Another location that I stalked while visiting the Pacific Northwest this past May – and yes, there are still quite a few of them that I have yet to blog about – was Seattle’s famously unique Gas Works Park, the spot where Patrick Verona (aka Heath Ledger) took Kat Stratford (aka Julia Stiles) to play a game of paintball in the 1999 movie 10 Things I Hate About You.  I found this location, as well as countless other 10 Things I Hate About You locations, from fellow stalker Owen, who has managed to compile a mind-bogglingly massive list of Seattle-area filming locales over the past few years.  And I can honestly say that Gas Works Park is easily the most interesting and unique of all of the locations that I stalked while vacationing in Washington State.  Actually, come to think of it, the park is quite possibly the most unique and interesting of all the locations I have ever visited in my entire stalking career!  The place is truly incredible. 

Gas Works Park, as the name implies, was originally a gasification plant established by the Seattle Gas Company in 1906 to manufacture gas from coal.   The plant was one of Seattle’s main sources of power until 1956 when the city began using natural, instead of “town” – or synthetically produced – gas, at which point the plant was shuttered.  In 1962, the City of Seattle purchased the property for a cool $1,340,000 with the intention of turning the space into a public park.  Enter award-winning landscape architect Richard Haag who was brought in to transform the area into a place of recreation and beauty, which he indeed did, later winning the American Society of Landscape Architects Presidents Award Design of Excellence for the project.  In an unprecedented move, because the property was the only gasification plant still in existence in the U.S., Haag decided to preserve the seemingly-ugly and utilitarian equipment and incorporate them into his park design.  And while a park that features old gas generator towers and rusted boiler rooms might not sound appealing, what Haag left us with is a truly stunning mix of industry and nature. 

So stunning, in fact, that it has become a popular Seattle wedding venue, as unlikely as that might seem.  As you can see in the above photograph, one was even being set up while we were stalking the place.

Part of what makes the 20.5-acre park, which is both a Seattle City Landmark and a Washington State Landmark, so spectacular is its amazing views of Lake Union, Downtown Seattle, and the Space Needle.

And, as fellow stalker Kerry pointed out, the park also boasts a perfect water-side view of the Sleepless in Seattle houseboat.  So incredibly cool!

Thanks to the park’s unique architecture, it should come as no surprise that filmmakers have returned there time and time again to shoot various productions.  In 10 Things I Hate About You, Patrick takes Kat to Gas Works Park to play paintball after she sneaks him out of detention and it is there that the couple shares their first kiss.  In real life, the park does not actually feature a paintball area, though.

You can watch the 10 Things I Hate About You paintball scene by clicking above.

In the 1992 movie Singles, Gas Works Park is the location where Linda Powell (aka The Closer’s Kyra Sedgwick) says yes to Steve Dunne’s (aka Campbell Scott’s) marriage proposal.

In the 1989 movie Three Fugitives, the park is the spot where Ned Perry’s (aka Martin Short’s) daughter, Meg (aka Sarah Rowland Doroff), speaks for the first time.

Gas Works Park was also featured twice on the reality television series The Amazing Race.  It first appeared as the finish line for the final competition in Season 3 and was later used as the starting point in the very first competition in Season 10 (pictured above).

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Owen for telling me about this location and to fellow stalker Kerry and her husband Jim for taking me there. 

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 

Stalk It: Gas Works Park, from 10 Things I Hate About You, is located at 2101 North Northlake Way in Seattle, Washington.  The area where the paintball scene was filmed is denoted with a pink “X” in the above aerial view.  The park is open daily from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.  You can visit the official Gas Works Park website here.

Yet another location that I stalked while vacationing in the Pacific Northwest this past May was Tacoma’s Stadium High School – the spot that stood in for Padua High in the 1999 teen comedy 10 Things I Hate About You.  The Grim Cheaper and I, along with our good friends Kerry and Jim, visited this locale on our last day in Washington, whereupon we met up with fellow stalker David and his daughter, Olivia (pictured above), who live in the area.  I was especially excited about stalking this location as it is an absolutely BEAUTIFUL place and is so incredibly unique in its architecture.  When I first watched 10 Things over a decade ago, I was actually convinced that Padua High was a set that had been built solely for the filming.  I was absolutely shocked to discover that the castle-like structure is, indeed, an actual high school in real life.  I cannot even imagine being lucky enough to spend four years attending classes in a place like that!  Sigh!

Stadium High School, which is located in the Stadium District of Tacoma, was first built in 1891 and was originally conceived as a luxury hotel which was set to be named either the Olympic or the Tourist.  The hotel was commissioned by the Northern Pacific Railroad Company and the Tacoma Land Company and was designed by the Philadelphia-area architectural firm of Hewitt and Hewitt.  Thanks to the Panic of 1893 and the Northern Pacific Railroad Company’s subsequent bankruptcy, though, construction on the French Renaissance-style hotel was abruptly stopped later that same year.  The building, which at the time consisted of little more than a roof and exterior walls, was then turned into a lumber storage facility for the struggling railroad company.  On October 11, 1898, disaster struck when a mysterious fire broke out at the unfinished structure, gutting the property completely.  Shortly following the fire, the city made plans to demolish the decrepit building, until the Tacoma School District stepped in and purchased it on February 19, 1904.  Architect Frederick Heath immediately set about transforming the vacant structure into a useable high school and on September 10, 1906, the then-named Tacoma High School opened its doors to its first students. 

Three years later, Heath set about construction on a 2.5-acre, 32,000-seat stadium on a bluff situated adjacent to the school that overlooks the ocean.  The new stadium was completed in 1910 and was given the name Stadium Bowl.  The school’s name was eventually changed to Stadium High School in honor of the newly-built structure.  The Bowl has been the site of numerous special events and speaking engagements over the years.  Louis Armstrong once performed there and everyone from Baby Ruth to presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson have given speeches on the premises. 

