Laura Vecsey is a former sports columnist for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Baltimore Sun. She has lived in Seattle since 1994, which does not qualify her as a resident, according to unwritten rules of local citizenship. She lives in Magnolia, studies at the University of Washington and is the Local Content Director in Seattle for Examiner.com.

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Art Skolnik's latest wacky Seattle idea

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July 10, 8:37 AM

by Laura Vecsey, Seattle People Examiner

When we think of historic bridges, the mind tends to wander to images of Roman aqueducts in Italy or perhaps the cobblestone bridge in Bruges, Belgium. We might even consider the Montlake Bridge, with its quaint little draw bridge element, but we are not automatically thinking the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

Should we?

At the risk of belittling the noble efforts of a citizen activist and historic preservationist who has dedicated his life to making sure "progress" does not cannibalize important Seattle things like tradition , neighborhoods and heritage, we have to ask Art Skolnik:What the heck are you thinking?

Art is the man who fought to save the Kalakala -- that oversized tin can with UFO-like window openings and all the charm of Charlie the Tuna's final resting place. And the notoriously clever Artful preservationist is at it again.

This time, Skolnik has a plan to file an application with the city this Friday to try and get the Alaskan Way Viaduct to attain historic landmark status.

In a city where historic landmark status has been liberally applied to less-than-historic buildings like ... the Ballard Denny's ... this move by Skolnik could be a head scratcher, even if there is merit to Skolnik's method. Skolnik might be like some of our old-school Seattle neighbors, the ones with the I HEART THE VIADUCT bumber stickers on the Subarus.

The idea is: Make people really see that city, county and state officials have abandoned the option to retrofit the Viaduct -- an option that could be exercised even though that billion-dollar price tag nearly rivals the cost of a brand new option, like surface street diffusion or a tunnel.

I know I love the Viaduct. It 's convenient and gives me a great view of the city every day I drive my kid to school in south Seattle. I just close my eyes and pray the Big One doesn't happen during that 4-minute white-knuckle ride south, the precarious concrete pancake of the top deck of the Viaduct over the roof of my Mazda. I don't want a tunnel or surface traffic sending more cars into downtown Seattle. I wish the delusional wish that the Viaduct could stay there and be OK forever.

But historic landmark status? Only in Seattle.

For more info: The Seattle Channel has a forum on Viaduct replacement issues.

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