Historical Note
In 1957, the Washington State Legislature adopted a "Urban Renewal Act"
enabling cities of Washington to take action to prevent, arrest, and eliminate
blight. After the US Housing Act of 1959 authorized the Housing and Home
Finance Administration within the Department of Housing and Urban Development
to make grants to localities for the preparation of Community Renewal Programs,
Seattle formed a Community Renewal Program Committee. The federal Community
Renewal Programs were designed to assist cities in the development of
long-range comprehensive plans for city-wide renewal, inventorying existing
"blight" both residential and non-residential, assessment of public facilities,
streets, schools, parks and playgrounds, and libraries, and to assess the urban
renewal treatment needed to "recapture, or create anew the good environment."
Seattle City Council authorized an application for the federal Community
Renewal Program (CRP) in 1962 (Ordinance 91682) and the contract between
Housing and Home Finance Agency and the City of Seattle was signed January 25,
1963. The CRP number was Wash. R-12 (CR). The total amount was for $201,491, of
which federal monies constituted $134,329 (or two third of the total amount)
and $67,162 was made up by City appropriations and contributed staff services.
Subcontracts were let for economic studies, field surveys, and statistical
work, as well as for analyzing 1960 census data. Although the Planning
commission suggested the administration of the grant be transferred to their
office, it remained in the Urban Renewal Office within the Executive Department
until 1969 when entire Urban Renewal Division was transferred to the newly
created Department of Community Development.
The goal of the Community Renewal Program was to conduct a two-year
study to develop a 10-year urban renewal program with an emphasis on community
rehabilitation. Specifically the study was focused on: understanding "blight"
in Seattle, which included: determining the role of private enterprise, and
analyzing the potential re-use of land. Other goals included: learning what
public efforts are needed, reviewing codes and ordinances relating to urban
renewal; and establishing priorities for urban renewal projects in Seattle. The
CRP was renewed as a support function for the Model Cities project in 1969.
Frank McChesney was hired in 1962 as project director for the Community
Renewal Program; he was previously in charge of Pittsburgh's CRP. He was
promoted to Senior Urban Renewal Planner in 1963. Other individuals hired as
Urban Renewal Planners included Assistant Community Renewal Planner Tom Bay,
Junior Community Renewal Planners William Wallace, Edward Shaw, and King Katz.
The City contracted with the University of Washington for electronic
data processing and various other consultants for other pieces of the grant.
Other public agencies participating in the CRP included various City
departments : building, Engineering, Health, Parks, Fire, Police, the City
Planning Commission, the Seattle housing Authority, The Seattle School
District, the Puget Sound Regional Planning council, the Port authority and the
Puget Sound Regional Transportation Study.
Other urban renewal projects in the 1960s included: Yesler-Atlantic,
University-Northlake, South Seattle, and the Pike Place Market.
Content Description
The Frank McChesney Files are primarily the records of the Community
Renewal Program Files, although there is some information on other urban
renewal projects including: Northlake/ University, First Hill, Cherry Hill, and
the Yesler-Atlantic Project. The records date from 1959 to 1971 and measure 2.4
cubic feet. Correspondents include the Planning Commission, the University of
Washington, and members of the Civic Unity Committee. Board minutes for the
Civic Unity Committee are also included, as Talbot Wegg was on the Board.
Talbot Wegg was the supervisor for Urban Renewal before Jack Willison was hired
in 1963. There is some information on how the continuation of the grant
overlapped with the Seattle Model City Program.
In addition to correspondence of Frank McChesney, the records include
correspondence from 1962 to 1964 of Talbot Wegg, Urban Renewal Coordinator in
the Office of Urban Renewal, who was responsible for hiring Frank McChesney.
Correspondence concerns CRP program in other cities, the hiring of additional
personnel, and consultant research for the CRP.
The bulk of the records (2.0 cf) relate to the CRP. A Steering Committee
was established with the Planning Commission staff and staff of the Office of
Urban Renewal to assist with survey methodologies. The progress reports,
quarterly reports, and minutes, provide an overview of the challenges and
issues the project encountered as well as background on decisions made in the
CRP.
Drafts of the CRP application with the Urban Renewal Administration of
the Housing and Home Finance Agency is included along with subsequent revisions
in 1965 and the final contract. Correspondence back and forth between the two
agencies is included. Seattle requested copies of many other cities'
applications for Community Urban Renewal Programs, and these are included in
the records. Correspondence with the Regional Director for Urban Renewal in
Region VI of the Housing and Home Finance Agency, as well as staff from
Washington, D.C. during the submittal of the CRP application is included. The
CRP application was submitted with ten working papers outlining procedure of
developing the study; twenty-one working papers were written in total and they
are included in these records. Topics include blight analysis, survey manuals
and housing evaluation. Drafts of a final report are included, but there is no
final draft.
A large portion of the data analysis and survey work was done by
contractors. Correspondence and contracts with consultants is included. The
University of Washington was involved in mapping work and other consultants
worked on urban design and census data.
Information on other urban renewal projects are included in this records
series. Overviews of projects such as the Cherry Hill Project and the Yesler
Atlantic program are included. Background information used in urban renewal
projects is at the end of the records. Information on housing, labor, and
industry is included.
Correspondents include: Talbot Wegg, Urban Renewal Coordinator, John
(Jack) P. Willison, Urban Renewal Director, city officials in other cities
involved in CRP, and Urban Renewal officials at the federal level.
Related records include other Urban Renewal Program records as well as
Urban Renewal and Planning studies in the Documents Catalog.
