Temporary Olympia Ice Rink Coming Soon

Above: Scheduled to open November 16, a temporary ice rink currently being installed in downtown Olympia is anticipated to draw families and improve business in the downtown area.

By Janine Gates

Little Hollywood

https://janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

Superhero Night? Rock n' Roll Live Music Night? Princess Night with the Lakefair Court? 

Get ready for some fun times in downtown Olympia this winter. 

A new park located on the isthmus at 529 4^th Avenue West will become a covered, temporary ice rink from November 16 through January 6.

The rink area is 4,000 sq. ft. and will hold a maximum capacity of 125 skaters. 

In comparison, the iconic Rockefeller Center ice rink in Midtown Manhattan is a little over 7,000 square feet and has a capacity of 150 skaters at one time. 

So move over New York - here comes Oly on Ice!

When the City of Olympia held a brief event this past July in 91 degree weather to celebrate the beginning of the project, it was hard to imagine.

But now, cooler, foggy mornings have set in and City of Olympia Parks & Recreation staff are busy setting up the tent and equipment.

General admission prices with skates range from $12 and lower for youth, toddlers, foster, military, first responder families, and seniors. There will be day time skating hours, cheap skate nights, 10-skate passes and group rates.

Free public parking will be available at the two lots to the immediate east and west of the ice rink. Free street parking can be found along Capitol Lake. During evening and weekend hours, additional free parking is available at all City of Olympia managed lots and metered spots. There are also pay-to-park lots neighboring the rink.

There is no ice rink parking across the street at Bayview Thriftway or other private lots adjacent to the rink.

Temporary restrooms will be available during the run of the ice rink.

To offset the rink’s costs and keep admission fees accessible, the city actively gathered partnerships to pull it all off.

Community sponsors include a mix of large and small local and regional businesses, including the Olympia AutoMall, Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital & Health Network, Propel Construction, TwinStar Credit Union, Browsers Bookshop, OBEE Credit Union, Graphic Communications, Capital Medical Center, Anthony’s Homeport/Hearthfire, and the Olympia Capitol Park Foundation, among others.

Business sponsorship categories ranged between $400 and $10,000. Depending on the amount contributed, businesses have at least one opportunity to have a table or tent set up at the venue sometime during the run of the ice rink.

“We definitely see this project as a great way to involve local businesses and organizations,” said Anna Robinson, marketing program specialist with City of Olympia Parks, Arts & Recreation.

“Even the businesses that aren’t in a position to join us as sponsors are really excited about it. Bringing a fun, family-friendly activity to downtown during what is normally a pretty quiet time of year around here really seemed to resonate with people,” she said.

At the ceremony in July, former City of Olympia Mayor Bob Jacobs spoke on behalf of the Olympia Capitol Park Foundation. The space that became a park was the result of a lot of hard work.

Jacobs thanked the Trust for Public Lands for their assistance in obtaining a $600,000 grant from the Thurston County Conservation Futures Fund, which the Foundation turned over to the city for capital expenditures at the park.

Foundation board members and other donors also provided a $100,000 cash donation to the city for the park’s capital expenses. He also thanked parks staff for working with the Foundation on park design and improvements.

The park is so far unnamed. At the time, Jacobs suggested that it be called the Capitol Olympic Vista Park, in honor of it being in the center of the beautiful view from the State Capitol Building to the Olympic Mountains.

The park is near the privately owned nine story Views on 5th, a mixed use development currently under construction.

The city estimates that 10,000 skaters will visit the rink over the course of the seven week season.

Above: Former City of Olympia mayor Bob Jacobs, right, plays a game of bean bag toss with Luke Burns, City of Olympia Parks, Arts & Recreation staff, on July 26 at the city’s new park on the isthmus in downtown Olympia.

For more information about hours and other frequently asked questions, go to OlyonIce.com

For more information about downtown Olympia, the area known as the isthmus, the Olympia Capitol Park Foundation, parks, and Views on 5th, go to Little Hollywood at www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com and use the search button to type in key words.

Olympia Bridge Restoration Underway

Above: Workers have been restoring downtown Olympia’s Fourth Avenue bridge for about ten weeks. The bulk of the project involves cleaning and painting, however, some repairs are also being done. The project is being funded out of the City of Olympia's transportation general fund for $451,962.

By Janine Gates

Little Hollywood

https://janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

For the past ten weeks, thousands of commuters have watched a crew at work on the Fourth Avenue bridge in downtown Olympia.

Formally known as the Olympia-Yashiro Friendship Bridge, the bridge spans Budd Inlet, the southernmost portion of Puget Sound. 

A critical east-west transportation link for the city, the bridge symbolically connects the Olympia community in many other ways as well.

While the bulk of the project involves cleaning and painting, some crack repair is also being done to prevent future water intrusion. Water damage causing significant pockmarks and spalling of cement pieces has occurred in about 250 feet of the bridge.

A contract amount of $451,962 was given to Finishing Touch Masonry and Restoration Solutions, LLC, of Everett.

The project is considered a transportation project and is being funded out of the city’s transportation general fund.

