Post #546414 by woofmutt on Wed, Aug 4, 2010 7:49 AM

From Seattle Times September 3, 1961

*The Polynesia, new $500,000 restaurant on Pier 51, is like a prologue to a romantic poem, with every word and every syllable in the right place.

The materials and the motif go together in creating a South Seas atmosphere in a beautiful setting on Puget Sound. The high peaked 'long house' design with its interior walls of polished matched teakwood and grass cloth, the deeply carved beams and banquettes, the rattan chairs and the carved figures all have a Polynesian flavor.

Raymond H. Peck, the architect, who designed the restaurant, chose his central theme from the markings of ceremonial shields, canoe prows, and art of Tahiti, the Philippine Islands and Pago Pago.

Peck used lava rock from the big island of Hawaii, precious woods from the Far East, coral and tree ferns (hapu), art carvings, sea shells, and hand-woven materials.
The heavy posts and beams, all carved, are more than 50 years old. They were taken from the building razed to make way for the restaurant. They were carved with theme designs created by Peck.

The carving was done by Donald Keys and Donald Ingalls, Seattle artists. The markings on the post and beams are repeated in the china. A ceremonial shield design, taken from an authentic Marquesas shield found in a museum, is used as the cover for the menu.

A spiral fireplace in the main dining room rises from a reflecting pool on the floor to a black metal hood in the ceiling. The spiral is made of pipe, perforated to produce dozens of small open flames.

Three Tahitian Torches will mark the entrance.

The banquettes were carved by Witco of Mt Vernon, a company which specializes in the carving of darkened cedar. A life-size Tiki figure, in the hallway, was carved in Manila of monkey pod. Solid teak door pulls and a door panel were made by Keys and Ingalls.

Transparencies with Tahitian emblems laminated in plastic by Fay Chong, Pacific Northwest artist, mark the front on view side of the restaurant.

There is a modern air to the building, with its wide window walls taking in the broad sweep of Puget Sound and Seattle to the north and south.

A menu has been created to go along with the setting...(The restaurant) will feature lunch and dinner. It also has a cocktail lounge.

(Owner) Dave Cohn has engaged Anita Moore, a former resident of Tahiti, to inform guests on the customs and art of the Polynesians.*

The Polynesia Restaurant (called the Poly by locals) remained at Pier 51 (which was also owned by David Cohn) until the state condemned the Pier around 1981 in order to expand the Seattle ferry terminal.

The Polynesia closed around May of 1981 and all of it's interior fixtures and furnishings were removed. Cohn looked for another location to physically move the Polynesia but zoning restrictions blocked his efforts. "I'm just sick," Cohn said in a 1981 newspaper article, "I'd go anyplace. We've been kicked out of our own property by the state...and nobody will help us relocate...no one seems to care."

On the morning of January 25th, 1982 just after high tide, the entire Polynesia Restaurant was lifted in one piece off of Pier 51 by a large floating crane. Acocrding to a newspaper report he Polynesia was "placed on a barge and towed to a site on the Duwamish River while the owners search for a new location."

Unfortunately a new location was never found. According to David Cohn the problem was the size of the Polynesian and zoning restrictions for available locations. Sometime after the Polynesia's mothballing Cohn gave up and let the Seattle Fire Department burn the structure for practice.

David Cohn died in 2003 at the age of 85 but the restaurant business he started is still going strong. It includes major Seattle area restaurants such as the Metropolitan and Elliot's.

In 2002 I spoke to Cohn on the telephone. Of the Polynesia's origins Cohn said he had taken architect Raymond Peck to Pier 51 and said "Hey Ray, I want to build a Polynesian restaurant at this site and I can't even spell the word."

Cohn spoke very fondly of the restaurant and the staff that worked there. over 20 years after the Polynesia's closing it was obvious the Cohn still felt sad about it. I got the feeling that the Polynesia was really special to him.

Cohn said when the Polynesia was closed some of the Polynesia's fixtures were moved to some of his other restaurants but he couldn't recall what happened to the bulk of the interior.

Most of the above first appeared in this post here.