Community Blogs
Waiting for the Interurban
Gas Works Park
Fremont Troll
Fred Hutchinson
Brotman Building
Kathryn Sharpe
Jennifer Katzinger
The Lake Union area, which includes Eastlake, Fremont and other neighborhoods, was given its name by Thomas Mercer in 1854, anticipating the ship canal that would one day link Salmon Bay and Lake Washington. Once home to the city’s first transportation and industrial region, the area is now known for its growing high tech and biotech enterprises, including biomedical research facilities currently being developed by UW Medicine.
Some Neighborhood Notables
Kathryn Sharpe is not only a communications specialist for UW Information Technology, she’s also an accomplished artist whose acrylic, “Lake Union: A View from the Bridge,” can be found in the Fremont public library.
In 1990, UW Professor of Architecture Steve Badanes and students designed and built a large sculpture called The Fremont Troll in an area beneath the Aurora Bridge that was then a neighborhood safety concern. Reflecting the neighborhood’s Scandinavian heritage, the Volkswagen-holding troll was installed with the help of the local community.
Environmental Works, a non-profit architectural firm formed 40 years ago by Emeritus Professor of UW Landscape Architecture Bob Small with other UW students, designed and installed the pergola for another Fremont icon, Waiting for the Interurban.
The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in the Eastlake neighborhood was named in honor of the American baseball player and manager Fred Hutchinson, a UW alumni. Dr. Bill Hutchinson, a Seattle surgeon and also an athlete, sought to establish a living memorial to his brother, who died of lung cancer at 45.
In 1962, UW Professor of Architecture Richard Haag recast an industrial waste site at the north end of Lake Union into popular Gas Works Park, a gutsy experiment in landscape architecture that would lead to 11 more parks and public spaces created from reclaimed land.
A new UW Medicine research complex at 815 Mercer Street has been named the Brotman Building in honor of UW Regent Jeff Brotman, ’64, ’67, and his wife, Susan Brotman. The new state-of-the-art facilities allow UW researchers to work collaboratively on life-changing therapies and medical breakthroughs.
Vaun Raymond, a graduate of the Masters in Communication Digital Media program, used a King County 4Culture grant to create the Lake Union Virtual Museum, a multimedia web site about lake history, Gasworks Park, houseboats, boat building and the native Duwamish people.
Jennifer Katzinger, who has a BA in English Literature from the University of Washington, is the owner and co-founder of Flying Apron Bakery in Fremont and author of Flying Apron’s Gluten-Free and Vegan Baking Book.
Boosting Local Economies
Many technologies developed at the University of Washington have now transferred to the private sector to become start-up companies in neighborhoods around Lake Union :
Kineta Inc. in South Lake Union is globally recognized for breakthrough discoveries about the human immune system. It is working with UW scientists on a National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases grant to develop novel vaccine adjuvants (agents that help boost the immune system).
Statistical Sciences, Inc. on Lake Union is providing statistical programming language/data analysis using technologies developed at the University of Washington which have now transferred to the private sector.
Portage Bay Photonics in Eastlake manufactures semiconductor devices and was launched with the assistance of the UW Center for Commercialization Entrepreneur-in-Residence program.
Insightful, a new business in South Lake Union, develops and supplies software and services for statistical data mining, business analytics, knowledge management, and information retrieval.
Verellen Amplifiers, a small, Fremont-based custom-amplifier maker founded by musician and engineering student Ben Verellen ’08 with UW Professor of Engineering Brian Otis ’99.
Integrated Design Laboratory, a state-of-the-art daylight lab, assists regional architectural design teams with energy efficiency, daylighting, and electric lighting using technologies developed at the University of Washington.
Energ2, co-founded by UW doctoral student Aaron Feaver, develops materials for storing gases such as hydrogen and methane in order to increase solar cell efficiency.
Seattle Sensor Systems, with roots in the UW genomics lab of Clem Furlong, introduced the first portable biosensor for chemicals, toxins and biological warfare agents.