Building 653 is a squat single story yellow cinder block building which sits immediately east of the FAA tower, on the top of the hill. To my knowlege, it was built at the same time as the Nike building (see Nike building essay) and was designed to work with the Nike building in controlling the Nike Anti-Missile Ballistic system in place during the cold war.
Because the FAA complex is so intimidating, most Park visitors stay far away from it and think that the 653 parcel is part of the FAA complex and therefore also off limits. This is not true. The FAA complex is clearly demarcated by a 7-8 foot high fence topped with barb wire - prison camp style. The FAA parcel forms the shape of an "L" with building 653 sitting in the crook of that "L". More importantly, building 653 has a long wide driveway running to it from the access road behind (east) the historic officers homes. That driveway leads to a large paved parking lot immediately next to 653. All of this is City owned property and includes a wide swath of land just to the south of the FAA tower and just north of the south unit of the Officers homes. All this property is technically "park".
I've been inside 653 before. It appears to have been built primarily for 1950's era computer use, with many large trench like passageways running through and under most of the flooring. Extensive cooling ductwork runs through the building. There is very little useful interior space. It is not currently used and has not been used for several decades.
Building 653 is currently being considered for demolition under the WPCAC recommendations - a spending list regarding the roughly $5 million being transferred to the City from King County, which I've discussed in several different essays. This committee has the difficult task of recommending which projects take priorities over others, especially given that $2 million of the original $5 million in WPCAC funds will likely be used towards the $9 million the City has agreed to pay the Navy and American Eagle for the Capehart parcel (see essay - "the City/Navy deal".
So why is demolition of this building a priority? First and foremost, along with the driveway and parking lot associated with it, it occupies a significan portion of publicly owned land that the public cannot take advantage of. As can be stated about the Nike building and others, nothing can be done to improve these areas with buildings standing on them.
Secondly, the combination of 653, the FAA complex and the Nike building together form an imposing series of structures that effectively block public access from the Visitors Center to the top of the hill, forcing the public to take a more circuitous route. The recent addition of the 500 area has allowed the public to climb the long staircase from the Visitors Center to the 500 area renovation site, but the Nike site remains. With the Nike and 653 removed, the way is clear to discuss with the FAA some type of mitigation of the site and allow improved public access. I've discussed this in some detail in my FAA essay.
In fact, it's an interesting exercise to walk from the Visitors Center to the Nike building and try to figure out a way to get to the top of the hill. It's not easy. And 653 is one of the culprits. Removal of this building will go a long way in creating the type of Park that was originally conceived nearly 30 years ago. Here are a couple of views I took in 2005:
