Noted Shoreline author Ivan Doig honored at grand opening of new Chinook Building

Bestselling author Ivan Doig, a Shoreline resident who draws inspiration for his lyrical Western novels from his childhood in Montana and from the natural wonder visible from his home overlooking Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains, was recognized today as King County Councilmember Bob Ferguson named the first floor of the new King County office building in his honor.

Doig is best known for This House of Sky: Landscapes of a Western Mind, an elegiac memoir about the people and places of the American frontier that was a finalist for the National Book Award. His varied contributions to American literature include novels, essays, memoirs and poems.

The grand opening of the Chinook Building—the newest addition to the King County government campus in downtown Seattle—will be an occasion to recognize and celebrate King County’s history as floor names honoring the people and places of King County are unveiled. Honorees or their families will attend the ceremony.

Other honorees range from a coal miner to former King County elected officials, labor organizers and civil rights activists, and even a historic town name.

“This grand opening will be a wonderful opportunity to acknowledge leaders from all walks of life who shaped King County’s culture and history,” said King County Councilmember Bob Ferguson, who chaired the Council’s Capital Budget Committee when the Chinook Building was under construction. “I was pleased to sponsor a naming competition which inspired middle school students to really engage with that history and I am excited that some of those students will be on hand to be recognized on Friday.”

The name of the office tower—and the idea of naming each of the floors—came from King County students who won a naming contest sponsored by Ferguson in 2007. Middle school students in grades 7 through 9 were invited to submit essays in support of their naming suggestions. A committee of prominent community members was appointed to select finalists and the King County Council selected the winning names.

The name “Chinook” was selected from among 140 entries submitted. Megan Drews, who was a student at Holy Family School in Kirkland when she entered the contest, said that “Chinook” is “an important name to me and my family because it celebrates our Northwest native heritage,” and also because “it is a great fish to eat!”

Drews is now a freshman at Eastside Catholic High School and will be present at the grand opening ceremony.

Another student essay submitted to the Council by 8th grader Connolly McHugh suggested that significant names be used for “certain rooms or wings for individuals, groups or symbolic logos” to make this a government building “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” The Council honored this idea by providing for the naming of each of the floors of the building. Each member of the Council is naming the floor whose number matches the number of his or her Council district. The County Executive will name the remaining four floors of the 13-story structure.

Seven County agencies are now housed in the building at 5th and Jefferson, which opened in the summer of 2007. Its tenants include Public Health, the Office of the Public Defender, the Department of Community and Human Services, the Office of Information Resource Management, and the Finance Division.