The University’s $230,000 Gamble: New Dorms Rise Where the Race Track Once Roared
As Seattle prepares for its first university opening in the fall, Regents approve plans for massive brick dormitories on the edge of town, signaling a shift from frontier outpost to academic hub.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
ARRANGE FOR DORMITORIES Regents Plan New Buildings and Items of Cost.
The board of regents were in session at the University all day yesterday, and preliminary arrangements were made for the erection of two new dormitories. The men's dormitory will be built at the southeast corner of the race track, and the women's dormitory about 440 feet west of the men's. Both buildings will be built of brick and stone, and will harmonize with the administration building.
The women's dormitory will have two stories and a basement. A dining room capable of seating 100 will be on the first floor, and this will accommodate both sexes. A kitchen, laundry, and an oven will also be on the first floor. On the second floor there will be fifty sleeping rooms and studies consisting of single rooms and several suites of rooms. The building will have heat, electric light and water, and will cost about $110,000.
The men's dormitory will cost about $120,000, and will be similar to the women's dormitory. There will be sleeping rooms for sixty, and part of the basement will be set apart for recreation purposes.
The plans and specifications will be received in the office of the secretary of the board of regents until noon of April 11. It is the intention to have the two dormitories finished by the time the University opens in the fall.
This 1906 announcement marks a pivotal moment in Seattle's urban development: the transformation of the 'race track' district (now part of the University District) into an academic center. The construction of these brick dormitories signaled Seattle's arrival as a serious educational institution, moving away from its rough-and-tumble mining and logging origins toward a more settled, middle-class civic identity.
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