Tacoma: Ten Things I Hate About You - Sunday, August 16, 2020

The title of my blog, I admit, is misleading, sort of. You see, the 1999 rom/com movie "Ten Things I Hate About You," was filmed in Tacoma, Washington, using Stadium High School as the high school in the movie. The film is based on William Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew." This romance/comedy stars Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. 

With that being said, I will recount our downtown Tacoma Volksmarch. My brother, Frank, wanted to go with Bob, Diane Evans, and I on the walk but didn't want to do an 11k. I modified the walk directions into a 6k that followed the last part of the walk into downtown to see the major sites. 

We parked by Stadium High School's "Bowl." This is their sports field. It has quite a complicated history. I am putting in the signs that tell about it.

Stadium Bowl at Stadium High School.

From the stadium, we had a quick glimpse of one side of Stadium High School. The morning light was behind it and the photos weren't good. I will post pics of the high school when we finished in the afternoon light. It is an amazing place!

We joined the walk instructions at Wright Park. On the way there, we passed a pedestal clock, historical markers about the Stadium District, the First Presbyterian Church, and a Biergarten restaurant.

First Presbyterian Church.

Tower on the church.

Mural history (mural is no longer there).

This mural IS here. I had to hold my
camera over the fence to get the full view.

Division Ave. entrance to Wright Park.

Wright Park is a 27-acre park with a large collection of trees from all over the world. It's really nice because there are identification tags on the trees. 

Carolina Poplar, Europe,
circa 1895.

Carolina Poplar bark, Europe,
circa 1895.

The park was established in 1890. It has the W.W. Seymour Botanical Conservatory, picnic area, art & artifacts, playground & sprayground, basketball court, horseshoe pits, bowling green, fitness station, and a 9/10 mile loop path.

"Trilogy," by Larry Anderson (1978).

W.W. Seymour Botanical Conservatory.

Two lions grace the 6th Ave. 
entrance to Wright Park.

From the park, we headed down Tacoma Ave. South. This was not a good example of downtown Tacoma. This is where we passed a number of homeless people with tents on the sidewalk and multiple tents occupying a parking lot. We did pass historic Central School (1912) on this route.

Central School, Tacoma (1912).

Central School, Tacoma (1912).

We turned off of Tacoma Ave. and headed into Tacoma's Historic Theater District. There are a lot of surprising art finds along the way. The four of us were taking photos like crazy and my brother, Frank, was taking videos for his YouTube vlog, The Northwest Travelers.

Flatiron Building.

Pantages Theater (I love their sign!).

Old advertising on the Pythian Temple.

Pythian Temple.

Quetzalcoatl mask (Aztec).

Hotel Murano (all boarded up...
don't know if they're closed or what).

There's so much more art to see on Broadway, but I don't have room to put it all in. I want to take a moment to tell you about the Tacoma Convention Center. When we lived in Tacoma, Bob worked for a large commercial roofing and siding company. He was a project manager/executive at the Tacoma Convention Center when it was built. Here are a couple of photos of the convention center.

From here, we continued to Pacific Ave. to check out the museums. Clustered together here are the United States Courthouse (formerly Union Station), the Tacoma Art Museum, the Washington State History Museum, the Chihuly Bridge of Glass, and the Museum of Glass. 

The Tacoma Art Museum has an interesting piece of art in front. It looks like two big stacks of blue blankets. 

"Blanket Stories: Transportation
Object," by Marie Watt.

On Pacific Avenue, a lot of stores were boarded up. Other storefronts had protest slogans on the windows. We figured there must have been a protest at the United States Courthouse. There were traces of graffiti that hadn't been completely removed on the doors of the courthouse. We liked the sculpture of "New Beginnings," by Larry Anderson. It's a great photo op!

United States Courthouse, Tacoma, Washington.

Bob hanging with "New Beginnings" dude.

I'm getting cozy with the sculpture.

It was time for a snack so we headed across the street to Starbucks. When we got our food/drinks, we sat on a concrete divider on one of the terraces of the University of Washington Tacoma to consume our goods. From there, we headed through the Washington State History Museum arch and made our way to the Chihuly Bridge of Glass.

Washington State History Museum arch
frames the Museum of Glass.

Union Station has been turned into
the United States Courthouse.

