PORT ANGELES — When tourists and other travelers return to Port Angeles after the Hood Canal Bridge reopens, they will find a downtown that will appear brighter, fresher, cleaner and even more welcoming.
Buildings will be repainted, windows will be washed, weeds will be pulled. It will appear that the whole area got a face lift while the bridge was closed for the rebuilding of its eastern half — which will begin on May 1 and last about six weeks.
That’s according to a plan, or more accurately, a community effort being developed by nearly 20 Port Angeles residents.
The residents include, but are not limited to, downtown merchants, other area business owners and the city’s economic and community development director, Nathan West.
So far, the buildings that will be spruced up are the Morris building at First and Laurel streets and the structures housing the Bella Italia restaurant, The Toggery, Copies Plus, Blue Dolphin and the building housing the Cornerhouse restaurant and Downtown Hotel, said Edna Petersen, owner of Necessities and Temptations and one of the organizers.
Petersen said that a pressure washer and a 60-foot “manlift” have been donated by Sunset Hardware.
Discounted and donated supplies may come from Hartnagel Building Supply, Angeles Millwork and Parker Paint, she said.
Petersen said money for supplies will likely be needed.
“We’re hoping people will contribute money as well as their talent,” she said.
“We’re excited. This will happen.”
“It’s a perfect opportunity,” said Kathy Charlton, owner of Olympic Cellars, east of Port Angeles, and one of the organizers.
“Yes, we’re not thrilled that the bridge is going to be closed . . . but the timing is such that by doing this project, then we are really setting this community on a pedestal when people come back.”
Charlton said the idea developed from the community meetings with members of the American Institute of Architects, who were in Port Angeles last month on a grant providing recommendations on how to improve the design of the city, and recent workshops on sustainability at Peninsula College.
“It’s a brainchild of a lot of people,” she said.
“It grew from a spark of an idea.”
Meeting Tuesday
The project will be an all-volunteer effort, and a meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 321 E. Fifth St., to recruit more people, answer questions and work on planning this large undertaking.
“I hope we get a whole lot of people excited, and excited enough to want to help make this happen,” said Barb Frederick, Port Angeles Downtown Association executive director.
Said Charlton: “It’s going to take a village. We need everyone’s help . . . Everyone has something to offer here, and we need everyone’s hands to make this happen.”
Part of the project may also include painted murals to be posted in vacant storefront windows.
Paint murals
Charlton said owners of buildings with vacant storefronts have not yet been approached about the idea, but people are invited to Studio Bob’s this weekend to paint murals that could be used if approval from building owners is given.
The painting will begin at 6 p.m. and last until the last person leaves on Friday at the studio, 118½ E. Front St., and continue from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday.
Bob Stokes, owner of the studio, said people are invited to paint what Port Angeles means to them.
Stokes said the project needs to be done for Port Angeles “because we are all talking about how sad our town looks . . . with empty windows. We are taking charge of that. I’ve got a big enough space to do that in.”
Charlton said such murals within vacant storefronts would make Port Angeles more appealing to tourists, encouraging them to revisit and stay longer.
Several planning meetings have already been held since Charlton and Petersen developed the idea about two weeks ago.
A four-member design team has been developed, and participants are already working to acquire all the paint and supplies that will be needed.
Charlton said the design team is creating color palettes for the buildings, whose owners have given their consent, and local architect Mike Gentry, who has volunteered, is using photographs of the buildings to show how they will look once repainted.
“It was an ‘Oh, my God’ kind of moment,” Charlton said about seeing one of the “colorized” photos.
There’s no color theme, and the color schemes will be approved by the owners of the buildings and the businesses they contain, she said.
Charlton said the city will give volunteers a blanket right-of-way permit to allow them to do the work.
For more information, visit www.portangelesdowntown.com.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
Sequim-Dungeness Valley reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz contributed to this report.
