Post by HARD ROCK UNIVERSE on Feb 7, 2005 0:25:41 GMT -5
Kathy Mulady Seattle Post - Intelligencer
The Seattle house where legendary rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix once lived needs a new home. Again. And soon.
But members of a foundation that owns the home say they have nowhere to move it. They are worried that the city will demolish it.
Three years ago the dilapidated house, owned by Hendrix's father from 1953 until 1956, was moved a few blocks from its original Central Area address to make way for a housing development.
The city offered a vacant lot on South Jackson Street, giving supporters a chance to find a permanent location or buy the land and fix up the house. At the time, the James Marshall Hendrix Foundation said it wanted to turn the home into a youth center focusing on music. The foundation's offices, or maybe housing, would be upstairs.
The location at 2010 S. Jackson St. seemed perfect.
Now the house is falling apart, and the foundation maintains that the city changed its mind about selling the property.
But the city said the foundation never offered a proposal to buy the property. City officials want to end the month-to-month lease and take back the land. The foundation has until Feb. 22 to move the house.
"There are other potential opportunities associated with the site; we need to extinguish this lease, and are asking them to remove the house from the site," said John Franklin, director of departmental operations for the mayor's office.
Franklin wouldn't say who wants the property, but some have guessed it might be part of a land swap with American Eagle, a Dallas company that agreed to turn over to the city land in Discovery Park that it was planning to develop.
In return, the city paid the company $9 million and agreed to swap it for other land that has yet to be identified. Others say a nearby business may want it as a parking lot for trucks.
"The city is going back on its word. The city of Seattle should be involved in building this community center and this tribute to Jimi," said Ray Rae Goldman, research director for the foundation.
"When we made the original agreement, it was inferred that the city was going to help us out a little more than they did.
"If we have to move it, the city is clearly going to be responsible for the cost."
Peter Sikov, the foundation's treasurer, said the group planned not to raise money for the community center until it owned the land free and clear.
"You first have to have the foothold and own the land," he said.
Charles Cross, who is writing a book about Jimi Hendrix that will be published this summer, said Hendrix lived in the house from the time he was 12 until he was about 15.
"He certainly played his broom guitar there, which he did before he had his real guitar," said Cross.
"I feel that Seattle has done very, very little to honor someone who is truly one of the city's great legends."
There is also a Jimi Hendrix Memorial Rock at the African Savanna, in Woodland Park Zoo, and a statue on Capitol Hill. Hendrix is buried in Renton, and his gravesite still attracts droves of fans.
Hendrix died of a drug overdose in 1970 when he was 27.
Henry Lewis, a friend of Hendrix's brother, Leon Hendrix, said some foundation members had hoped the community center idea might get a boost if Leon won his court case entitling him to a share of the Hendrix estate.
That hope faded in September when a King County Superior Court judge ruled that Leon Hendrix wasn't entitled to his brother's multimillion-dollar estate.
Lewis, who co-owns the house with some other members of the foundation, said he refuses to give up. "If it means putting the house on my back, I will do it. I won't let the house get destroyed," he said.
The Seattle house where legendary rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix once lived needs a new home. Again. And soon.
But members of a foundation that owns the home say they have nowhere to move it. They are worried that the city will demolish it.
Three years ago the dilapidated house, owned by Hendrix's father from 1953 until 1956, was moved a few blocks from its original Central Area address to make way for a housing development.
The city offered a vacant lot on South Jackson Street, giving supporters a chance to find a permanent location or buy the land and fix up the house. At the time, the James Marshall Hendrix Foundation said it wanted to turn the home into a youth center focusing on music. The foundation's offices, or maybe housing, would be upstairs.
The location at 2010 S. Jackson St. seemed perfect.
Now the house is falling apart, and the foundation maintains that the city changed its mind about selling the property.
But the city said the foundation never offered a proposal to buy the property. City officials want to end the month-to-month lease and take back the land. The foundation has until Feb. 22 to move the house.
"There are other potential opportunities associated with the site; we need to extinguish this lease, and are asking them to remove the house from the site," said John Franklin, director of departmental operations for the mayor's office.
Franklin wouldn't say who wants the property, but some have guessed it might be part of a land swap with American Eagle, a Dallas company that agreed to turn over to the city land in Discovery Park that it was planning to develop.
In return, the city paid the company $9 million and agreed to swap it for other land that has yet to be identified. Others say a nearby business may want it as a parking lot for trucks.
"The city is going back on its word. The city of Seattle should be involved in building this community center and this tribute to Jimi," said Ray Rae Goldman, research director for the foundation.
"When we made the original agreement, it was inferred that the city was going to help us out a little more than they did.
"If we have to move it, the city is clearly going to be responsible for the cost."
Peter Sikov, the foundation's treasurer, said the group planned not to raise money for the community center until it owned the land free and clear.
"You first have to have the foothold and own the land," he said.
Charles Cross, who is writing a book about Jimi Hendrix that will be published this summer, said Hendrix lived in the house from the time he was 12 until he was about 15.
"He certainly played his broom guitar there, which he did before he had his real guitar," said Cross.
"I feel that Seattle has done very, very little to honor someone who is truly one of the city's great legends."
There is also a Jimi Hendrix Memorial Rock at the African Savanna, in Woodland Park Zoo, and a statue on Capitol Hill. Hendrix is buried in Renton, and his gravesite still attracts droves of fans.
Hendrix died of a drug overdose in 1970 when he was 27.
Henry Lewis, a friend of Hendrix's brother, Leon Hendrix, said some foundation members had hoped the community center idea might get a boost if Leon won his court case entitling him to a share of the Hendrix estate.
That hope faded in September when a King County Superior Court judge ruled that Leon Hendrix wasn't entitled to his brother's multimillion-dollar estate.
Lewis, who co-owns the house with some other members of the foundation, said he refuses to give up. "If it means putting the house on my back, I will do it. I won't let the house get destroyed," he said.