The Office of Urban Conservation was created in 1975 as part of the Department of Community Development (DCD). It was founded in an era of citizen protests against a proposed urban renewal program that would have demolished Pioneer Square and Pike Place Market. The office’s mandate was to coordinate Seattle’s historic preservation programs and administer the city’s landmark boards and historic districts. When DCD was abolished in 1992, the office became the Historic Preservation Program in the Department of Neighborhoods.

From 1852 onward, Pioneer Square was the center of Seattle’s commercial activity. The Great Fire of 1889 destroyed 25 blocks of downtown, but the city immediately began rebuilding, using fire-resistant stone and brick. The neighborhood flourished during the Alaska gold rush, but as the central business core began to move northward, Pioneer Square became host to rough taverns and seedy hotels. A city plan to raze the district in the 1960s generated a grass roots preservation movement led by architects Ralph Anderson and Victor Steinbrueck. In 1970 they succeeded in having the neighborhood designated as a national historic district as well as Seattle’s first preservation district.

The Pioneer Square Historic Preservation Board was instituted in 1971, and the Pioneer Square Special Review District Board in 1974. The two boards began holding joint meetings in October 1979, and continued this practice until September 1981 when they were consolidated as the Pioneer Square Preservation Board. The Office of Urban Conservation, and later the Historic Preservation Program, provided staffing to the boards. The Architectural Review Committee was a Board subcommittee.

Series contains correspondence, memos, reports, clippings, and other materials relating to issues affecting the District. Many of the records deal with METRO transit projects, including the waterfront streetcar and the bus tunnel. Another significant portion of materials relate to the work of CAFE EDGAR (Committee to Assess the Feasibility of Establishing Economic Development Guidelines and Regulations), a group that surveyed other historic districts in the United States and developed recommendations for Pioneer Square development guidelines. Also of particular interest may be records relating to the Pioneer Square Intergovernmental Summit, which brought together government officials from the city, county, and state, along with property owners, residents, and human services organizations, to discuss issues facing the neighborhood. Many files relate to specific buildings, such as Union Station, Smith Tower, Olympic Block, Mutual Life Building, Roberts Hotel, and Pioneer Building, and records document the preservation of the Cadillac Hotel after it sustained earthquake damage in 2001. Renovations of Occidental Park and the Colman Ferry Dock are also covered. Other topics in the collections include social services and homelessness, areaways (light wells), and appointments to the various boards overseeing the District.