Nany Evans oral history.indd - Washington Secretary of State

the library, which used to be a little green room; that’s what we called it.
Hughes: So the public bathrooms at the bottom of the stairs weren’t there?
Evans: No. There was one bathroom on the main floor. There was an old bathroom
downstairs, and then there were our bathrooms upstairs. They found them all! You know,
nature calls. We learned our lesson. After that they always had to stop at the Capitol first
before they came over to the Mansion. In the renovation, we added public bathrooms on
the main floor and downstairs for the men.
Hughes: Is it a true story that what really precipitated you drawing the line in the sand
over saving the Mansion was a visit with Art McDonald of KOMO-TV in 1966?
Evans: Yes, that’s all true. He literally just came to the door one day — knocked on the
door, rang the doorbell. And he said, “Nancy,” because we had known each other before,
“Were you aware that the Capitol Committee is discussing what to do with the Governor’s
Mansion?” The Capitol Committee is composed of the governor, the lieutenant governor,
and the commissioner of public lands — so it’s Dan, John Cherberg and Bert Cole. And I
said, “No, I really wasn’t.” Art said, “Well, there is some interest in tearing it down and
building the office building that would be identical to the one on the other side,” which
is what the original Capitol campus plan had. The Mansion was built only because of the
Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition that was coming to Seattle.
Hughes: Exactly, in 1909. A huge event for Seattle and the whole state.
Evans: They had to have a home for entertaining. But I told Art, “They can’t tear this
down! There’s too much history here. It’s a lovely old building, and we’re a young state
and we need to preserve our history.” And I went on like that. So Art left and went over to
the Capitol, and Dan happened to be having a press conference. He said, “Governor, I just
was visiting Nancy and she said she’s definitely against it. What do you think?” And Dan
said, “Well, I guess I’m against it too.” (laughing) Words to that effect: “If she’s against it,
I’m against it.” He’s well trained.
Hughes: I think this is a good marriage! This guy Evans was real smart on his feet.
Evans: He knew when to accede to my wishes. So, in a way, that was the beginning
because the talk (about tearing the Mansion) was always there – for several years – and
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