“This project was not bid per our typical design-bid build process however it is a U.S. Communities project and these types of projects meet the competitive bidding requirements,” said Jeff Johnstone, project manager and senior engineer with the City of Olympia, when asked about the cost.   

The U.S. Communities Project is a partnership formed in 2009 among the U.S. Housing and Urban Development, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 

The city’s use of U.S. Communities was approved by city council in 2016.

Johnstone added that after the work is complete, the bridge will retain its shiny white appearance, and should only need to be pressure washed once a year.

“I never realized how grubby it had gotten until I saw side by side pictures,” said Johnstone.

Prior to construction of the bridge, Johnstone said that the city tested multiple different coating products.

“These products were applied to concrete panels and allowed to sit for the winter in order to determine how well they held up to our winter conditions and how easy they were to clean. Graffiti testing was also conducted on each coating. The coating being used was selected because it is a single step coating process and once the coating container is opened, it can be resealed and saved for later use, similar to a can of paint,” he said.

Above: The Olympia-Yashiro Friendship Bridge, better known as the Fourth Avenue bridge, spans Budd Inlet, the southernmost tip of Puget Sound.

Workers interviewed on Tuesday were disappointed that their completed work on the south side of the bridge has already been tagged with graffiti.

“It takes a couple minutes to tag, but takes a lot more time than that to clean it off,” said Rick Schindler, a restoration mason and project foreman with Finishing Touch Masonry.

Schindler, of Everett, has been busy with Ken Hester, of Shoreline, to brush, hand scrape, seal, vacuum, and pressure wash the bridge. He recently hired another employee to speed up the work and says he hopes to get the project done by the end of September.

Schindler explained that the westernmost 250 feet of the bridge between the roundabouts on Olympic Way has the most water intrusion damage because the concrete was poured onsite, which resulted in a very difficult finish.

Workers at the time realized their mistake, Schindler said, and used precast forms for the rest of the bridge.

“Those look a lot better,” he said.

“It’s been a tedious project to get right,” said Hester.

All workers are Pacific Northwest chapter members of the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers.

Above: Ken Hester, of Shoreline, packs up his masonry supplies for the day on Tuesday.

A Brief Bridge History

The bridge was completed in 2003 to replace the previous bridge which was structurally damaged in the Nisqually based earthquake on February 28, 2001.

The earthquake speeded up a bridge replacement process that was already underway, as load limits had already been placed on the bridge.

Former City of Olympia Mayor Bob Jacobs was asked about his involvement in the planning for the new bridge in the late 1990s prior to the earthquake.

“The previous bridge lasted as long as it did because it had been constructed with extra strength to carry trolley traffic. 

“It was generous of the council to include on the bronze plaques all of the names of council members who participated in the entire, long planning process. It’s a great looking bridge. Although the cost estimates had to be increased several times, our council made detailed decisions on the design of the bridge, including the number of lanes, width of sidewalks, and height of railings.

“Partway into the process, it was decided to expand the project to include the area to the west and call it the Olympia Gateway Project. The roundabouts were a big risk because such structures were rather new at the time and the slopes made them difficult to construct. All in all, it turned out very well,” said Jacobs.

Editor's Note, August 24: Little Hollywood deleted a previously published statement that the Fourth Avenue bridge never had trolley traffic.

Above: Olympians braved the rain to celebrate the grand reopening of the Fourth Avenue Bridge in December, 2003. The bridge serves as a critical east-west transportation link in Olympia. The Nisqually earthquake made the previous bridge unusable, causing over two years of inconvenience for commuters.

Going…Going…Gone! The Olympia Brewery Sold to….

Above: The auction sign as seen at the “modern” brewery on Sunday.

Auction Time for “Modern” Tumwater Brewery

By Janine Gates

www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

It’s a diamond in the rough and the outcome of Tumwater’s land use future is in someone’s hands.

The sprawling “modern” brewery is hard to miss from any direction and it’s now up for auction. Dull beige buildings with broken windows boarded up with plywood, the vacant eyesore is taking up vast acreage in the heart of the City of Tumwater.

Four separate parcels are for sale with three buildings on 7.2 acres with frontage on the Deschutes River, two industrial warehouses on 22.2 acres with rail service via Union Pacific and two vacant lots are zoned multi family. The buildings were built anywhere from 1930 – 1973.

Over 300 brewing tanks are located throughout the buildings. The main brew house contains the former brewing operation, fermenting vat storage and cellaring. In the six story “M” Cellar building, each floor is devoted to large stainless fermenting vessel storage with the majority of vats still in place.

Real estate agent Troy Dana has been marketing the location for years as a possible mixed-use combination of brew pub, contract brewery, winery, distillery, office, restaurant, and retail space.

The auction will be held Wednesday, October 28, 11:00 a.m., at the Red Lion Hotel, 2300 Evergreen Park Drive, Olympia.

Details are at http://www.hudsonmarshall.com/upcoming-auctions/item/brewery-commercial-washington-tumwater.html

Above: The back of the RST Cellars building on Custer Way as seen from Tumwater Falls Park last week. The fence delineates the park and the thin, one lane road down to the Old Brewhouse. The widening of this road, required to meet current standards for transportation and emergency vehicles, would result in the loss of trees along Tumwater Falls Park.

