MYNORTHWEST NEWS

What if we celebrated all half-finished Seattle projects?

Oct 6, 2016, 11:56 AM | Updated: 11:57 am

On Monday, we (sort of) celebrated Bertha the tunnel boring machine reaching the halfway point of its journey under Seattle.

As some pointed out, the celebration is somewhat amusing, as it comes a year after the entire project was originally supposed to be finished.

But maybe we’re onto something. If we celebrated every project that was 50 percent done, we could pat ourselves on the back twice as much.

What would half-finished projects look like?

Alaskan Way Viaduct

Was everyone as excited about the Alaskan Way Viaduct while it was under construction as people are now about the tunnel?

The Alaskan Way Viaduct as seen on May 22, 1950. (Seattle Municipal Archives)

The Alaskan Way Viaduct as seen on May 22, 1950. (Seattle Municipal Archives)

The Space Needle

Built for the 1962 World’s Fair that drew 2.3 million visitors, the Space Needle was completed in December 1961 and opened four months later on the first day of the World’s Fair.

How much celebration was going on when it looked like this?

The Space Needle as seen during its construction in 1961. (Seattle Municipal Archives)

The Space Needle as seen during its construction in 1961. (Seattle Municipal Archives)

The Kingdome

What a mess it would have been if the Kingdome was only half-imploded in 2000.

The Kingdome is imploded on March 26, 2000. (Seattle Municipal Archives)

The Kingdome is imploded on March 26, 2000. (Seattle Municipal Archives)

Smith Tower

How many office parties were held in the Smith Tower during construction?

The Smith Tower in February 1913. (Seattle Municipal Archives)

The Smith Tower in February 1913. (Seattle Municipal Archives)

Putting construction projects aside. What about our beloved sports?

The first pitch

Can you imagine what baseball would be like if our star pitchers could only threw halfway to home plate?

50-yard line

What if the Seahawks only made it to the 50-yard line on every drive?
Then they would be the 49ers.

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What if we celebrated all half-finished Seattle projects?