Stadium High School, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977, is absolutely breathtaking in person.  With its limestone and brick edifice, wrought iron detailing, and majestic views of Commencement Bay, I am extremely surprised that more productions have not found their way to the campus.

The 10 Things I Hate About You crew spent six weeks shooting on location in Tacoma, dividing their time between the Stratford house, which I blogged about last month, and Stadium High School.  Interestingly enough, according to an August 1998 News Tribune article (which I unfortunately cannot link to as the Tribune does not allow free access to its archives), the movie was originally set to be filmed right here in Los Angeles, but when the flick’s location scouts saw photographs of Stadium High School, they decided its look was perfect for their modern-day Shakespeare adaptation and the entire shoot was moved north.  I find it so incredibly cool that an entire production was moved over 1,000 miles all because of one single location!

Stadium High School was used extensively throughout 10 Things I Hate About You.  The areas of the school that were featured in the flick include the front entrance . . .

. . . and, according to one of the teachers that I spoke with while there, a few real life interiors – including the counselor’s office, the library, several classrooms, and a hallway.

Sadly though, the school’s interior was given an extensive facelift in 2006 and no longer looks the same as it did in the movie.

Stadium Bowl is the area of the school that was most memorably featured in 10 Things, though, and I am happy to report that it looks pretty much exactly the same today as it did back in June of 1998, when the movie was filmed.  The Bowl first appeared in the scene in which Michael (aka David Krumholtz) accidentally rides his dirt bike off of a cliff.

It was later used in the scene in which Patrick Verona (aka Heath Ledger) – along with the Padua High School band – serenades Kat Stratford (aka Julia Stiles) with the Frankie Valli song “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”, which has to be one of my VERY favorite scenes in ALL of moviedom.  Unfortunately, there is a large, locked fence which now surrounds the stadium, so I was not able to venture onto the bleachers to re-enact Patrick’s serenade.  Such a bummer as that was one of the things I had most wanted to do while in Washington! 

You can watch the serenade scene by clicking above.

And in a bit of trivia that fellow stalker David clued me into – the band Letters to Cleo was actually on the real life roof of Stadium High playing “I Want You To Want Me” during the filming of the movie’s final scene.  And here I thought that whole segment had been shot in front of a green screen!  So incredibly cool!

According to IMDB, the school was also featured in the 1990 romantic comedy I Love You To Death.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 

Stalk It: Stadium High School from 10 Things I Hate About You is located at 111 North E Street in Tacoma, Washington.  In the movie, Heath Ledger danced in the southern portion of Stadium Bowl’s bleachers, in the area depicted by the pink circle in the above aerial view.  Please remember that this location is a school and that it should not be stalked during operating hours when children are present.  And please remember to always get permission from the front office before setting foot on any school campus.

Another location that I stalked while visiting the Pacific Northwest this past May was a famous Seattle-area sculpture known as the Fremont Troll, which appeared in a brief scene in the 1999 teen comedy 10 Things I Hate About You.  The Troll, which weighs two tons and was built out of wire, ferroconcrete, and rebar steel, lurks under Seattle’s Aurora Bridge and measures eighteen feet tall.  It was originally constructed in 1990 over a period of seven weeks by four local artists named Steve Badanes, Will Martin, Donna Walter, and Ross Whitehead.  At the time, the area under the bridge had become a haven for drug dealers and other miscreants, so in 1989, with the hopes of cleaning up the space, the Fremont Art Council sponsored a national contest for artists to create a piece of work which would be displayed there permanently.  The menacing-looking Troll, which is also known as the Troll Under the Bridge and was inspired by the well-known children’s fairy tale Three Billy Goats Gruff, was the winning design and has since become a Seattle-area icon, so much so that it even has its very own Facebook page!

I found out about this location from fellow stalker Owen, who somehow managed to track down every single locale which appeared in 10 Things I Hate About You.  To be honest, I wasn’t actually all that keen on stalking it, though.  It looked a bit odd online and since it had only been featured for a few brief seconds in the movie, I didn’t think it was a very blog-worthy location.  As it turns out, though, I couldn’t have been more wrong.  The mixed media sculpture, while not necessarily beautiful, is incredibly unique and I am so, so glad that my good friend and fellow stalker Kerry ended up taking me there.  If you happen to be in the area, I can’t recommend stalking it enough!  My favorite aspects of the Troll are the fact that its left eye consists of an old hubcap and its left hand is clasping an actual Volkswagen Beetle.  Not kidding!  Apparently, the car once boasted a California license plate and also housed a time capsule filled with Elvis Presley memorabilia, but both had to later be removed due to vandalization of the sculpture.

In 10 Things I Hate About You, the Troll is the site of the scene in which Cameron James (aka Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Bianca Stratford (aka Larisa Oleynik) discuss how to get her sister, Kat Stratford (aka Julia Stiles), to attend an upcoming party.

And while the Troll also appears in a brief scene with Jennifer Aniston in the movie Love Happens, due to scheduling conflicts the actress never actually set foot in Seattle during the filming.  Instead, the rest of the cast and crew traveled there, while a body double stood in for Jennifer and kept her back to the camera during the scene.  Her stand-in is pictured in the grey hat in the screen capture above.  Ah, the magic of Hollywood!

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Owen for finding this location! 

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 

Stalk It: The Fremont Troll, from 10 Things I Hate About You and Love Happens, is located on the corner of Troll Avenue North and North 36th Street, directly underneath the north end of Aurora Bridge in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle, Washington.