We are saddened to note the recent passing of Cathy Galbraith, who served as Historic Seattle’s Executive Director from 1987 to 1992 and was a lifelong leader in historic preservation in the Pacific Northwest. Cathy was raised in Pittsburgh, studied to be an urban planner, and began her professional career in Oregon City. She moved to Seattle to lead our organization and had a great impact during her tenure, perhaps most notably with the Belmont Boylston (BelBoy) houses.
The BelBoy houses, six adjoining large wood frame buildings on First Hill, had been vacant and slated for demolition. Instead, under Cathy’s guidance, this became the first project in Seattle to combine the national Historic Preservation Tax Credits and City of Seattle low-income housing funds, creating 48 units of housing. The innovation of BelBoy was recognized with many awards including the National Mortgage Bankers Association Multi-Family Project of the Year and an Honor Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The project was a national inspiration and a local innovation, which Cathy followed with affordable housing projects at Victorian Row Apartments and the Phillips House. In total, her vision adapted eight historic buildings into 73 affordable units that remain in use today, more than 25 years later.
Following her tenure at Historic Seattle, Cathy returned to Oregon for her crowning achievement in creating and leading the Bosco-Milligan Foundation and its Architectural Heritage Center in Portland. She served as its Executive Director from 1993 until her retirement in 2016.
Many in the preservation community are mourning the loss of their colleague, mentor, and friend. John Chaney, Cathy’s immediate successor at Historic Seattle, noted, “Cathy was a hard act to follow. Her accomplishments in five years changed the DNA of Historic Seattle and Seattle is immensely better for her efforts.”
From: Historic Seattle.
