Thursday, September 9, 2010

P-Patch Move-Out

Most of us Belltowners are familiar with the P-Patch, located in the heart of Belltown sitting at Vine and Elliot. We’ve noticed the greenery and the three...buildings? These buildings are “huts”, more specifically, homes, that have been standing (although recently renovated in 2004) in that same location for over 90 years. They are the last 3 of 11 that were built as single-family residences in 1916 and owned by William Hainsworth to serve as homes that would eliminate the commute to the downtown Seattle industry core. The “Belltown Cottages” were determined Seattle Historic Landmarks in 2000, and in 2003, some of us (who know about it) began referring to them as “Hugo Huts”. The name “Hugo Huts” comes from the P-Patch’s attachment to the non-profit group Richard Hugo House, based in Capitol Hill. The Richard Hugo House is a center to promote the arts (specifically literature) that aims to promote new writing and provide writers with the resources they need to share their work. The Hugo House has been leasing two of the huts to house their writers on a month-to-month basis and in rotation. Unfortunately, this long-standing relationship has ended. The Seattle Times released an article stating that the Hugo House will no longer be using the homes as writer residences as of September 1, 2010. The Hugo House was initially invited by the City of Seattle to participate in the program to “strengthen the artistic diversity of Belltown”. Now, because of liabilities and security reasons, the cottages will no longer be leased to the participating writers of Hugo House. ‘Friends of the p-patch’ will continue to support this little piece of history though, despite the fact the two homes will be vacant-at least for now. For more information on the Belltown P-Patch, please visit their website.

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