Let’s remember when the PI Globe was installed, on this day in 1986 (January 25)
A couple of weeks ago, I posted an item about the Seattle Post-Intelligencer being put up for sale, and hastening its demise as an actual newspaper. One part of the PI that is still standing is its iconic globe that is on top of its building on Elliott Avenue. I live on Elliott, so I pass by the globe a few times a day, and am always glad to see it’s still standing.
HistoryLink says:
The neon structure consists of three parts — an impressive dark-blue globe with the continents outlined in green neon, an eagle perched on top with its wings spread overhead, and a banner sign that revolves around the globe’s midline proclaiming the paper’s well-known slogan, “It’s in the P-I,” each capital letter measuring eight feet tall.
The globe has been a Seattle icon for several generations, but it has been on Elliott for over thirty years. In 2012, it was designated as a historic landmark and Hearst donated the globe to the Museum of History and Industry. The PI itself said back then:
The Seattle P-I globe will be saved by an agreement among the Hearst Corp., the city and the Museum of History and Industry, which has launched a campaign to help restoration of the neon icon installed in 1948.
On Wednesday, City Council members Jean Godden, Tim Burgess and Sally Clark — all former reporters — announced details of the agreement and said the city’s Landmarks Preservation Board was expected to make the globe an official landmark April 18.
Following the landmark designation, Hearst is expected to donate the globe to MOHAI, which will work with the city to find a suitable new home for it. Godden, a former P-I columnist and reporter, said there may be a location contest and suggested that the restored globe may possibly go to Seattle Center, though nothing is certain.
To this day, nothing has emerged with regards to a plan to do something with the PI globe, and it remains atop the building on Elliott. I’m perfectly happy with it remaining there indefinitely.
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