Sinking Ship

{{short description|Parking garage in Seattle, Washington, U.S.}}

{{For|the wreck of a ship|Shipwreck}}

{{distinguish|Sinking Ships}}

{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2019}}

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| architect = Gilbert H. Mandeville
Gudmund B. Berge

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The Sinking Ship is a multi-story parking garage in Pioneer Square, Seattle, United States, bound by James Street to the north, Yesler Way to the south, and 2nd Avenue to the east, and just steps away from the Pioneer Building on the site of the former Occidental Hotels and Seattle Hotel. After the Seattle Hotel was demolished in 1961, the Sinking Ship was built as part of a neighborhood redesign.{{cite web |url=https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Sinking-Ship-Parking-Garage/1535968973389069 |title=The Sinking Ship Parking Garage |website=Facebook |accessdate=August 24, 2019}}

It was designed by Gilbert H. Mandeville (engineer) and Gudmund B. Berge (architect) of the Seattle firm Mandeville and Berge,{{Cite web|url=http://pcad.lib.washington.edu/firm/2941/|title=PCAD - Mandeville and Berge, Architects and Engineers|website=pcad.lib.washington.edu|access-date=2019-12-03}} and built in 1965.{{Cite web|url=http://www.roadarch.com/mim/ships5.html|title=Ship Shaped Buildings {{!}} RoadsideArchitecture.com|website=www.roadarch.com|access-date=2019-12-03}} They also designed the Logan Building and an addition to the First Presbyterian Church downtown, the Ballard branch of Seattle Public Library, and two buildings at the Seattle World's Fair in 1962Statement by Terry M. Mandeville, daughter of Gilbert H. Mandeville (the Alaska Building and the Transportation 21 Building).

A writer for HistoryLink described the Sinking Ship as "that skid road parking garage whose nihilistic construction depresses the flatiron block where James Street and Yesler Way meet at Pioneer Square."{{cite web |url=http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&File_Id=2570 |title=HistoryLink.org- the Free Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History |first=Paul |last=Dorpat |work=historylink.org |date=January 1, 2000 |accessdate=February 8, 2015}}

It is owned by the Kubota–Fujii family, who had acquired the Seattle Hotel in 1941.{{cite web |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/the-curse-of-the-sinking-ship/ |title=The curse of the 'Sinking Ship' |first=Danny |last=Westneat |work=The Seattle Times |date=March 6, 2010 |accessdate=August 24, 2019}} Doris Kubota, from the same family, called the garage the "ugliest building in all of Seattle". It was also used during the 2001 Mardi Gras riot as a staging area for police and city officials. The Seattle Monorail Project proposed a monorail station at the site of the Sinking Ship, which it hoped to acquire through condemnation. The Kubota family disputed the condemnation lawsuit, stating their intention to build housing and retail at the site.{{cite news |last=Lindblom |first=Mike |date=December 2, 2004 |title=Monorail may sink dream for Pioneer Square's Sinking Ship |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/20041202/sinkingship02m/monorail-may-sink-dream-for-pioneer-squares-sinking-ship |work=The Seattle Times |access-date=August 21, 2019}}

In 2019, the parking lot was named the "coolest parking lot" in the United States by the design publication Architizer and London-based Looking4.com.{{cite news |last=Clarridge |first=Christine |title=Parking garage in Seattle's Pioneer Square named 'coolest' place to park in the nation |newspaper=The Seattle Times |date=August 19, 2019 |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/sinking-ship-parking-garage-in-seattles-pioneer-square-named-coolest-place-to-park-in-the-nation/ |accessdate=August 21, 2019}} {{As of|2022}}, the garage is managed by Diamond Parking.{{cite news |last=Miller |first=Brian |date=December 8, 2022 |title=On the Block: Holiday Gift Guide! |url=https://www.djc.com/news/re/12153155.html |work=Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce |accessdate=December 20, 2022}}