UW Canoe House/ASUW Shell House/US Naval Training Hangar
- Year
- 1918
- City
- Seattle, WA
Built in 1918 as a U.S. Navy seaplane hangar during World War I, this wooden building on Union Bay northeast of the Montlake Cut later became the University of Washington's rowing shell house. From 1920 to 1949 it sheltered the Husky crew program, including the 1936 team that won Olympic gold, before the rowers moved to the Conibear Shellhouse and the building carried on as a canoe rental space until 1975.
the building
Navy seaplane hangar. The University granted the government use of its campus for naval training after the U.S. entered World War I in 1917, and the Navy built this roughly 10,500-square-foot wooden hangar the following year.
Home of the 1936 gold medalists. The shell house housed the UW men's rowing team from 1920 to 1949, including the crew that won Olympic gold in 1936, before the program relocated to the Conibear Shellhouse.
significance
The building is a Seattle City Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2018, UW Recreation began campaigning for a $13 million restoration to preserve its history and open up the waterfront site.