Densho Digital Archive - Takashi Hori - Yoshito Mizuta - Elmer Tazuma Interview (denshovh-htakashi

<Begin Segment 10>

ET: See, even after the war the only building that we could afford to get into were run down hotels ready to be demolished. So when the minimum housing code came in, there was no hotel that you would put money in. They're ready to be torn down.

TH: Well, it's not only that, it's just so much work was involved in bringing it up the code and that's why they closed down.

DG: But the Japanese were willing to remodel some of these things?

TH: Oh no, no. That's why a lot of buildings were closed down. I mean, they couldn't afford to remodel.

ET: 15,000 units was closed.

DG: What year was that?

ET: About 1962, huh?

TH: 1972 was the bad one, bad year. 1962 was, I think that's the first time the housing code started. They didn't enforce it as strictly as they did in 197' -- I think around 1972 after the 7th Avenue fire. 1962 was after the Ozark fire they started enforcing. Then, I believe in around 1972 when that was really all out enforcement. That's when Puget Sound closed, isn't it N-P closed around there, yeah. Then Evergreen closed.

YM: Back in the '20s and '30s we didn't have any trouble from the health or fire department.

TH: No, there were, but it's very minor. Like the health department -- it was health and fire and building in those days, but it was very minor and the city overlooked a lot of things.

ET: The Ozark, was that downtown?

TH: Yeah. Ozark was around 7th Avenue downtown near Westlake someplace, isn't it?

ET: The fellow that started it, he was kicked out from the tavern, wasn't he? So he got some gasoline and ran around the hallway and threw the fire -- I mean, started, threw a match or something.

TH: Is that right? Well, there were three fires that really affected the hotel business. One was the Stewart Hotel on Madison. This is around 1941. Four person died there. Then the Ozark around in '60s, and 7th Avenue Apartment in '70, see. They were the three major ones that really affected, brought about the change in the housing code.