Ebenal is fixing up the century-old Waldron Building by constructing a building within a building.

By LYNN PORTER – Journal Staff Reporter

BELLINGHAM-BASED Waldron Development is doing a major renovation to convert an 1890s brick commercial building in the city’s Fairhaven District to condos.

Work on the four-story building is being done by Ebenal Homebuilders, which is owned by the development company.

The 23,000-square-foot Waldron Building at 1308 12^th St. is being converted to six condos, with retail in the basement and first floor: As part of the $10 million project, Ebenal is constructing 14 condos and ground floor retail to the west of the Waldron, along with 57 underground parking stalls to serve both buildings.

The two-and three-bedroom condos will range from 1,000 to 2,000 square feet and sell from $360,000 to $1.4 million, said Wayne weed, vice president of operation for Waldron Development.

Ebenal is reinforcing the perimeter walls of the Waldron Building with steel and shotcrete. That system is being attached to the interior of the brick façade for a seismic upgrade and to strengthen the structure, Weed said.

“We are actually building a building inside a building,” he said.

Without Ebenal’s efforts, Weed said architects and engineers have estimated that the building would crumble in 10 to 15 years because of deterioration. In doing the work, Ebenal has taken out the west wall of the structure. The wall was in poor condition, it had been repaired so many times it didn’t fit with the character of the rest of the building and removing it helped in the renovation, Weed said. The company is also restoring the enterior façade.

The architect for the project is Hawthorne Haggen Architects.

Weed says he knows of no other Bellingham building that has undergone such an extreme renovation.

Waldron Development is headed by Bonnie and David Ebenal. Weed said it would have been more reasonable to raze the Waldron building and rebuild, but the Ebenal family likes to take on challenging buildings.

When the renovation was started, pigeons were inhabiting the Waldron, he said. The building, which was begun in 1890 by C.W. Waldron, a well-known Fairhaven promoter, had been constructed to house his bank, according to information provided by Weed.

The Building cost C.W. Waldron $33,000 for only the exterior shell roof and finished first floor and basement. The upper three floors were never completed because of the collapse of the Fairhaven economy in 1892.

On Jan 21, 1894, the Waldron Building was gutted by a fire. It has been occupied by businesses over the years, but the upper floors have stood vacant.

The Waldron project was started in January Weed expects it to be completed in the spring of next year.

Lynn Porter can be reached by e-mail at lynn.porter@djc.com or by phone at (206) 622-8272.

Renovation vote key to theater’s calendar

BY AUBREY COHEN - THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

Local officials will decide today whether to go ahead with renovations that would shut Mount Baker Theatre down from April through October next year.

The theater has stayed open for the $2.19 million first phase of work, which features a new multipurpose room and dramatically larger dressing rooms in the now-vacant storefronts on Commercial Street, renovation of the street-facing façade, and some seismic, mechanical and electrical upgrades. That work is expected to be completed in August.

Today, members of the Bellingham-Whatcom Public Facilities District will decide whether to give the green light to the second phase of theater work – about $3 million for new wiring and plumbing, acoustic improvements, and new heating, ventilation, air conditioning and fire alarm systems.

Sales tax would fund district projects

 The Bellingham-Whatcom Public Facilities District will pay for projects with sales tax money that otherwise would go to the state.

The state will give the district 0.033 percent of countywide sales taxes for 25 years. The district plans to issue bonds for as much as $15 million, to be repaid with the tax money.

The list of projects the district is considering would need an additional $40 million. A consultant reported last year that a fund drive could raise $10 million to $15 million during the next three years, and another $20 million to $25 million seven to 10 years later.

Meeting

The Bellingham-Whatcom Public Facilities District will meet at 11 a.m. today in the mayor’s boardroom at City Hall, 210 Lottie St. Details: 676-6979.

Competition could decide museum design

BY AUBREY COHEN - THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

Along with new Mount Baker Theatre renovations, the Bellingham-Whatcom Public Facilities District today will consider holding a design competition for a new Whatcom Children’s Museum and teaching gallery.

Together, a new Children’s Museum and teaching gallery would have about 33,000 square feet and cost about $7.25 million to build. Another $3 million would be set aside in an endowment to cover additional operating costs.

Cramped museum

“We’re desperate for more space throughout the museum system, but especially in the Children’s Museum,” said Thomas Livesay, the director of Whatcom Museum of History & Art.

The Children’s Museum, a division of the Whatcom Museum, has just more than 4,000 square feet, with exhibit space of about 2,800 square feet – the size of many homes. It attracted more than 33,000 children and parents

Cultural Project could raise $40M

BY AUBREY COHEN - THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

The $2.19-million renovation now under way at Mount Baker Theatre is a tiny part of more than $60 million needed for the proposed Centennial Project downtown.

The Bellingham-Whatcom Public Facilities District laid out the work that could follow the theater work last month, after a consultant found the project could raise $30 million to $40 million in two campaigns that would supplement an estimated $30 million in public money.

The facilities district will get a rebate of 0.033 percent of countrywide sales-tax collections (about $850,000 this year) from the state for 25 years. The district plans to issue bonds for up to $15 million, to be repaid from the sales-tax money.

A new Bellingham Public Library is a part of the Centennial Project but could not be paid for with facilities-district money. The library plans to seek its own bond issue next year, about $15 million.

The district hired The Alford Group’s Seattle office to see if the district could raise the $42.5 million needed to pay for the part of Centennial Project that district and library bonds would not cover. The consultants predicted the district could raise $10 million to $15 million from people, businesses, foundations and government sources in an initial campaign, and another $20 million

Two old boilers removed

THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

Blair Griffith is cutting two old boilers, each about the size of a railroad tanker car, into pieces to be carried up the narrow stairs from the basement of Mount Baker Theatre.

The boilers were replaced in the late 1990s with five smaller ones, but remained in the basement. Their removal will make way for storage space and a new boiler.

At first, workers planned to remove the ceiling above the boilers and lift them out, but the room upstairs will be used for shows through the end of the month, said Tom Stieve, site superintendent for Ebenal General, the main contractor on theater renovations.

The old boilers were originally intended to heat the theater and the Bellingham Towers building across Commercial Street, but may never have been used for the neighboring building, said John Tawes, Bellingham’s facilities development manager. A tunnel runs under the street from the theater basement to carry heated steam to Bellingham Towers.

Mount Baker Theatre at a glance

Mount Baker Theatre was designed for movies and vaudeville shows when it opened April 29, 1927. It featured a top-of-the-line Wurlitzer theater pipe organ, a staple for silent-film movie houses.

On opening night, streetcars to the theater were free, a giant spotlight from the battleship USS Oregon beamed from the top of the theater, and a theater cashier was robbed at gunpoint.

Later in 1927, “The Jazz Singer” introduced the talking movie, an event that signaled the death of vaudeville and the need for a full stage in movie theaters.

The 1,509-seat, Spanish-Moorish design theater was placed on the National Historic Landmark Register in 1978.

Sources: Mount Baker Theatre, Carole’s Morris, Bellingham Herald activities.

Theater

The district board has wanted to wait to decide which projects to do, and when to do them, until it knows more about how much money a private fund-raising group expects to bring in, board President Dunham Gooding said.

But Brad Burdick, the theater’s executive director, said he needs to know now whether the work will happen next year, because the theater needs to start booking events for next April through October if the work doesn’t happen.

“We normally book 12 to 18 months in advance,” he said. “We’re turning away potential shows.”

The theater’s busiest season is September to May, so most of the work would take place during the slower times of the year, he said.

Gooding said the question for the district is not whether to do the renovations, but when.

“The needs at the theater are clear,” he said.

The second phase has work that would be less visible than the current construction or a proposed third phase, which would expand the stage and orchestra pit and raise the roof above the stage to accommodate full-scale scenery.

Burdick said the second phase will help preserve the theater for the next 50 years and will improve the theater experience for audience members.

New house lights, to replace the current ones from 1927, will be brighter and have more colors, he said. The theater was designed to have red, amber and green house lighting, but the amber and green lights were replaced with white ones to provide more light, he said.

Further, the theater has no air conditioning and the heating is inconsistent, drawing complaints from cold performers and hot patrons.

“There can literally be a 30-degree difference between the temperature in the front of the stage and the temperature in the balcony,” Burdick said.

The theater was designed for movies and vaudeville shows, which do not have the big sound systems required for many shows that use the space now, Burdick said. Acoustical improvements will keep sound from being too muddy or loud, he said.

Other projects

Last November, the district board decided that projects to follow the first phase of Mount Baker Theatre renovations could include:

• The second and third phases.
• Street improvements in front of the theater, possibly down to Whatcom Museum of History & Art.
• Renovating existing space for museum use, and/or construction of new museum buildings.
• Acquiring other property for cultural facilities.
• Building one or more performing arts facilities, such as a new 600- to 700-seat theater, and a less-formal theater that could seat 200 to 250 people.

 

Reach Aubrey Cohen at aubrey.cohen@bellinghamherald.com or 715-2289.

Present tenants are hoping for more foot traffic

DAVE GALLAGHER

It can be challenge being the first businesses in a new building, but things seem to be picking up in the Young Building in Fairhaven.

Remodeling and construction work was completed months ago at the Waldron and Young buildings, and the first two tenants, Nostalgia and Aisling Eye Wear, were able to open during the winter. It was a tough time to go in, though. Not only were there no other commercial tenants, the condominium also were just starting to full up. Also, the first three months are usually the slowest of the year in Fairhaven, even when the national economy isn’t sluggish.

