Friday, December 11, 2009

The Bell Tower's New Look

Well, it's about time. For as long as I've been in Belltown, the Bell Tower has been this stark white hulking mass on 1st, between Blanchard & Bell. Way back in July, I did a post on how ugly it is. Recently, however, it's been undergoing some renovation. This has included a new paint job. Instead of that particularly unpleasant shade of white, it's not light gray, with its elevator shaft a shade darker. Here are the before and after shots. This is from last summer:

This is from a few days ago:

Can you tell the color's changed? Since the building faces east and it's December, the sun doesn't actually make it to this side. But you catch my drift, right? It's a new, more attractive color - it's still a very ugly building, but it has a better paint job.

3 comments:

dnak said...

I agree. The blue-gray shades are a huge improvement. I was even more excited to hear about the SHA plans to turn the empty fenced-in plaza into street-facing retail. But the last I heard of that was in 2007, and any near-term hope of that project has been smashed by the economic downturn, I'm sure.

Igor Keller said...

That retail conversion would be excellent if it happened, because that courtyard serves no real purpose. I didn't know they were planning that. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Sorry guys, the retail build-out of the plaza will not be a part of this renovation project at Bell Tower. It is true that such a plan existed, but it's doubtful that will be happening any time soon.