Downtown brims with hope: Association says rebound in offing after tough 2001

The Olympian
Olympia, Washington

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Home Page Stories Tuesday, January 29, 2002

Photos by Mike Salsbury/The Olympian
TOP: Downtown business people gather at Thekla on Monday evening for the annual meeting of the Olympia Downtown Association. BOTTOM: Tim Koehler, co-owner of Selden's Fine Home Furnishings, purchases a raffle ticket from Ashleigh Walton of the Capital Playhouse prior to the start of the meeting.

Downtown brims with hope

Association says rebound in offing after tough 2001

CHRIS CLOUGH, THE OLYMPIAN

OLYMPIA -- Last year was a triple whammy for downtown Olympia -- the Nisqually Earthquake, the Sept. 11 attacks and a recession all rocked the city's economic foundation.

"In 2001, there were a lot of roadblocks that happened, each one with its own issues of how best to deal with it," said Connie Lorenz, coordinator of the Olympia Downtown Association. "There were major challenges, and business plans had to be thrown out with the water."

But, 2002 is looking up.

"Most people are cautiously optimistic." Lorenz said at ODA's annual meeting Monday evening. "Customers are coming downtown and buying things, maybe not the big-ticket items, but enough so that businesses will do well."

The mildly hopeful outlook was shared by many of the 200 or so people gathered at Thekla to talk about what lies ahead for downtown and the association that promotes it.

"Business was a bit down after Sept. 11," said Pit Kwiecinski, owner of Thekla, which housed the event for the third straight year. "But it wasn't as bad as we thought it might be, and it's turning around."

Chris Gowdey, co-owner of Wind Up Here toy store, also said sales are starting to rebound.

"We noticed the sluggish economy in June and that got worse with the Sept. 11 attacks," she said. "But we're definitely looking at a better 2002 than 2001."

Also at the meeting, the ODA elected four members to its board of directors and gave special thanks to outgoing board member Janis Dean, owner of Popinjay. Dean is leaving the board after 13 years of service.

Challenges

Lorenz said quick fixes aren't available for some of the challenges downtown faces, including parking, the continued closure of Deschutes Parkway, ongoing Fourth Avenue bridge construction, the lingering recession and possible cuts to state government. But she said there are plenty of reasons for optimism.

The retail core is strong and businesses are expanding to the port peninsula and downtown's west end.

"The temporary bridge was a big boost in July and was a great accomplishment by the city and everyone involved," she said.

Lorenz also said the city and ODA have been effective at sharing information with the community about the bridge project, mitigation efforts and alternative routes, and that, in turn, has eased some of the possible negative effects.

The ODA continues to support a public-private partnership aimed at building parking garages downtown.

And public safety, as always, ranks high on the ODA's list of initiatives. The loudest applause of the evening was when the Olympia Police Department's walking patrol was introduced to the gathering.

Seattle model

It was a gathering that heard an outside perspective from keynote speaker William Dietrich, director of the Metropolitan Improvement District for the Downtown Seattle Association.

"Seattle can serve as a role model for improvement that the business community might want to make," said Donelle Deuel, ODA event coordinator.

Dietrich administers a $3 million annual budget and said Olympia has changed dramatically since he lived here about 15 years ago.

"There have been big changes with The Washington Center, a vibrant retail district and port development," Dietrich told the crowd. "Olympia's downtown is on the right track to revitalization."

ODA's budget of about $170,000 doesn't match Seattle's resources, but the challenges are much the same, according to Lorenz.

"Seattle is very parallel with what we want to do here, though it's certainly much bigger," Lorenz said. "But cities face the same issues in trying to keep their urban centers viable -- the issues of safety, homelessness, housing and keeping everything vibrant."

For related stories go to the Business section.

ODA mission statement

To preserve and promote downtown Olympia as the commercial, financial, cultural and recreational center of South Sound.

Board members

The Olympia Downtown Association elected four new members to its 20-member board Monday night. The executive officers are:

- President Kerry McHugh, Ken Schoenfeld Furniture

- Vice presidents Jeff Kingsbury, Capital Playhouse; and Kevin Stormans, Stormans Inc., which owns Ralph's and Bayview Thriftways

- Secretary/treasurer Jeanne Carras, Bonaventure Shoes

- Past president Blake Lindskog, Heritage Bank

- Connie Lorenz, ODA coordinator

Membership

There are four categories for ODA membership: