably, Kasperzyck said that the 60s saw the most comparable flux to what Ballard is experiencing today and the era saw the advent of triplexes and other high-density domiciles.

“Those (houses) are period pieces still laying around and now we have this modern style coming in. You can look at them and date the changes. We want to identify them and let people know this is not the first time this level of change has happened in Ballard,” said Kasperzyck.

Kasperzyck calls the Ballard community a “Pastiche of eras,” and said that a mix and match of housing from different eras is what makes a neighborhood so interesting and desirable. He said that the Historic Map would hopefully guide development moving forward.

“The housing is needed. There is a demand, but there’s also a need to conserve what we have because a lot of that is affordable housing. … For the 2035 plan there will be proposals for up-zoning and hopefully people can look at what we do so we can grow gracefully in a way that brings balance to the intense growth happening in our city.”

To make the map volunteers will physically walk the streets and photograph structures of interest using a smart phone application that is currently being engineered. Block by block the team will photograph and document the condition of the houses and period they were built. GIS mapping will be used to evaluate and create a list of the highest character buildings.

As of now the boundaries for collecting a record is from NW 58th Street up to NW 75th Street and from Eight Avenue NW, west to the bluffs and potentially down along Shilshole Avenue. The boundaries are derived from the 1907 map of the City of Ballard. Incidentally, 1907 was the year Ballad was annexed by Seattle.

Two consultants are working with the BHS to bring the project to fruition: Architectural Historian Connie Walker Gray of Confluence Environmental Company and Geographic Information System specialist Matt Stevenson (Ballardite) of CORE GIS.

Volunteers will begin training in how to collect data for historical surveys in January. Then in late January and February, they will be conducting surveys throughout the project area. By March and April the teams will be compiling the data to have a finished visual map in May.

Once the historical map is completed the city will use it as a reference in planning and development. The team hopes the maps could help guide growth in a way that complements the work they’ve done. Kasperzyck said that so far the city hasn’t been proactive enough in documenting and preserving structures that could be used for housing.

“I would like to see better design guidelines for thoughtful land use and density strategies, and for the city to compare Ballard to other neighborhoods… It’s classic urban design balance, we need to save the best that's already here, integrate the old with the new and create open space.”

Although the project does not have a primary goal of future preservation of spaces, the information documented in the map could lead to spaces being saved from development or even help with designating sites as landmarks.

“The project is twofold: we are capturing the past history and hope to make a case in order to go forward to blend the past with the future. In some cases it could lead to preservation,” said Sturdivant. “With any landmark status you have to prove that there’s been community interest or that there’s history. If you don’t know it, you cant prove it.”

To receive more information and be on the volunteer list email archives@ballardhistory.org with your contact information.
https://ballardhistory.org
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