PORT TOWNSEND — For Sam Kyle, renovation of the historic Mount Baker Block Building is a true labor of love.
After renovating the 110-year-old structure’s fourth and final floor, Kyle has taken work underground — below Water and Taylor streets.
This is a never-ending love affair. . . . The building will never be done, said a smiling Kyle, the buildings owner, a Gardiner resident and president of Issaquah-based Kyle Development Co. Inc.
Below street level, contractors are finishing work on four newly restored, 1,200-square-foot retail spaces, their walls stripped to the original red brick and mortar.
Brick archways join the shop spaces. Also in plain view are stacks of old boulders once used for tall ship ballast, leading into the retail quarters. The rocks also serve as a deep, hard base for the street above.
Kyle even put some of the extra rocks to use for benches fronting the future shops.
A member of the MarinerBank board in Port Townsend, Kyle is a real estate investor who has been in the development, construction and property management business for 36 years.
Entry down from sidewalk
Perhaps the most unique and attractive feature of the underground development is its entryway centered on the Taylor Street sidewalk.
The picturesque shelter is constructed in steel to match the building’s detailed design. The roof is made of copper.
The new entry, which was approved by the Historic Preservation District, replaces one that was covered by an awning and abutted the side of the building.
“It has a lot of the elements of the building built into it,” Kyle said of the entry.