Built in 1906 as a shelter for young wayward or orphaned girls, the Good Shepherd Center Chapel in Center Chapel in Seattle provided a new sort of haven for two hundred Artists Den guests on a crisp autumn night. Now a Historic Seattle landmark and performance space, the intimate chapel is framed by high wooden arches, which were lit by candlelight while the latest incarnation of the Swell Season – led by Glen Hansard and backed by Marketa Irglova on piano and two of Hansard’s longtime band mates from the Frames on bass and violin – gave a special performance of songs from the film Once.
The Swell Season is a musical project fronted by Irish singer-songwriter Glen Hansard (of popular rock band the Frames) and featuring Czech singer and pianist Marketa Irglova. The duo is best known for their breakthrough lead roles in the hit indie musical Once, which captured the Audience Award at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and has received wide critical acclaim. Full of affecting instrumental melodies and haunting harmonies, twelve of the thirteen songs in the film were written and performed by Hansard and Irglova and are available on the film’s Canvasback/Sony soundtrack album, which followed the release of the group’s self-titled debut LP, The Swell Season (Plateau Records, 2006).
GOOD SHEPHERD CENTER
The Home of the Good Shepherd, a sanctuary and home for orphaned and "wayward" girls, was established in Wallingford in 1906 after a brief period on First Hill. Sanctioned by Pope Gregory XVI in 1835, the Sisters of the Good Shepherd were established to care for women who needed help. They came to Seattle in 1890.
The Home of the Good Shepherd, designed by Seattle architect C. Alfred Breitung, is a fine example of the Italianate style embellished with Corinthian capitals and elaborate stone work. It stood at the center of an 11-acre property in Wallingford's northwest corner and operated first as an orphanage and home for troubled young women, then exclusively served the latter after 1926.
A number of factors led to the home's closing in 1973, much of which related to significant social changes affecting the Catholic Church, the conventionalization of women's higher education, and to some degree, the local economy.
The enormity of the site attracted a developer interested in building a shopping mall on its 11 acres. The Wallingford community rallied against this, successfully, and as a result the City of Seattle acquired the property, then turned it over to Historic Seattle in 1975.
The property, one of Historic Seattle's first efforts (the organization was chartered in 1974), was a proverbial "white elephant" preservation project. Over the years, Historic Seattle has had its fair share of complex and difficult projects, but most have fairly contained construction schedules. The size of the Good Shepherd Center and its adaptation into a community center for Wallingford, school, senior center, and nonprofit hub, has taken decades.
The Center is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and in 1984, it gained Official City of Seattle Landmark status.
Historic Seattle added six live/work units for artists in early 2002. Ranging in size from 580 sq. feet to 650 sq. feet, the artist studios are located on the top floor, once used for the school's dance classes and costume storage. The artist residents are a diverse group and bring a lot of creativity and enthusiasm to the Good Shepherd Center community.
The last piece of the project was creating a small performance space in its historic double-height chapel on its fourth floor in 2007. On a brisk night in November, an
Artists Den was created for the evening in this space and the Swell Season performed.
HISTORIC SEATTLE
Historic Seattle believes that buildings provide an essential link to the past, reminding us of who we are and where we came from. Founded in 1974, Historic Seattle is the only nonprofit membership organization dedicated to preserving Seattle and King County's architectural legacy. Our mission is to educate, advocate, and preserve.
As both a public development authority and charitable foundation, Historic Seattle is a major advocate for, and participant in, the thoughtful and meaningful preservation and rehabilitation of historic buildings. We have helped protect and preserve 45 irreplaceable buildings during our 31-year history. We also advocate for preservation by urging policy makers, developers, and citizens to consider the value of historic buildings. Finally, Historic Seattle offers a year-round program of educational lectures and tours to increase public awareness of our vibrant architectural heritage.
To learn more or to donate, please visit http://www.historicseattle.org.
