I was lucky enough to attend a meeting today in the Skyroom of the 505 Broadway Building in Tacoma. It is a lovely condominium building constructed in 2009. At the building’s entrance are two stone lions. And there is a model of the building in the lobby.
Lister Elementary School at 2106 East 44th Street, Tacoma, WA 98404 is really a nice looking school that was built in 1996 (maybe 1997). The history of the school, which was gleaned from For The Record a History of Tacoma Public Schools, 1869-1984, is interesting. The school is located in the Salishan neighborhood, which had its origins as worker housing during World War II. The federal government paid for the original 1943, eight room school in the area, which was known as Salishan School. By 1948 the school had double the number of intended students and split shifts for the students were occurring. A new 24 room school was within two weeks of completion in 1950, when it burnt to the ground. The school was again built and opened in the fall of 1950. At that time, it was the largest elementary school in the Tacoma School District. In the For the Record book, the Citizen’s Committee for School Facilities Planning recommended demolition of the 1950 structure. That building was indeed demolished in the mid 1990s and the present day school pictured above was constructed. Lister’s mascot is a lion.
