Two years ago this week, Seattle arts promoter-patron Su Job died from a fast-debilitating illness.

Now, the art-space building she managed and nurtured for more than 15 years is threatened.

619 Western is a gallery and/or workspace for more than 100 artists, as it has been since 1979. It is one of the principal stops along the First Thursday art crawl.

It is a gorgeous century-old rustic warehouse structure, its six stories divvied into labyrinths of large and small spaces.

And it’s got Seattle’s third coolest public elevator (after those of the Smith Tower and the Space Needle).

All this is threatened by the deep-bore tunnel project, to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

The state doesn’t want to tear down 619. But it wants to dig beneath it.

619 is an old building, built on top of fill dirt. As any Pioneer Square Underground Tour patron knows, the ground in the area was filled in during the early 20th century.

The state is wary that 619, in its current condition, might not survive being dug beneath.

So: If the tunnel dig proceeds, 619 will have to be evacuated in early 2012. After that, it would either be torn down or expensively rehabbed; probably out of the artists’ price range.

Some of the artists have started an effort to find new digs.

But I say: Let’s save the place.

So does Cheryl dos Remedios at Great City, the civic progress group Mayor McGinn used to belong to. She wants the Seattle arts community to organize for 619 and other tunnel-threatened structures. (She’s writing on her own behalf; Great City has not taken an official stance on the tunnel.)

As longtime readers know, I haven’t taken an official stance on the tunnel myself. I’ve wanted to save the viaduct; but I’ve been willing to listen to the argument that saving it’s not cost effective.

Now, I’m firmly on the anti-tunnel side.