Grange Starbucks Expected to Open This Week

Above: The former Chambers Prairie Grange #191 has come back to life and now bears a Starbucks logo. Pending final inspections, the store at 1301 Yelm Highway in Tumwater is expected to open on Thursday.

Chambers Prairie Grange #191 Sign Comes Home

By Janine Gates

Little Hollywood

https://janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

Pending final inspections, a new Starbucks at the former Chambers Prairie Grange at 1301 Yelm Highway in Tumwater will open on Thursday.

The coffee shop is inside the 108 year old building, one of the first granges built in Thurston County, located on the corner of Yelm Highway and Henderson Boulevard. 

In recent decades, the former grange hosted a variety of memorable events, community fundraisers, and dances, but had sat neglected for years by the time developer Tom Schrader bought it in 2015 from the Washington State Grange. 

Still, the building retained its historic character and structural integrity.

Starbucks is leasing the upstairs portion of the building from Schrader, and on Tuesday, he was on site juggling a myriad of last minute details. 

Above: Inside the former Chambers Prairie Grange #191 in Tumwater on Tuesday.

Inside, a dozen or so Starbucks employees frantically unpacked boxes full of displays, supplies and equipment which had just been delivered that morning. 

Starbucks construction manager Cheryl Nicholson managed to keep the chaos organized while setting up tables and chairs out on the deck.

The inside features exposed original beams and skylights to allow in natural light. The original glass in the windows was retained. The maple floor was taken off, exposing the original Douglas fir flooring underneath. The stage is gone, but the dark-colored wood that surrounded the stage was repurposed in portions of the floor.

Historically, granges served as the community center for social, agricultural, educational, and political activities. Many artifacts were found in the grange when Schrader purchased the building including ledgers, ribbons, and songbooks. 

For a wall display, Schrader reproduced a list written in calligraphy of grange masters dating from 1908, which features many familiar last names.  

Above: The original Chambers Prairie Grange #191 sign has come home. It will be on display inside the former grange, which has been transformed into a Starbucks.

The land use process for getting the project to this point has been a multi-year roller coaster ride, chronicled by Little Hollywood since 2015. 

But perhaps the most emotionally rewarding achievement for Schrader was his recent procurement of the large, wooden, painted chipped Chamber Prairie Grange #191 sign that hung on the outside of the building for so many years.

Schrader declined to say who had the sign, but he has worked hard to get it. After he learned who had it, he found that she was unwilling to part with it for sentimental reasons.

Two Sundays ago, Schrader said, the woman contacted him. She saw that his dream to open a community space in the former grange was finally becoming a reality and told him it was time for her to let the sign go. 

Schrader purchased it from her, and just yesterday, brought it back to the grange. To protect it from the weather, it will be hung on an inside wall.

“The sign needed to come home,” he said.

Above: Ashley Buller of Tenino, center, is the new Starbucks store manager at the former Chambers Prairie Grange on Yelm Highway. She is excited to open the store and appreciated the reuse of materials throughout the building. 

A grand opening will be scheduled in the near future. 

Store hours will be Monday through Friday, 4:30 a.m. – 9:00 p.m., Saturday, 5:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m., and Sunday, 5:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.

For more photos and information about the history of the Chambers Prairie Grange, the building’s purchase by Tom Schrader, and property rezones, negotiations and compromises between the City of Tumwater and Schrader, go to Little Hollywood at www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com and type key words into the search button.

Chambers Prairie Grange Starbucks Open Soon

Above: Luis Smith of Shelton steps back to check the position of a tree he just planted at the site of a new Starbucks at the former Chambers Prairie Grange on Yelm Highway in Tumwater. Opening day could be as soon as September 20, said property owner Tom Schrader.

By Janine Gates

Little Hollywood

https://janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

A new Starbucks in the former Chambers Prairie Grange in Tumwater may be open for business as soon as September 20, said property owner Tom Schrader earlier this week. 

The 108 year old building is located at 1301 Yelm Highway on the corner of Yelm Highway and Henderson Boulevard.  

Bought by Schrader from the Washington State Grange in 2015, the building had sat neglected and unused for years, but still retained its historic character and structural integrity. 

After a series of messy misunderstandings between Schrader and the city, Schrader’s original vision of lightly converting it to a neighborhood cafe and bistro began to disappear. 

Property rezones, negotiations and compromises between the city and Schrader are documented in several articles by Little Hollywood.

Earlier this week, contractors working for Starbucks were busy working on the inside and on a large outdoor deck jutting from the opened up western side of the grange. 

Meanwhile, Schrader was busy outside planting several liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree) with two employees. 

Although several large trees were cut down, Schrader said he left 26 trees on the property. Two stormwater retention ponds were created to mitigate the impact of new impervious surfaces and make up for the work performed by the large Douglas firs and maple trees that were on the property.

The property now has 30 parking stalls. The drive thru lane, a non-negotiable feature for Starbucks, can accommodate nine vehicles before traffic starts spilling out onto Yelm Highway. 

The drive thru access points provide both left and right ingress and egress on both Yelm Highway and Henderson Boulevard.

In a nod to the former grange’s roots as a community center for farmers, Schrader has placed authentic, rusty farm equipment on the property, sourced from Rochester.

In past interviews, Schrader said numerous national businesses contacted him about the high-profile corner, but chose Starbucks because it is a coffee business where people also enjoy meeting. 

Above: With Tomás Wilson of Shelton, Tom Schrader loads up another liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree) to plant on site. 

A Brief Chambers Prairie Grange History

Historically, granges served as the community center for social, agricultural, educational and political activities for farmers.

According to the state Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, the Chambers Prairie Grange No. 191 was first organized in 1906. Grange members built the wooden, one story 5,668 square foot building through donated work on land donated by the Wickie Family.

The Chambers Prairie Grange, completed in 1910, was one of the first in Thurston County. It is not on any local, state or national historic register. 

When Schrader bought the grange, he quickly announced his vision for it to be a neighborhood café and bistro. 

Wanting to save the building’s historic character and integrity, Schrader received a successful rezone of the property from single family low density to community service.

Because the building sits in the city’s right of way and the city has future plans to expand the intersection, city staff made some development concessions with Schrader in support of his efforts to save the building. 

Intent on building a new 4,000 square foot building after entering into negotiations with Starbucks, Schrader declared that the building could not be saved and began dismantling the interior. 

City staff told Schrader he would have to conform to land use regulations for new construction if he was going to destroy the building. 

Schrader purchased the adjacent property from The Farm Homeowners Association and received a rezone for that property in 2016. 

Through negotiations with the city, a developer’s agreement was hammered out and Schrader moved forward with his new plans. 

For more photos and information about the history of the Chambers Prairie Grange, the building’s purchase by Tom Schrader, and related land use discussions with the City of Tumwater, go to Little Hollywood, https://janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com and type key words into the search engine.