Public Comment for Draft Old Brewery Plans Due October 30

Meanwhile, the historic Old Brewhouse is not readily visible unless you’re on top of it. It too is old and vacant except for occasional trespassers and sits like a medieval castle, deteriorating on the shores of the ever changing Deschutes River. 

Visible from Tumwater Historical Park, peek-a-boo views of the six story tower can also be seen from Tumwater Falls Park. 

Owner George Heidgerken has made public his desire to fully develop this property to the maximum intensity possible. 

The Old Brewhouse would never be allowed to be built at its current location today, according to current shoreline management and environmental regulations, and yet two out of three draft planning options presented by the City of Tumwater are to explore significant mixed-use redevelopment of the area.  

A deadline for the public to comment on these scenarios is October 30.

The first scenario, a “do-nothing” approach, assumes the development would occur within the site consistent with existing zoning and development regulations. Any development that occurred would require the repair of existing structures.

The second scenario, one that the Old Brewhouse Foundation prefers, is still an impressively built out design, and includes a parking garage for 600 vehicles.

The third scenario, preferred by property owner George Heidgerken, and his development company, Falls Development LLC, is a full build out.

At an informational public meeting last week hosted by Tumwater city staff, former Olympia Mayor Bob Jacobs suggested a fourth scenario, which is not in the city’s plan: move the historic, six story Old Brewery tower, brick by brick, and rebuild it in a different location altogether.

“All three of the alternatives they're considering all seem impractical to me…Another possibility would be where the newer brewery stands now. That building could be torn down and replaced by new development with the old tower as a centerpiece and visibility from the freeway would be excellent…other possibilities exist too, of course.  A public process would produce lots of ideas for evaluation. Even the airport area or the city center area,” says Jacobs.

City of Tumwater's permit manager Chris Carlson said that in the 25 years he has been at the city, he has never heard that approach suggested. As for the end-of-the-year limitations for the state Department of Ecology grant that funded the city’s planning action, Carlson said he did not think there was time to assess such a possibility.

Above: Tumwater Falls Park, owned by the Olympia-Tumwater Foundation. This view could change dramatically if a planned action proposal by the City of Tumwater is approved.

At the time the Old Brewery was built in 1906, Model T cars were popular. Today, the creation of any access to a proposed parking garage by the Old Brewhouse would require that the narrow road, currently about 15 feet wide, be widened to 32 to 36 feet. 

In a conceptual cross-section of the proposed road leading down to the old brewhouse, a sidewalk is also shown as being a minimum of six foot wide, but the preferred width is eight feet wide, with four foot planters on the other side, said city staff.  This will require a lot of trees to be cut down.

Nancy Partlow, a Tumwater resident, also attended the city meeting, and sees problems with many aspects of the scenarios presented by the city.

“For years I've heard Tumwater city staff and elected officials say that the Old Brewhouse would never be allowed to be built at its current location today due to the environmentally sensitive nature of the site....

“The combined footprints for a parking garage, residential units, and access roads to the Old Brewhouse site constitute an excessive amount of forest destruction in Tumwater's most environmentally and historically important area.

 

“The access road to the Old Brewhouse appears to be nearly a third of a mile long.  For about two thirds of that length, the road parallels the Deschutes River and the Tumwater Falls Park fence line. Some of the trees seen above the river from inside the park aren't actually in the park itself, but on the Falls Development LLC property next door.  A great number of those would have to be cut down to widen the road.

“An additional access road down to the proposed parking garage is being suggested from the north end of a parking lot owned by the Olympia-Tumwater Foundation. This road would also be built through a forested area, and next to the Union Pacific rail line,” says Partlow.

Above: Another required access road for a proposed parking garage in the area of the Schmidt House would be located here, next to the Union Pacific railway. The parking lot drops off steeply to the railway and through the trees, the Old Brewery. 

The Olympia Tumwater Foundation has almost no comment on the Tumwater’s brewery planned action draft environmental impact statement or Heidgerken’s plans, says the Foundation’s executive director John Freedman.

The Foundation owns Tumwater Falls Park and the Schmidt House and related property. Heidgerken will need the Foundation’s cooperation to access a proposed residential area and parking garage through the Schmidt House’s back parking lot.

A heavily treed, steep ravine and the Union Pacific Railway is in that area of the property.  No conversations about access have taken place between the Foundation and Heidgerken’s company, said Freedman.

“We have not seen anything concrete that requires action on our part. We have no objections to any progress…we’d like to see it historically developed,” he said on Friday. 

As the Foundation expands its history program, Freedman has said that they would want to become involved in the proposed craft brewing and distilling center project in the area of the Old Brewhouse.

To comment on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Tumwater Brewery Planned Action, contact Chris Carlson, Permit Manager, City of Tumwater, 555 Israel Road SW, Tumwater, Washington 98501, ccarlson@ci.tumwater.wa.us, (360) 754-4180.

For more information about Tumwater, brewery district planning, the Old Brewery, George Heidgerken, go to www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com and type in key words into the search button.