The core of White Center’s business district along 16th Ave S.W. has a unique upgrade popping up along the sidewalks: handcrafted bike racks built by a local blacksmith with a passion for promoting self-propelled transportation and community pride.

Take a walk along 16th in White Center and you’ll find newly installed bike racks in front of Full Tilt Ice Cream, Proletariat Pizza, Café Delia (sharing the space with Proletariat) and the King County Sheriff’s deputy storefront. More are planned with Company Bar and Big Al Brewing signing up for the upgrade.

While utilitarian in function, these are not you’re everyday county-issued bike racks (those already on 16th are mostly bent and loose from repeated car taps). They blur the lines between function and art with sunray-like extensions projecting from logos atop each rack.

Matthew Tilton of Tilton Fine Metalsmithing in South Delridge is the man behind the work. Tilton said he moved his shop from Georgetown to South Delridge about a half year ago and started spending time on 16th, specifically at Company Bar co-owned by a close friend Jesse Lovell.

As he got to know business owners, community members and White Center’s new storefront deputy BJ Myers, Tilton said he started to share his passion for biking with Lovell, Mike Albaeck from Proletariat, Justin Cline from Full Tilt and Delia MacFadden from Café Delia.

And one day the idea was born. Tilton proposed the artisan bike racks at a reasonable price ($300 installed) and the four White Center business owners jumped at the idea.

KCSO storefront Deputy BJ Myers saw Tilton at the Company Bar one night several weeks ago and told him how great he thought they were.

And then another idea was born. Tilton said a group of loose knit community members (including the business owners mentioned above) pooled their resources to build one more rack. It happened to have a sheriffs-type star insignia and happened to be installed in front of the storefront deputy’s office.

While King County cannot accept gifts or donations, Tilton made it clear the rack was a gift to the community, not the county. He also made it clear the community is thrilled with Deputy Myers and his approach to policing White Center with a preference for relationship building and addressing root causes of crime, rather than sending a steady stream of people to jail.

In an email, Deputy Myers shared his discovery of the new bike rack:
"Tonight, my wife and I were in White Center for a slice of pizza and I noticed one of Matt’s racks was installed in front of the storefront! The rack is customized with a silver star in the middle and looks great. I stopped in at a couple businesses and asked if anyone knew anything about it. Word quickly got back to Matt that I was looking for him so he came and found me at Proletariat. He said that a couple weeks ago a group consisting of people from Full Tilt, Company Bar, and Proletariat, and perhaps others pitched in to buy the materials for a bike rack to put in front of the Sheriff’s Office White Center Store front. Matt said he and an accomplice installed the rack late last night. They even had a group of people volunteering to be lookouts for patrol cars that might catch them!
The bike rack looks great and I believe it associates us with others in the neighborhood behind the cause of encouraging bicycle transportation. I am also moved by the way in which they did it. What a great community to be a part of."

As any self-employed artist would, Tilton envisions neighborhoods through the Seattle area installing his customized bike racks to encourage bike travel and community pride.

Burien resident Maureen Hoffman heads a group that is planning similar installations in her city.

In the meantime, Tilton’s just pleased to be living in the White Center area and has more plans in the works, including a free bike program where they find and fix dilapidated bikes, paint them “ugly” colors and place them in the community for anyone to use. The key: once you’re done, just leave the bike for the next person who might need it.

“I really like the level of community activism going on – people are really trying from all corners," to improve White Center, he said.

Anyone interested in customized bike racks or other metalsmithing needs can contact Tilton at 206-334-3084 or tiltonfinemetals@gmail.com.