Mike Salsbury/The Olympian
Second Use Building Supplies owner Scott Royer (left) unloads items for sale brought in by Olympia residents Mamie Selder and William Rinke on Tuesday. Royer leased a back lot adjacent to the building after the earthquake damaged the front of the building.

Downtown businesses picking up the pieces

How recovery is proceeding at several key buildings

SCOTT WYLAND AND MICHAEL BURNHAM, THE OLYMPIAN

OLYMPIA -- A little bit of earthquake history is displayed at Childhood's End Gallery in the form of a crack snaking across a bathroom wall.

The crack first appeared during the 1949 quake, lengthened during the 1965 quake and lengthened again during the Nisqually Earthquake.

"We've got a little bit of a timeline," gallery owner Richenda Richardson said. "We're thinking about painting in dates."

The Feb. 28 quake inflicted no other damage on the building other than shattering a front window already damaged by pellet-gun shots. However, the earthquake destroyed almost $20,000 in gallery items, Richardson said.

Childhood's End is one of dozens of downtown businesses that were affected by the Nisqually Earthquake. Here's an update on some of the others that have been in the news:

Second Use Building Materials

Second Use Building Materials will come away with a renovated building, its lease renewed for at least three years, and a larger yard for keeping materials.

Building owner Steve Parrot has agreed to rebuild the structure's front facade and back, add an office and install new lighting.

The renovation is scheduled to be finished in June. Parrot said no estimates have been made about the project's cost.

Second Use co-owner Scott Royer will lease an adjacent 13,000-square-foot lot from Mac Willie, owner of Olympia Towing Co. The extra storage space was sorely needed, Royer said.

"So we'll end up with a better situation than we had before," Royer said. "We had to turn it into something good."

State library

The Washington State Library appears to have survived the quake with no major damage to the building, state librarian Nancy Zussy said.

"Largely it rode the waves pretty well," Zussy said. "Libraries have a lot of rebar in them."

The state Department of General Administration has submitted a damage estimate of $545,000 to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Most of the damage seems cosmetic, such as cracks etched around the areas where columns and ceiling beams meet, Zussy said.

However, Zussy said, some cracks around her office and the upstairs conference room look more severe.

A FEMA inspector will look through the building to ensure that the earthquake inflicted no permanent damage, Zussy said.

Meanwhile, portions of the State Law Library will remain closed for another month, said Karen Bishop, the library's business manager.

During the earthquake, shelves tipped into shelves like dominoes. Although 23 shelves were damaged, the building was unscathed.

Bank and annex

Developer Steve Cooper estimates $1.5 million in quake damage to his 1914 Washington Federal Savings bank building and its 1923 annex along the 100 block of Fifth Avenue.

The quake shook free the entire half-block of terra cotta cornice that lined the top of the bank, showering Cooper's curbside Cadillac with debris.

Cooper's golden retriever in the back seat was unharmed.

Business also was back to normal fairly soon.

"All of our tenants were back in, and we had it approved for occupancy the Monday after the quake," Cooper said.

The building's roofline has been stripped free of loose debris, but scaffolding and blue plastic tarps still line the outside.

Cooper said he hopes to have the building and its annex 90 percent repaired by late October. The heavy terra cotta cornice atop the building's columns will be replaced with a synthetic twin that is ten times lighter.

"It's going to look exactly the same if things go right for us," Cooper said.

The bank's annex was far less damaged, with repair costs estimated between $20,000 and $40,000.

Anne deMarcken of Wovie, a new media company housed in the annex, said her office was quietly buzzing with work the day after the quake.

"But it took us about two weeks to feel as if we were back to normal because of all of the cleanup along our street," deMarken said. "I definitely think of the quake every time I look at the corner of the (Washington Federal) building."

The Olympian Apartments

Tom Anderson, manager of the historic Olympian Apartments building on Washington Street, said life is back to normal for the structure's residents and workers.

"All the residents are back in," said Anderson, whose 42 low-income tenants were displaced after the quake when the building -- built in 1919 -- was red-tagged.

The building was upgraded to a yellow tag, or limited entry status, four days after the quake. It remained yellow-tagged for 13 days, Anderson said.

The building, which is on the National Register of Historic Places and used to be the site of governors' inaugural balls, suffered major damage that included a collapsed elevator and severe cracks along the southeast corner.

"When you walk by the side of the building, you can hardly tell there was a quake," Anderson said of ongoing repair work. "I think we came through all right."

The building could be completely repaired by the end of May, he said.

Ramada Inn

Downtown Olympia's Ramada Inn Governor House on Capitol Way sustained an estimated $4 million in earthquake damage, said the hotel's general manager, Sandra Miller.

The quake caused piping from an 800-gallon hot water tank atop the high-rise to rupture, flooding the building.

"The majority of the damage is water damage," Miller said.

The hotel still bears a yellow tag, which allows limited entry. Miller said about 40 of the hotel's 45 employees are unable to work.

She hopes to reopen 75 of the hotel's 125 rooms by May 1.

"It's been very trying," Miller said. "A hotel is a 24-hour business. It's very odd to have the ... building closed down."

Capitol Theater

Capitol Theater representatives could not be reached for comment Monday or Tuesday.

The quake caused major structural damage to the historic theater, which hosts the Olympia Film Society. Full occupancy is still prohibited.

But a phone recording tells callers that theater officials hope to have it reopened by mid-April.

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