Walking across Chihuly's Bridge of Glass, 
don't forget to look up!

In the ceiling of the Seaform Pavilion
on Chihuly's Bridge of Glass.

Looking back at Washington State History Museum.

One of Chihuly's fantastical creations
on the Venetian Wall.

Venetian Wall on Chihuly's Bridge of Glass...awesome!

"Fluent Steps," by Martin Blank (2008)
with the Museum of Glass in back.

We are now walking along the Foss Waterway. This waterway and land surrounding it was a Superfund Cleanup Site from the Asarco smelters, Tacoma Tar Pit, and Tacoma Landfill. Now marinas/boats fill in the available space on the water.

Foss Waterway.

Bronze "Floating Life Forms" inhabit this beach.

"Floating Life Forms," by Ed Kroupa.

As we leave the Foss Waterway, we start our climb back up to Stadium High School. Thankfully, most of it is a gradual to moderate climb, not some of the steep streets we've seen in Tacoma.

Up we go!

"Locomotive Monument,"
 by Douglas Charles Granum.

Mt. Rainier is coming out of the clouds.

Frank, Diane, and Bob coming up the hill.

Beautiful art deco poster.

A Wyland whaling wall of orcas in the Sound and Mt. Rainier.

"Tacoma Totem Pole," the largest totem pole in the world.
Carved by Alaska Indians (1903). Located in Fireman's Park.

Mt. Rainier framed by the railroad bridge in Tacoma.

"Clearing the Way," by Larry Anderson.

Old City Hall (cornerstone says 1890).

Cool architecture (possibly Moorish?)

I'm loving these creative murals on buildings.

Another beautiful mural.

This building is from 1889.

If you're from the Pacific Northwest, chances are you're familiar with the McMenamin brothers, Brian and Mike. They buy beautiful historic buildings and restore them, usually putting in lodging and a brewpub with historic detail linked back to the original purpose of the building. The link to the article in this paragraph will give you a real good idea of what they're aiming for in their properties. And people love what they do. 

An old Elks Temple has been transformed
by the McMenamins.

Hang tight, we're almost done. Just a few more blocks to go. As you can see, the downtown Tacoma Volksmarch is rather fascinating. What I have room for in my blog is just the tip of the mountain, so to speak. Here is some more art, followed by the pièce de résistance, Stadium High School.

The middle of the eye is a mirror, but I couldn't
 get a selfie to work because of the sun. 

When we finished the climb up to the top of the bluff, we finally got to see Stadium High School in all her glory. Bob and I worked at the roofing company that was chosen to put on the new roof and to restore or have replacement finials built for the tops of the towers. There were 96 finials we had to keep track of during the project. They were copper and locked in our building's warehouse. The pitch of the roof is incredibly steep which called for specialized scaffolding. It was an honor to work on this project! 

The history: Stadium High School underwent a major renovation in 2006. This French chateau-style "castle" was supposed to be a grand railroad hotel to be built by Northern Pacific Railroad's Tacoma Land Company in 1890. However, while it was being built, three things happened to halt construction: 

1. The economic Panic of 1893,
2. It was severely damaged by fire in 1896, and 
3. After the fire, it was set to be demolished.

According to HistoryLink.org, 

"Construction began in 1891. The hotel was to be so grand, so elegant, so ornate, so artful, so elaborate, so huge, so splendid that other grand hotels would blush with shame at their own silly pretentions. Ruth Kirk quotes the lumberman Thomas Ripley on this point:

'[The hotel would] make the Frontenac in Quebec and the Canadian Pacific Railroad Hotel in Banff blush for their modest proportions.'" 

The building was converted to a high school and opened in 1906. 

Stadium High School, Tacoma, Washington.

Intricate cast iron fire escape.

Stadium High School campus, Tacoma, Washington.

My brother Frank shooting video for his vlog.

Looking over Stadium Bowl and
out to Commencement Bay.

Frank and I took so much time taking pictures, that Bob had backed the truck up the side road to pick us up when we got close. 

Our chariot awaits.

There really aren't ten things I hate about Tacoma. In fact, there are many things to love. Be sure you do this walk when you come through the Tacoma area!! You will see things that you probably never knew existed in Tacoma.

Our grateful appreciation to the Evergreen Wanderers Volkssport Club for putting together a great walking route, even though I tweaked it a little.