Lessons Learned (and not) from Seattle's Underground

 

I recently returned from some work – and time off – in Seattle.  It’s an amazing, innovative city, known for coffee, and music, with friendly and helpful people, surrounded by amazing natural beauty in the nearby Northern Cascades, Mount Rainier, and huge Olympic National Parks.  The Museum of Pop Culture was a surprise hit for us as well.  We were amazed by the Chihuly Glass Gardens, and of course were compelled to visit the Space Needle.  So – we went up – a lot.  But we also descended. One part of our visit included a visit to Seattle’s Underground Tour. By the way, if you go to Seattle, do not miss this tour.

The very quick story about Seattle’s underground takes place in its Pioneer Square, the original settlement of the area. Of course, the indigenous people of Seattle - the Coast Salish peoples, specifically the Duwamish and Suquamish tribes were in this area, which they called "Little Crossing-Over Place" or Sdzidzilalitch in the Duwamish language.

A very short summary of what happened is below:

In 1852–1853, the first non-Indigenous settlers, led by Arthur Denny, moved their camp from Alki Point to the eastern shore of Elliott Bay. They chose what’s now known as Pioneer Square for its strategic access to timber and waterways.

However, the geography of the area posed serious challenges. The streets were muddy and poorly drained, often clashing with the natural tides of Elliott Bay. There’s another possible blog post coming about the famous potholes so large that people and horses could drown – and the way the local officials took care of that (with sawdust!).

However, let’s stay focused on our main point here – it’s all about toilets.  Early on, the city decided to be one of the first flush toilets (there’s that Seattle innovation spirit!)  even though there was no sewer system infrastructure!

They quickly came up with some wooden (!!!) 6” x 6” piping systems and relied on gravity to bring the waste down to the Bay. 

The system worked!  …for about 6 hours, when the first tide came in from the Bay.  Tide power was more than enough to carry the sewage up the slope., meaning that raw sewage could move, with force and speed, back up into homes and businesses — sometimes even causing toilets to literally explode sewage geysers in people’s homes or wherever the toilets (and their temporary residents) were in the city.

NOT GOOD!

I will finish the story so that you can understand the “Underground” but for this PM blog, I wanted the focus to be about Lessons Learned from the plumbing part of the story.  So far, Lesson Learned #1: Innovate, but be ready with the rest of the infrastructure.  In this case, it was great to be one of the first in the United States to use the new toilets, but think more holistically - plan for the sewage system if you are going to order flush toilets – and think about the fact that the Earth’s tides are powerful enough to take what you give it and push it right back up the same pipes!

Fire promotes a re-boot

Disaster struck on June 6, 1889, when a fire broke out in a woodworking shop. Since all of the buildings, including the nearby liquor stores, full of more fuel for the fire, were made of wood, the fire spread rapidly through the densely packed wooden structures, and within hours, 25 city blocks were reduced to ashes, including nearly all of Pioneer Square’s commercial district.  Seattle had a mainly volunteer fire department of only six people at this time. They were ill-trained, and ill-prepared for an event of this scale.  Clearly there are some other very worthy Lessons Learned here, but more about urban planning and less particular to project management.  Let’s go in general with Lesson Learned #2 – provide the proper training and equipment for the most important risk responses!

Despite the scale of destruction, no lives were lost. Still, the fire devastated the city's infrastructure and economy, resulting in an estimated $20 million in damage — roughly $600 million today.

Raising Seattle

In the aftermath, Seattle leaders wasted no time rebuilding. New city ordinances required buildings to be made from brick or stone rather than wood. A professional fire department was formed, along with a modern water system and improved building codes. Many business owners, eager to restart operations, began constructing new brick buildings directly atop the old foundations — even before the city completed its plans to raise the streets.

The decision to raise the city stemmed from the same problems that plagued it before the fire: poor drainage, frequent flooding, and raw sewage flowing with the tides. Pioneer Square and the surrounding downtown area sat on unstable tidal mudflats. To address these issues and create a more navigable landscape, city planners decided to raise the street level by 12 to 22 feet. The original ground floors of buildings were buried and became basements, while new sidewalks and streets were eventually built above them*.

*this may be a separate blog post because one of the many flaws in this project plan was that they FORGOT THE SIDEWALKS!

During this strange period of transition, with a new city being built on top of the old, people had to use ladders to move between the old street level and the elevated sidewalks, creating a surreal, multi-layered urban environment. Over time, the upper sidewalks were completed, and the original streets below were sealed off. What remained was a network of hidden passageways and storefronts — now known as the “Seattle Underground” — a buried reminder of the city’s resilience, ingenuity, and haphazard rise from the ashes.

A wonderful video summary of what I’ve discussed is below.

So: we have multiple headaches with the toilets.

There is no way Seattle would make another project mistake with toilets again, right?

Flush forward to 2008 -- Lessons Not Learned

In September 2001, the Seattle City Council directed Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) to implement a pilot program for automated public toilets to provide clean and safe facilities in Downtown and urban centers. In October 2002, SPU signed a 10-year contract to lease and maintain five automated toilets.

After site selection, permitting, and installation, the five APTs became operational in March 2004 in high-traffic areas. 

Problems and failures with this new system:

• The self-cleaning toilets soon encountered problems, including excessive trash left by users that caused the automated floor scrubbers to malfunction.

LESSON LEARNED: Consider how people will not only use, but unfortunately will abuse the toilets.

• The privacy of the toilets made them attractive for illegal activities like drug use and prostitution.

LESSON LEARNED: Consider that not all people are law-abiding and will take advantage of the way the toilets are situated.

• A local ordinance prohibiting advertising on the units meant the city bore the entire project cost of $1 million per toilet over five years, totaling $5 million, which increased costs and removed a potential funding source.

LESSON LEARNED: Consider exceptions for innovative programs to allow advertising in this specific situation.

• Due to cleanliness issues, safety concerns, and high costs, the City Council voted for the removal of all five toilets in May 2008. 

The unfortunate conclusion

• The city terminated its contract, paying an additional $540,000 to end the agreement early.
• In 2008, the toilets were auctioned on eBay, selling for significantly less than their initial price, with the city recovering about $10,400 after the auction company's cut.
• All five units were purchased by Rochester, Washington-based Racecar Supply.
• The Seattle automated public toilet project was widely seen as a failure and a cautionary tale for other cities. Indeed, I found this report from the city of San Diego that directly references what not to do based on this project – read it here.

NOTE: one thing that amazed me – and again, could be another whole blog post – was the story of a city leader named Lou Graham – an immigrant woman who became Seattle’s richest resident (follow the link below to find out how, although you may be able to guess) and basically funded the ‘raise the city’ effort, and on her death donated all of her money to Seattle’s educational system.  Read about this amazing person here: https://www.seattlemet.com/news-and-city-life/2022/08/lou-graham-brothel-madam-seattle-history-underground-tour

We found it a bit sad that although she saved the city, and although there are streets named after leaders who bankrupted the city, the only thing named officially after Lou Graham is a local bar.

References:

https://www.itsflush.com/post/seattle-underground-toilet-history

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/seattles-5-million-automated-public-toilets-sold-for-12000/