University Place Council Votes to Tear Down Kobayashi House

After a decade of uncertainty, the University Place council made the “bittersweet decision” Monday night to tear down Kobayashi House and transform the area into an accessible wildlife park.

The council voted 6-1 (with Mayor Ken Grassi voting no) to follow the Parks Commission recommendation to tear down the city-owned 49 year-old house and start planning for a shelter and trailhead on the site.

“About 10 years ago, we had a lot of players at the table who would have made maintaining the house a viable option. The house was not in disrepair, as we see it today,” said Denise McClusky, mayor pro tem for UP. “Kobayashi is a park, as well as a preserve. I would like to see it opened up to full accessibility.”

McClusky also requested that the house foundation and house style be considered in design renderings for a future structure. However, any kind of new development on the site will be subject to environmental laws—the site’s habitat is so delicate it’s unclear what kind of structure would be allowed in the park, if anything at all.

“Adopting this resolution [to tear down Kobayashi House] is the beginning of the process, not the conclusion,” said city attorney Steve Victor. “We may not be able to deliver the specifics of the parks vision, nor was it ever feasible to do any of those things, but we might get the spirit of what they want to do.”

Restrooms are a significant issue at the site with inadequate hookups to the city system. Parking is also an issue at Kobayashi.

“I want to be clear with folks: we aren’t doing exactly what is on paper,” said councilman Kent Keel.

The city will begin studying what structures could be built in Kobayashi, work on design renderings and develop a cost analysis for the project. University Place received $88,123 in an insurance settlement following a kitchen fire that destroyed most of the home in 2010 that could be put toward the project.

About a month ago, vandals destroyed the windows of the home and it has been covered in graffiti.

Advocates for the house hoped to save it for historic value, as an example of post-WWII construction and Japanese modernism, but the plan lost steam after the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation withdrew its funding request for future study on the site at the last minute.

The trust requested $9,000 from the city to study the house as a historical site, but withdrew the proposal last week after the council study session presentation, indicating they didn't believe the project would be successful. 

A member of the trust then approached the city and offered his services at no cost and volunteered to study the site for a 60-90 day period.

The council denied a motion to postpone final decision on the house’s future for further study, saying it’s been long enough.

“When the Washington Trust started talking about preservation and coming to the meetings, I was very excited about what we might see. Last week, I was extremely disappointed that their proposal was to give us 90 more days at the cost of $9,000 to keep studying this thing,” said Keel. “We’re just wasting time and tax dollars by putting this off again.”

Figueroa countered that the city is "turning away an opportunity." 

Out of the 10 people who volunteered to speak during public comment on the future of Kobayashi House, only one advocated its preservation.

Sharon Peterson delivered a letter to the council from the granddaughter of the house’s founder, asking the council to save it.

Others, including educators at Charles Wright Academy, urged the council to consider the value of unadulterated habitat, left alone to thrive as urban wilderness.

“The city doesn’t need to worry about security and maintenance problems in that area, with a building there,” said UP resident Karen Colley. “Why not have a small area as a destination for peace and quiet?”

What do you think of the decision to tear down Kobayashi House? Tell us in the comments.