PORT ANGELES — An art deco building, once a firehouse and a former City Hall, in the newly recognized historic district on Lincoln Street needs an immediate $230,000 in repairs to keep it standing, Derek Beery, city archaeologist, told the City Council this week.
The building built in 1931 is located at 215 S. Lincoln St. in the Port Angeles Historic District.
It served as the city’s first permanent fire station, jail and City Council chambers.
City offices moved to another location in the 1950s. Since then, the building has been occupied by a number of private businesses.
The first floor has been vacant since 2006, while the upper floor had a tenant until last year.
It is part of a historic district recognized by state and national historic registers earlier this year that sits on the east side of Lincoln Street between Fourth and Second streets.
The district also includes the older county courthouse and Museum at the Carnegie, as well as Veterans Memorial Park.
On Tuesday, Beery summarized a report from Swenson, Say and Faget Structural Engineers and Bola Architecture and Planning, which evaluated the firehouse for restoration.
The city of Port Angeles paid $25,000, and Clallam County chipped in $15,000 to fund the firehouse restoration study.
The building was recently retrofitted for earthquakes and is essentially structurally sound, but the roof needs work, the masonry walls should be restored, and windows and doors must be replaced, Beery said.
Part of the ground behind the building is slumping and needs to be reinforced, he said.
Parts of the building that make it historically notable, such as decorative columns, also need immediate attention.
“We need to address these issues, or we will lose the building,” said Beery, adding that it would cost an estimated $230,000.
It would cost $1.05 million to completely restore the exterior and as much as $1.2 million to restore the interior to something like its historic appearance, he said.
“Part of the problem is that the building is unoccupied,” said City Manager Kent Myers.
Unoccupied buildings deteriorate faster, he said.
Before the city could fund restoration, a municipal purpose for the building must be identified and the building returned to the city’s list of active municipal buildings, said City Attorney William Bloor.
Currently, the building is on the city’s surplus property list.
A mixed-use combination, such as city offices on the upper floor and a veterans center on the lower floor, would probably be acceptable, Bloor said.
Bloor volunteered to move the city’s legal offices to the top floor of the firehouse.
If no municipal use for the building is found within six months, the building will be put up for sale.
The city would allow another six months to find a buyer.
That buyer would be required to restore the building, Councilman Brad Collins said.
If no buyer were found, then the city would have to re-evaluate the building’s future.
“We don’t want it to become a hazard,” said Councilwoman Brooke Nelson.
City Council members Cherie Kidd and Max Mania and Deputy Mayor Don Perry volunteered to form a committee to research ways to save the structure.
Clallam County is expected to provide at least one member for the committee.
Kidd said she had contacts that may be able to help, including one that helped win a $300,000 grant to restore the Museum at the Carnegie.
“We have a partnership, a historic district,” Kidd said.
“We have many options, so how do we move forward?” she asked.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
