The Presbyterian Church Breaks Ground
A sunny afternoon ceremony launches the construction of a grand new sanctuary on Fourth Street, complete with Paris opera-style seating.
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A brief and interesting ceremony marked the breaking of the sod yesterday afternoon on the lots at the northwest corner of Fourth and Seneca streets, in preparation for the new edifice of the First Presbyterian church. About 100 members assembled to hear Dr. Alison and the church's founder, Rev. George F. Whitworth, D.D. Dr. Samuel Ramsey, chairman of the building committee, ceremonially turned the first soil. The new structure will be 80x110 feet, featuring an interior design modeled after the Paris Opera House, with parquet seating for 1,400 to 1,500 people. It will be the first church on the Pacific Coast to utilize a modern heating and ventilation system. The building will also include a study for the pastor facing the sound, and a dedicated 'session room' for church business and women’s meetings.
“Those present were a little disposed to take a humorous view of the situation, asking the doctor whether he was 'going down to China.'”
The First Presbyterian Church of Seattle still occupies this site today, though the grand opera-style building described here has long since given way to newer structures. It is a reminder of the era when churches were the primary architectural landmarks and civic hubs of a rapidly expanding city.
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