CSO Club Years: 720 SE Pioneer Way in WWII
During World War II, 720 SE Pioneer Way was converted from a closed Chevy dealership to a USO Club. With concrete walls and floors, talented young artists who’d enlisted in the Navy painted vibrant murals on the social space. After WWII, as the space converted to retail units housing the original Casual House and came under the ownership of John and Myrtle Allgire, the murals were covered by walls, protecting the art from scratches. John Allgire made sure to leave documentation of one mural in particular, the mural above depicting US Navy fighters downing Nazi subs and planes over the Puget Sound.
From Kiro Radio’s historian, Felix Banel,”In 1942, not long after the U.S. Navy first established Naval Air Station Whidbey nearby, the old auto shop building became a USO Club, a place for sailors to relax and socialize.
Sometime in 1944, one of the sailors from the Navy base – a 19-year-old radio operator from Swanton, Ohio, named Frank D. Griffin – painted a dramatic aerial and naval battle scene on the concrete back wall of the club.” Frank Griffin was a contemporary of Walt Disney, competing on cartoon competitions prior to Walt’s Disney Company, alternately placing 1st or 2nd in the competitions (according to Griffin’s daughter). Griffin was also the creator of the famous “black cat” icon on many WWII era Navy planes.
Inside 720 SE Pioneer Way, the three or more known murals are carefully tucked away behind walls and are, in part, inspiration for the gallery of murals on display on the exterior of the Allgire Project.
