Downtown Olympia Building Demolition Scheduled

Downtown Olympia Building Demolition Scheduled

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Above: City demolition has begun of the former GHB Insurance office building and the Little Da Nang Restaurant, seen here, on the corner of 4th and Water Street in downtown Olympia. The building is adjacent to the popular Heritage Fountain. Photo taken December 5, 2015.

Draft City Parks Plan Deadline For Public Comment on Friday

By Janine Gates

www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

The fences are up, the equipment is in place, and building demolition has begun on the southwest corner of 4th and Water Street in downtown Olympia across from Percival Landing. 

The buildings housed the former GHB Insurance business and Little Da Nang Restaurant. The city cleared vacant buildings on two acres of the west part of the isthmus in late November.

“The Heritage Fountain was envisioned to encompass the entire block, so the city acquired these two sites as they became available,” Kip Summers, City of Olympia’s Parks, Arts and Recreation project manager told Little Hollywood on Wednesday.

“The city purchased the GHB Insurance site in 1997, which was the same time it purchased the properties that are now Heritage Fountain. The city purchased the Little Da Nang restaurant site in 2007,” he said.

“The intent was to continue renting the buildings until major repairs were needed. That time has come and the buildings were in need of new roofs, heating systems, and other miscellaneous repairs. Therefore, we decided it best to remove the buildings, rather than invest money into structures that are ultimately slated for demolition,” said Summers.

Building demolition is expected to take two weeks.

The next development for the site is still in question. The site is part of the City’s Community Renewal Area (CRA) Water Street Redevelopment Request for Proposals. That request is on the city’s website at http://olympiawa.gov/city-government/rfp-and-rfq.aspx

For more information about the project, contact Kip Summers, City of Olympia, (360) 570-5834 or ksummers@ci.olympia.wa.us

Above: Demolition equipment appeared to be ready on Saturday to take down the vacant, nine story Mistake on the Lake, also known as the Capitol Center Building in downtown Olympia. Equipment was instead ready to demolish the buildings on the corner of 4th and Water Street. 

Park Plan Public Comment Deadline

The public comment deadline for the city’s 2016 draft Parks, Arts, and Recreation plan is Friday, Dec 11th at 5:00 p.m. The Plan is available at www.olympiawa.gov/parksplan.  

Public comments can be made in the following ways: e-mail comments to jturlove@ci.olympia.wa.us or olympiaparks@ci.olympia.wa.us or at www.olyspeaks.org.

The Parks, Arts and Recreation Plan provides a 20-year vision for parks, arts and recreation. The plan identifies the general location of future parks and open space, and includes a capital investment strategy. The draft 2016 Parks, Arts and Recreation Plan proposes acquisition of 417 acres of new park land, an increase of more than 25 percent to Olympia’s existing 16-mile trail inventory; elimination of the existing four million major maintenance backlog and more.

For more information about the Plan, contact Jonathon Turlove, Associate Planner, City of Olympia, at jturlove@ci.olympia.wa.us or (360) 753 - 8068.

Going…Going…Almost Gone: Demolition of Blight on the Isthmus

Going…Going…Almost Gone: Demolition of Blight on the Isthmus

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Above: Building demolition today in downtown Olympia across from Bayview Market opened up the view to the Capitol Building.

 

By Janine Unsoeld

www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

At long last, building demolition at 505 Fourth Avenue in downtown Olympia across from Bayview Market has begun, facilitated by Seattle-Tacoma based contractor Dickson Company.

According to the City of Olympia, this work is expected to take no more than 10 days and no site improvements are planned or funded.  

In recent years, Olympia acquired two properties on the isthmus at 505 and 529 Fourth Avenue West. Demolition of the second building, the former Thurston County Health Department, will occur in early summer.

This project is a funding partnership of the City of Olympia, Thurston County, and the Olympia Capitol Park Foundation.

But What About The Mistake on the Lake?

The Olympia Capitol Park Foundation sent out a news release in late March detailing progress at and near the site, including the vacant nine story building, the Mistake on the Lake, also known as the Capitol Center Building, which is not currently scheduled for demolition: 

“The City of Olympia asked the state Legislature for help in removing the long vacant Capitol Center building from the Isthmus. The proposed capital budget released this week by the House Capitol Budget Chair recommends an appropriation of $900,000 that may be used to help with acquisition and demolition of the building…. Representatives Sam Hunt, Chris Reykdal, and Senator Karen Fraser are working together in support of getting state support for funds in the capital budget,” said Jerry Reilly, Foundation chair.

“Although the exact costs of acquiring and removing the Capitol Center building cannot be precisely known until a purchase agreement can be reached with the current owner, best estimates are that the cost, including demolition, could be as high as $12 million….

“The Olympia Capitol Park Foundation has already pledged to raise $400,000 in private donations for development of the Capitol Olympic Vista Park. Both the city of Olympia and Thurston County have been outstanding partners in the progress made so far….

 “There are still a variety of opinions as to how to re-develop all of the land on the isthmus….The position of the Olympia Capitol Park Foundation is that the best use is as a publicly owned civic space, with structures, if any, no higher than 35 feet. But, above all, it is most essential to get ownership (site control) of all of the land as soon as possible. The owners of the Capitol Center building want to re-develop it as a hotel. If this happens, we may live with this building for another fifty years and miss the opportunity to perfect the unparalleled view from the Capitol campus to Puget Sound and the Olympic mountains beyond as envisioned by Capitol designers Wilder and White and the Olmsted brothers a century ago. Our immediate goal is to get the site “down and green” or “down and clean” and then have an open community process to decide what comes next.” 

The Olympia Capitol Park Foundation was established in 2008 as a 501(c) (3) non-profit corporation. Contributions to the Foundation are tax deductible charitable gifts under the federal Internal Revenue Code. Undesignated or general donations will be used for land acquisition, park development, and/or related expenses, such as operations or publicity. Donations for Land and Park Acquisition will be used to acquire some or all of the land and also for park development.

For more information, contact Jerry Reilly, Chair, Olympia Capitol Park Foundation, at vistapark@capitolvistapark.org or mail donations to Capitol Vista Park, PO Box 1964, Olympia, WA 98507.

For more information about the demolition from the City of Olympia, contact Brett Bures, Project Manager, at (360) 753-8290.

Above: Looking northwest from Simmons Street, on-site building demolition workers knocked off today about 4:00 p.m.