So it seemed appropriate on my dear daughter’s last full day with us for a while to go visit her old school to pick up her most excellent high school transcripts. School of the Arts (SOTA) has both administrative space and classrooms in the old Post Office.
Rumor has it that Old City Hall at 625 Commerce Street is haunted by a ghost named Gus.
http://www.ghostsandcritters.com/washingtonghosts.html
The building has a varied history. It was built in 1893 as Tacoma’s City Hall (E.A. Hatherton, Architect) and the original jail cells are still located in the building’s basement. In 1959, City of Tacoma offices moved and the building was vacant until 1969. In the 1970s the building was renovated into shops and restaurants and in 1974 it was placed on the historic register. In the 1980s it was converted into professional offices. I even worked there for a couple of years and enjoyed a water view! In 2005 there was talk of converting the property into condominiums. Thanksgiving week 2010 there was a flood brought on by a broken sprinkler pipe. The property is vacant.
The building has a dedicated website here http://www.thestratfordcompany.com/oldcityhall/
A wonderful post of the building when it was new can be found here http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/postcard/postcardfull.asp?db=60#Front
