A Seattle family recently re-discovered a collection of photo albums that belonged to a great uncle who was a Navy flyer at Sand Point nearly 100 years ago.
February 26, 2021 at 8:55 am
The building most recently served as the Seattle Parks and Recreation’s Magnuson Community Center; it is closed and undergoing renovation. (Feliks Banel/KIRO Radio)
An artifact discovered at Seattle’s Magnuson Park is a reminder of the old Navy base at Sand Point, and the role of a unique vintage building that still stands on the sprawling acreage along Lake Washington.
What was first called Sand Point Park was created from an old Navy base in the mid 1970s, and then was officially renamed in 1977 for longtime Democratic Senator Warren G. Magnuson.
Magnuson, who was actually a part owner of KIRO Radio back in the 1950s, was always a big booster of the Navy base at Sand Point. During the 1940s, he tried to make it the West Coast location of a second Naval Academy, a counterpart to the famous and storied institution at Annapolis, Maryland. When the Seattle base was surplused in 1972, Senator Magnuson was pivotal in securing the l