The Washington Athletic Club, founded in 1930, is a private social and athletic club located in downtown Seattle. The 21-story WAC clubhouse opened in December 1930, and was designed in the Art Deco style by Seattle architect Sherwood D. Ford. The five-story WAC includes a 25-yard pool, full-size basketball court, running track, handball and racquetball courts, and pilates and yoga studios. The top ten floors house the Inn at the WAC, a 109-room boutique hotel. The club also offers a full-service day spa and a wellness center with nutrition, physical therapy, and naturopathic services. The building is also home to three restaurants, a private ballroom, social areas, and numerous meeting spaces. The idea of the Century 21 Exposition was first conceived by club members within the building in January 1955. In 2009, the Washington Athletic Club became a City of Seattle Landmark, and in 2018 its 6th Street building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. History Club's early formation and plans In mid 1927, Seattle newcomer and realtor Noel B. Clarke put together a committee of Seattle attorneys, capitalists and bankers to raise money to form a new athletic club to serve the city's skyrocketing population. They began soliciting $100 founders' memberships to hire an architect and construct a clubhouse and by early 1928 over 1,000 had been collected. Funds were stored in a trust that couldn't be accessed until 2,000 memberships were sold. In February 1928, Clarke announced a 120 x 96' site had been chosen at the corner of 6th and University Streets. The committee hired the Seattle architectural firm of Baker, Vogel & Roush to design a building. Their plans were of an elegant twelve-story structure with Gothic Revival influences. The building would cost around $1 million and construction was to begin in June 1928. By March 1928, only 1,200 of the needed 2,000 members had signed up for the new club, causing a delay in the plans. More troubles arose in May 1928 when Clarke, the club's biggest single promoter, quit the board because of difficulties dealing with the Seattle Real Estate Board. After the passing of the original construction deadline, a new board of 26 of Seattle's most prominent businessmen came together to continue Clarke's work. The new committee chose to scrap the club's original design, now becoming dated, and hired architect Sherwood D. Ford to design something different at a new