Mike Salsbury/The Olympian
Damage to the Fourth Avenue bridge is evident Friday afternoon as workers assess the impact of Wednesday's earthquake.

Mike Salsbury The Olympian
A small crowd gathers in downtown Olympia on Friday as parts of the Washing-ton Federal Savings building facade is removed.

Buildings will stay standing

Downtown Olympia spared wrecking ball

MICHAEL BURNHAM, THE OLYMPIAN

OLYMPIA -- No downtown buildings will have to be be demolished as a result of Wednesday's earthquake, the city's chief building inspector declared Friday.

After three exhausting days in which 177 buildings were examined, Olympia building official Brian Washko made the announcement at an afternoon meeting for state officials and business owners and employees from some of downtown's most damaged buildings.

"I have not seen any buildings that will be demolished, which is good news," Washko said. "We want to keep that historical downtown feel."

His announcement drew applause from the crowd.

Even buildings that appeared to be the most damaged -- such as the Olympian Apartments in the old Olympia Hotel -- can be repaired, Washko said.

Despite that good news, the number of buildings to which access was restricted continued to climb, the result of the strongest South Sound earthquake in 52 years.

Buildings in downtown Olympia received most of the red tags, prohibiting entry until structural reviews are completed.

In addition, downtown was home to 48 additional buildings that received yellow tags, which allow limited entry to buildings.

"It changes by the minute," said a fatigued Assistant City Manager Steve Hall on Friday night.

During the course of the day, city officials had moved three more buildings to limited-entry status.

The Martin Building at 505 Washington Street was moved to yellow status.

The Lynch Building at 501 Fourth Avenue E. and the Heilig Meyer building at 705 Fourth Avenue E. were moved to red status.

Officials removed traffic barricades along Washington Street from Fifth Avenue to Legion Way and moved four buildings from yellow to green status. Green status allows normal access.

Despite the good news, questions linger.

What will the city do about parking and traffic problems? When can stores with tags open? How will downtown cope with mounting business losses?

Days ahead

For 45 seconds, the earth trembled. Sidewalks, walls and windows buckled, crashed and crumbled.

Olympia was humbled.

"I'm trying to get downtown open as fast as possible so it looks as normal as possible for downtown businesses," Washko said.

It could be a matter of days until full access is restored to some structures, as building officials slog through the laundry list of structural evaluations, city Community Development Coordinator Ken Black said.

"Some of the (timing) depends on how soon we get structural engineer reports from the owners," Community Planning and Development Director Subir Mukerjee said.

State Department of Employment Security officials told workers who attended the meeting that state-administered federal unemployment insurance is available.

Those dislodged from their workplaces are eligible for weekly benefits as high as $478 through Sept. 1.

The application process takes about a week.

Some business owners said that poses immediate problems.

"I'm not going to let my employees go without wages for a week," said Joan Machlis, an owner of downtown's Wind Up Here toy store.

The toy shop, which was issued a yellow tag, could be open within a week.

The time in between is costly, Machlis said.

"I'm not hearing of any resources that will help us," Machlis added. "We're a small business, and a week is a lot of business to us."

For many, rebuilding will include help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which can administer low-interest loans to quake victims.

FEMA is opening an office at 625 Black Lake Boulevard on the city's west side to help residents and business owners. Loans with interest rates as low as 4 percent can be paid off over a 30-year period.

Federal and state assistance may pay 75 percent of emergency service costs associated with the quake, officials with the state emergency operations center at Camp Murray said.

Business owners wondered if the assistance will be enough to overcome the problem of limited downtown access.

Car trouble

The quake rendered both the Fourth Avenue bridge and Deschutes Parkway unuseable, leaving the Fifth Avenue bridge as the sole link between downtown and the west side.

As city code officials met with business owners, U.S. Rep. Brian Baird, D-Vancouver, surveyed the damage to the Fourth Avenue bridge and downtown buildings.

Baird said he is working with the National Marine Fisheries Service to expedite the environmental permit process for construction of a new bridge.

Though a new bridge is needed now, city Councilwoman Holly Gadbaw said nature could force the city to take its time.

City officials have tried to make sure that construction does not harm salmon migrations along the Deschutes River.

"We've got to make sure that whatever we do does not make us liable," Gadbaw said. "I don't think the money's the problem. It's the time of year ... salmon are migrating."

Without the Fourth Avenue bridge and Deschutes Parkway, which handle about 30,500 daily vehicle trips between east and west Olympia through downtown, business owners and city officials are drumming up ways to lure shoppers back.

Some asked for more free parking Friday.

Gadbaw suggested that county bus provider Intercity Transit offer free shuttle service.

And city officials are still about two or three weeks away from designating detours, Olympia Transportation Division Manager David Riker said.

"We ask that the public look at car-pooling, transit and other modes of transportation," Riker said.

County and state officials say that, outside of downtown, South Sound's major roadblocks have been cleared.

"Everything is pretty much back to normal as far as state highways are concerned," Washington State Patrol spokeswoman Ann Briggs said.

A mudslide that blocked northbound lanes of U.S. Highway 101 north of state Route 8 was cleared and all lanes were opened Thursday night, Briggs said.

The mudslide spilled onto Thurston County's Madrona Beach Road. County road crews had cleared the mess and completed all damage assessments by Thursday.

"We really don't have any debris issues at this point," said Bette Schultz, coordinator of the county's emergency operations center. "The city of Olympia has the biggest issues."

Michael Burnham covers Olympia for The Olympian. He can be reached at 704-6869.

On the web:

Olympia Downtown Association.

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