Aaron Barna/For The Olympian
Second Use Building Materials employees Creighton Rose and Mary Horton help Steve Wilcox (left), who was the first customer to return after reopening Thursday for the first time since the Feb. 28 earthquake.

Building suppliers rebuilding

Second Use and Windfall bounce back

JOHN DODGE, THE OLYMPIAN

OLYMPIA -- Two Olympia businesses opened their back door to customers Thursday for the first time since the Nisqually Earthquake.

The entire storefront at 208 Thurston Ave. is gone, heavily damaged in the Feb. 28 quake and is slated to be rebuilt over the next two weeks.

Meanwhile, Second Use Building Materials and Windfall Lumber & Milling want their clients to know that they have persevered through the earthquake and are now temporarily welcoming customers through the back door.

"For now, our backyard is our front yard," Second Use co-owner Scott Royer said.

Inside, the 7,000-square-foot warehouse looks much like it did before the big shaker: chock full of recycled building materials and lumber.

The first customer in the door Thursday was Steve Wilcox. He's building a commercial kitchen at the Olympia Farmers Market with kitchen materials supplied by Second Use.

"I'm glad to see them back up and running," Wilcox said.

Once the front facade is rebuilt to seismic code, the back of the building -- which consists of nonreinforced bricks -- will be torn down and rebuilt as well.

"We're going to get it done as fast as we can," vowed building owner Steve Parrot.

Royer said hundreds of supporters have called Second Use and Windfall Lumber since the earthquake knocked them out of business.

"We're going to end up with a better building and a more secure space," Royer said.

In addition, the business has arranged to lease the lot behind the building to store building supplies, freeing up space in the warehouse.

"The business is here to stay," Royer said of the two-year-old enterprise, which includes six employees.

John Dodge covers the environment for The Olympian. He can be reached at 754-5444.

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