“I’m certainly looking forward to having some neighbors and some warmer weather,” said Lynn Loewen, owner of Nostalgia, which sells new and used women’s vintage clothes on the 11^th street side of the building. “The weather has been a real stinker for us.”

Of course, there’s no telling when Whatcom County’s weather will actually warm up, but at least Loewen can expect neighbors soon. The Rustic Coffee Bar is expected to be open at the end of June, as is Jimmy’s Personal Care, which does manicures, pedicures and facials.

Donna Heerspink, who is opening Rustic with her husband, Norm, said they are excited to get in and continue filling in the new retail spaces.

“We love the building and this part of town; it’s the kind of spot we’ve been looking for more than a year,” said Heerpink, who opened and still operates a drive-through coffee stand called Muddy Waters in Lynden.

Heerspink said they are going to earthy, warm colors and leather seating to give a nice but laid-back feel to the coffee shop. They’ll have free Wi-Fi and are planning to be open earlier in the morning (possibly starting at 6 a.m.) and to stay open later in the evening (possibly closing at 8 p.m.) than what you typically see in Fairhaven.

“We’re hoping to cater to the local residents, the tourists and students, so we think there is an opportunity to serve them with the longer hours,” Heerspink said.

On the other side of the Young Building, in the newly developed McKenzie Alley, is Aisling, which has been steady customers despite being the only business there, said Kate Sweeney, who owns it with Carrie Vining.

“We’re more of a destination business and people are finding us, but it would be great to have more foot traffic here,” Sweeney said.

Becki Taylor of Windermere Real Estate believes those empty spaces near Aisling will fill up soon. She’s been handling the leasing arrangements for the buildings, and after a few months this winter when they weren’t receiving many inquiries, interest has picked up in the past month. There are no new tenants, but Taylor believes a few are close to signing.

“Many of the potential tenants wanted to wait through the winter and are much more interested in getting started now,” Taylor said.

The tenant space in the upper floor of the Waldron building (facing 12^th Street) is prepped for a restaurant, while the lower level (facing McKenzie Alley) can have a variety of uses, she said.

There are also two retail spaces left in the Young Building.

OTHER TIDBITS

Plato’s Closet, a used clothing store that is moving into Meridian Village, is buying clothes to stock its store. Jeff Swanson, president of Swan Arts Inc. (Which has other Plato’s Closet stores in Washington and Oregon) said they plan to fill the 3,000-square- foot space with about 10,000 clothing items. The store is paying cash for a variety of “slightly used” brand-name clothes, including Abercromie & Fitch, Aeropostale, Limited and Old Navy. The grand opening for the store at 3960 Meridian St. is scheduled for June 5. For more information visit www.platosclosetbellingham.com. … A permit application has been submitted to Bellingham Planning Department for $86,000 in tenant improvements at the Fred Meyer Bakerview shopping center for a new restaurant called Magic Dragon Chinese Eatery.

Retail Tip Sheet runs each Monday. Reach Dave Gallagher at 715-2269 or dave.gallagher@bellinghamherald.com. Visit his business blog online at TheBellinghamHerald.com/blogs.

Proposal run $1 million more than expected

MARY LANE GALLAGHER – THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

BELLINGHAM – Bids to build the city’s new art and children’s museum came in about $1 million higher than expected, but the City Council might be better off awarding the contract now than rejecting the bids and trimming the project, the public facilities district board voted Monday.

The Bellingham-Whatcom Public Facilities District will recommend the City Council accept Ebenal General Construction Inc.’s bid of just less than $11.2 million to build the art and children’s museum, scheduled for construction later this year at 216 Grand Ave.

The only other bid, from Tiger Construction, asked for $80,000 more than Bellingham based Ebenal for the job.

The lowest bid was almost 9.5 percent over the district’s construction estimate of just over $10.2 million.

The bulk of the funding for the museum will come from bonds sold by the public facilities district and guaranteed by the city of Bellingham. An agreement reached this spring called for $11.5 million in bonds, in addition to money from the Museum Society and a private fundraising group, the Campaign for the Arts.

The board at first adopted a resolution Monday to ask the City Council to reject both bids so the district and architects could trim about $500,000 from the budget and quickly put the project back and out to bid. The board had also voted to ask the council to consider backing more bonds to allow the district to cover the difference.

But most board members soon changed their minds.

Both bids were close together, and probably realistic, said Dunham Gooding, board member. And delays are costly, he said. There’s no guarantee that the district wand end up with a smaller project that costs just as much – or more – once it’s put out to bid again, he said.

