Ship Pier Development

EXPANDING OUR SEATTLE WATERFRONT POTENTIAL
TALL SHIPS ON SEATTLE WATERFRONT

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Ahoy Maritime Captains! From Around The World!

Seattle's Central Waterfront Pier Restoration Project

The Preservation of Seattle's Historical Central Waterfront is undeniably important factor in the restoration and redevelopment for economic growth of the waterfronts strategic planning.

The significance of the historical central waterfront piers to Seattle's future has been misunderstood, misrepresented and underdeveloped as a maritime asset. The City of Seattle's role in maritime industry planning and historic preservation of central waterfront has been disproportionately neglected. Public and port of Seattle discussions has been destructive, with a lack of understanding of the complete maritime industry on its impact maritime economic growth and application of greener maritime service.

Seattle's negligent failure to maintain maritime industries, has lost a great deal of its historical maritime warehouses and buildings along the central waterfront, including vital marine passenger services and smaller breakbulk shipping services.

The historical central waterfront is rarely considered a maritime industrial shipping center, the "Edge of Seattle" on Elliott Bay shoreline has underdeveloped preservation issues that are inextricably bound to Seattle limited recognition of economic health of the central waterfront. The lose of central waterfront major maritime transportation lines, lack of maritime transportation initiatives to reintroduce maritime services and Seattle's neglect to identify the maritime industry as a whole, as lead to destructive commerce on the waterfront.

The current development plans being considered by the Central Waterfront Committee for Central Waterfront redesign is to exclude the maritime industry and replace it with a fossil-fuel marketing plan only. The intent is to provide those residents and tourist to purchase fossil-fuel and drive to the Central Waterfront, were motor vehicle parking is provide on historical piers.

The plan for Seattle is to permanently remove historical piers, prevent all forms of maritime industry to utilize or coexist on central waterfront, in order to limit and restrict maritime commerce. Thereby, preventing environmental improvements or application of maritime technology to be introduced. Thus continuing the obstruction of maritime commerce, such as tall-ship piers, carferry services and other marine passenger services to be denied positioning on central waterfront.

Motorist Landscape Architect James Corner, wants to design Pioneer Square area would be turned into a beach with an adjacent launch for kayaks and small boats. Pier 48 would be rebuilt for public concerts and civic events. Colman Dock would feature a rooftop garden with overlooks onto the ferries and the working port. The public piers north of the Aquarium would offer thermal pools for soaking and taking in the views. The James Corner Central Waterfront design is to ensure increased traffic and development of auto-parking lot on waterfront, base on City of Seattle need for increase gas-tax revenue.

The current central waterfront plans, are to increase and manage heavy traffic volumes along the Alaskan Way, as pier owners and non maritime business rely on marketing toward motorist, thus the central waterfront will become extremely busy with auto traffic.

South Bound Traffic to Alaskan Way will be funneled thru the "Pike Place Fold" from 15th Avenue & Elliott Ave and Denny Way via Western Ave Fold

ALASKAN WAY TRAFFIC FLOW DATA

PEDESTRIAN COUNTS: AUGUST 2011 vs. AUGUST 2012

Alaskan Way and Pike Street Hillclimb
2011: 5,172
2012: 6,678
Percent Change: 29%

Alaskan & Seneca
2011: 6,178
2012: 5,854
Percent Change: -5%

WORKING MARITIME PIER

Working piers were built for the handling of "passengers and cargo" onto and off ships.

Working piers fall into two different groups:

Longer Individual Piers are often found at ports with large tidal ranges, with the pier stretching far enough off shore to reach deep water at low tide.

These piers provided an economical alternative to impounded docks where cargo volumes were low, or where specialist bulk cargo was handled.

Finger Piers, are built at ports with smaller tidal ranges.

The principal advantage is to give a greater available quay length for ships to berth against compared to a linear littoral quayside, and such piers are usually much shorter.

Each pier would carry a single "transit shed" the length of the pier, with ships berthing bow or stern in to the shore. Some major ports consisted of large numbers of such piers lining the foreshore, classic examples being the Seattle Central Waterfront.

As the container shipping industry technology advanced and greater land mass required for larger container handling adjacent to the berths, has made "working piers" obsolete for the handling of general containerized cargo.

Working Piers Still Survive For Handling:

Passenger Ships,
Bulk Cargos Ships,
Breakbulk Cargo Ships, and
Other Smaller Speciality Vessel Cargo.
Working Piers do supply a need for maritime transportation for the fishing industry, tall ships berthing, cargo carriers serves smaller port of call. Many city ports working piers have been demolished, do to lack of global maritime commerce education, other ports remain derelict waiting for a market niche and some have been renovated to new emerging maritime industries.

CENTRAL WATERFRONT MARITIME PIERS MUSEUM IN MOTION

Seattle has no Maritime Museum in Motion, no great experience into maritime history of Seattle's Central Waterfront Piers. Seattle has lost actual experience of riding maritime vessels and its famous Colman Dock Ferry Building in 1960's. A museum in motion is designed to bring the historic maritime industry aline along the central waterfront of Seattle, by serving as an attraction, information and interpretation center on maritime history.

Seattle Central Waterfront is one of the few places in the world with surviving historical working piers within downtown center.Seattle has no working historical vessels where you can get the actual experience of riding vessels in a “natural historical experience” of maritime history. Seattle, does not understand what museums in motion are, nor viewed as a preservation of history, culture, nor maritime art.

Northwest Seaport, advertises it's organization as a heritage center, but history show that historical vessels under administrative care are non-sailing derelicts awaiting disposal.

What Seattle Central Waterfront Pier Restoration Project offers is a realistic approach to Maritime Historical Museum in Motion, by creating a "Waterfront Heritage Center" to celebrate Seattle's Maritime History, focusing on exploring the positive impacts of working piers and vessels which made the Port of Seattle a major port of call destination.

The proposed redevelopment of Seattle Central Waterfront would features full-restored working vessels and active passenger ship sailing to port destination, where families, tourist of all ages can experience maritime history in motion. Some Working Piers would provide unique historical artifacts, illustrative and informative displays, rarely seen archival photography, and audio-visual exhibits of Seattle's Maritime History making the Seattle Waterfront a memorable experience to last a life time.

The Redevelopment of Seattle's Central Waterfront Piers offers the opportunity to views stunning harbor vistas, explore historic vessels and pier sights, along with diverse neighborhoods around the central waterfront and attractions from "Puget Sound Ferry Destinations", to "Alaska Carferry Adventure of Pacific Northwest Coastal Waters".

While taking in The Central Waterfront Historic Piers and visiting the surrounding districts of Pioneer Square, Bell Town, Seattle Center, Westlake Center and many observation towers towers.

Seattle Central Waterfront historical Piers in motion are the real deal, not replicas or imitations of make believe history, but the real experience operating historical vessels, as part of Seattle's historical transportation system.

If you already know the differences between a derelict vessel and imitation history, visit directly to view Seattle’s Historical Central Waterfront upon its restoration.