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 Waterfront Historic Preservation |
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May 2013 Followup
Waterfront Historic Preservation by Wendy Harris Historic preservation of deteriorating brick structures and buildings that remain on the waterfront site has been a past source of conflict between the city and port. The city wanted to preserve the site’s original history through adaptive reuse and preservation of remaining structures. The port viewed these buildings as unsafe and financially unsalvageable, and wanted to raze the buildings and structure. In October, 2008 the city successfully sued the port to prevent demolition pending further analysis. In 2010, the city and port obtained a Waterfront District Adaptive Reuse Assessment.1 While the Assessment identified four structures as potentially viable for adaptive reuse, it determined that the buildings were unlikely to offer a return in investment over the next 10 years, while noting that markets are difficult to predict and could change over the long term. These results were incorporated into Waterfront District Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and the Waterfront District Sub-Area Plan, effectively nullifying the legal restriction against port demolition.2 The Old Granary Building, the Board Mill Building and the Alcohol Building (East portion) are on “temporary hold” for future market assessment. The chip bins, ceramic tank and digestor tanks are on “temporary hold” for demolition for future assessment (Sub-Area Plan, Figure 4-3). Our current mayor is not a strong supporter of waterfront historic preservation due to concerns that the costs outweigh the benefits and that continuing conflict will prevent waterfront development from moving forward. She notes that the port has authority over site management and determines whether or not structures will be demolished. In 2012, a public interest group, consisting of citizens, historians, architects and city council members, began advocating to save the Old Granary Building. The building was used by the Washington Cooperative Egg and Poultry Association in the early part of the 1900’s and was the state’s first agricultural co-operative. The port’s proposed development on the site reflects a road where the Granary Building is currently located. Mike Stoner, the port’s environmental director, initially determined that the Granary Building had decayed to the point of creating a serious public health risk and that it could not be saved. After public officials and interested citizens organized a Granary Building tour, covered by the media, the structural integrity of the building was determined to be stronger than originally estimated. The port solicited proposals for site redevelopment that allowed, but did not require, adaptive reuse of the Granary. Some proposals were received that included building restoration, but the port has no deadline for making a decision. In the meanwhile, it is doing nothing to protect waterfront structures such as the Granary Building from greater decay, thereby increasing the necessity for future demolition. The city’s Historic Preservation Committee reviewed the revised waterfront plans and issued a comment letter on March 28, 2013.3 It requested that the waterfront planning documents reflect stronger language favoring historic preservation and adaptive reuse, removal of the term “temporary hold,” restriction on the port’s power to demolish, rerouting of streets around historic sites, and encouragement of historic registry listing. It requested that actions be taken to protect the existing building and structure to ensure no greater deterioration would occur. Because of the influence of council member Jack Weiss, and the clout of members of the advocacy group, I believe this is one of few waterfront planning issues that may be influenced by public input. The ultimate outcome remains unknown, and the Granary Building has come close to demolition on a few occasions. 1. http://www.cob.org/documents/planning/newwhatcom/2009-12-15-waterfront-adaptive-reuse-assessment.pdf 2. Waterfront District Final Environmental Impact Statement, July 2010, at http://portofbellingham.com/DocumentCenter/Home/View/417; Waterfront District Sub-Area Plan, 2012 at http://www.cob.org/documents/planning/waterfront/2012-12-17-entire-subarea-plan.pdf. |