Old City Hall Historic District

Old City Hall Historic District
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
Pacific Street looking north
Location	Roughly bounded by St. Helens Ave., Court C, freeway spur, 7th and 9th Sts., Tacoma, Washington
Area	16.5 acres (6.7 ha)
Architect	Darmer, C.A.; Et al.
Architectural style	Late 19th And 20th Century Revivals, Italianate, Second Renaissance Revival
NRHP reference No.	77001352[1]
Added to NRHP	December 23, 1977

The Old City Hall Historic District is located on a bluff at the north end of Tacoma's business district, overlooking Commencement Bay. The Old City Hall and the Northern Pacific Office Building stabilize the northern boundary of the district and the Pantages Theatre/Jones Building just south of the district boundary, complements the Winthrop Hotel.^[2]

All blocks are laid out so that major building entrances face the streets, which run north and south, and the buildings are constructed with common walls, which cover the entire depth of the block, deleting any need for alleys. Thus, with the exception of Pacific Avenue, where business fronts face each other, business fronts tend to be located on the east. The western exposures represent the back of the structures. From the bluff to Pacific Avenue the land is level, but Commerce and Broadway form terraces on the steep hillside. As a result, a facade which appears as a single story on the west side of the street is scaled a full three stories on the east.^[2] The pivotal structures dominate the District skyline. As a result, there are a number of vistas that rise and conclude within the boundaries. Views north along Broadway, Commerce and Pacific conclude with the Elks Temple, Old City Hall and Northern Pacific Office Building. Similarly, sight lines from the eastern portion of the district terminate with the last two buildings mentioned. Views to the south along Broadway are distinctly terminated by the Winthrop and Bostwick Hotels as they are on Commerce by virtue of the dominance of the Winthrop Hotel and the Motoramp Garage.^[2]

There are only three exceptions to the structural density in the District. There is an open parking lot immediately to the north of the Tacoma Motoramp Garage. Fire destroyed the original structure on this site, a business block stylistically cohesive with those to its north along the western side of Pacific. The second exception was noted above, the parking lots in the 802 block. The third consists of lots on Commerce Street to the north and south of the Morris Motors (Wright) building (south of the Spanish Stairs). There is some indication that these spaces were never developed.^[2]