Seattle Sinking Ship parking garage closes following unsolved murder
Pioneer Square's ‘Sinking Ship’ garage closes after violent incidents
Seattle’s Sinking Ship parking garage has closed following multiple violent incidents, including a recent homicide. Nearby businesses say the shutdown is impacting customers while safety concerns remain.
SEATTLE - Seattle's Sinking Ship Parking Garage, a historical and controversial location, has closed following multiple scenes of violence – however businesses say the closure is hurting them.
A fence now surrounds the entire multi-level structure.
Seattle's Sinking Ship Parking Garage (FOX 13 Seattle)
While the garage is an architectural staple of the neighborhood, it has recently become a flash point for crime.
The backstory:
The decision to shutter the lot follows a string of violent incidents at the location.
Most recently, the garage was the site of a shooting that left three people hit and one of them dead. The murder remains unsolved.
According to Seattle Police, the owner of the Sinking Ship Parking Garage recently submitted a trespass authorization form.
Signs around the perimeter of the structure say the closure is temporary. FOX 13 Seattle reached out to the owners of the lot for more information, but they did not respond.
Businesses feeling the pinch
What they're saying:
"Safety is nonexistent down below," said Maria Espinoza, who works at a salon across from the lot. "No one that lives in the city or even attempted to park in the lower part, would do that again."
Despite her safety concerns regarding aspects of the lot, Espinoza says the garage was a vital resource for the neighborhood.
"We had to send out a massive email to a lot of our customers warning them that the lot that they use, most of the time, especially when they're running late, is not going to be available to them anymore," said Espinoza.
She tells FOX 13 Seattle this closure has led to confusion and frustration for her clients.
Sunit Sharma, head chef at a nearby restaurant, echoed those frustrations. He noted that while street parking is an option, it isn’t always reliable.
"It does affect our business over here as well," Sharma said. "This used to be very convenient for our customers to park, because street parking may not be very safe all of the time."
Both Sharma and Espinoza tell FOX 13 Seattle that they would like to see the garage reopened in some capacity.
However, some people are ready for a change.
"If we didn’t have parking lots like this wasting space... we’d have more people around, more foot traffic, more businesses going up," said Jeff Paul, who works in the area. "I think that’s a better city living and one I’d want to work right by."
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The Source: Information in this story came from Seattle Police and original FOX 13 Seattle reporting and interviews.