Western Washington University, for example, rejects construction bids for a new academic building and spent several months scaling down the project. University trustees in February accepted a bid that was slightly higher than the first one, even though they had made an estimated $3 million in cuts. Board members David Warren and Yvonne Bianchi agreed. Board member Charles Self voted no, saying he didn’t want to ask the council to pay for the increase costs without attempting to trim the project.

Board members Dean Brett, Robin Halliday and Brent Walker were absent.

The district will repay the bonds with a tiny sliver of countywide sales tax revenues over the next 25 years. The district’s portion, 0.033 percent, is a rebate of sales tax revenues that would have otherwise gone to the state.

But the district needs the city’s backing to issue the bonds – which means the city must make bond payments if sales tax revenues aren’t enough. If sales tax revenues grow an average of 3.37 percent annually over the next 20 years, the district will safely be able to pay off $11.5 million in bonds. It will need a 4.25 percent growth rate to repay $12 million in bonds.

Sales tax revenues grew an average of 6.5 percent annually between 1997 and 2006, said Alan Dashen, the city’s financial adviser. But the growth was less than 3 percent annually during the first part of that span.

The county’s hot construction climate is probably partly to blame for the high bids, board members were told. A few school building and remodeling projects are in the works, for example, and many large construction companies are tied up with those.

Project architect Stephen Yamada-Heidner said there are several places to find significant cost savings. The children’s museum portion of the building, for example, calls for a ventilation system suited for an art museum to allow for future expansion of art exhibition space.

The building’s “light catcher,” a soaring, curved glass wall that will serve as the main exterior feature, could also be trimmed a bit without lessening its impact, Yamada-Heidner said.

Learning more from the bidders will be important in finding places to trim costs, he said, but the board and the city can’t legally negotiate potential cost savings with bidders until bids are accepted or rejected.

The city is scheduled to decide on the bids at Monday’s meeting.

ART AND CHILDREN’S MUSEUM

Last we knew: Bids were sought for the new art and children’s museum.

The latest: The bids were about $1 million more than expected.

What’s next: On Monday, the Bellingham City Council will discuss whether to accept the higher amount.

 

The international code provides more flexibility in renovating an older building by establishing a point system.

“The IBC gives developers a chance to be more creative in finding solutions that make economic sense without destroying the character of the building,” said Preston Burris, manager of Bellingham’s Development Service division. “For example, a grand central stairway is about the most noncompliant you can have these days, out they are a great part to a lot of older buildings. Putting in a sprinkler system can go a long way in allowing the developer to keeping the stairway.”

The new code’s adoption didn’t necessarily have to do with having old buildings, but it worked out that way, Burris said. The main reason was to have a uniform set of rules across the country.

“There used to be many regional differences, so large company that was expanding into the Pacific Northwest would have different set of rules than they did in the South,” Burris said. “This change was made to eliminate the regional differences.”

LOCAL BUILDING BENEFIT

This flexible has allowed developers to take a chance on Bellingham buildings that have that dormant for decades, such as the Waldron Building in Fairhaven. Ebenal Construction of Bellingham expects its restoration to be completed by the spring of 2007.

Other buildings helped by the new codes include the Film Is Truth one on Holly Street, a building on Railroad Avenue that is currently home to Malard Ice Cream, and the Fairhaven buildings that house Paper Dreams and the Colophon Café, Burris said.

At the former taxidermy building in the Lettered streets neighborhood, workers are trying to retain some of the original window framework.

Burris said the Waldron Building could have been restored under Bellingham’s previous code system, but may not have made much economic sense.

“The unreinforced masonry, which is in most of the building, would have been a big problem,” Burris said. “The new codes allow for seismic upgrades as a way to keep the masonry.”

SAVING A PIECE OF HISTORY

Jackie Lynch, a city planner and a staff member on the city’s Historic Preservation Committee, sees the changes Bellingham made two years ago as indicative of something happening across the country.

“There is a culture shift that is taking place. The attitude used to be that everything new is good and everything old is bad, “Lynch said. “There seems to be a higher value being placed on things that have historical value,”

Not only is a greater appreciation of history playing a factor, but Lynch thinks people are realizing keeping older building has environmental benefits.

“Preserving buildings is one of the most environmentally friendly things we can do,” Lynch said. “It is basically recycling on a massive scale. Preservation is not just for trees and trails.”

“There are still few buildings that could use some work, but these days building owners are realizing they can renovate their underutilized space,” he said.

With the lease rate of downtown buildings approaching $20 per square foot per year, he said there’s now an incentive to remodel.

“It’s just a shame that we lost some of the downtown building before we got to this point,” Hall said. “When you look at old photos of downtown Bellingham, you notice this area had some tremendous buildings that are no longer around.”

Reach Dave Gallagher at 715-2269 or dave.gallagher@bellinghamherald.com.

“Preserving building is one of the most environmentally friendly things we can do.

“It is basically recycling on a massive scale”

Jackie Lynch, Bellingham city planner