My girlfriend and I were down by the fountain, enjoying the views of the Capitol, and we noticed that the "mistake" is having something major going on. There's some kind of wooden chute built all the way down it like an elevator shaft, and they're throwing all kinds of acoustic tiles down into dumpsters. The place was a mess! There was all kinds of trash and debris sitting on the pavement, not that far from where kids were playing. We wondered what was going on, then I saw a letter in support of the isthmus rezone on the Friends of the Waterfront's website, written by Scott Shapiro, who owns property in Olympia and lives in Seattle. He seems to operate under a couple of business names: Eagle Rock Ventures and the Views on Fifth, and he writes "we are currently redeveloping the Capitol Center Building, The Views On Fifth Avenue, as a mixed-used building with nearly 40 condominiums."

I guess this means that somebody's going to try again to get it right. I find it hard to believe that anyone could create appealing condominiums there, and even harder to believe that anyone would want to live in such an ugly building. One thing is for sure: nothing can make it worse.