PORT ANGELES — The waiting continues for both Eagles Aerie 483 and for Border Patrol agents stuffed into cramped quarters at the Richard B. Anderson Federal Building.
The Border Patrol will not close on its purchase of the Eagles lodge building at 110 S. Penn St. in Port Angeles until April 15, Pili Meyer of Coldwell Banker Uptown Realty said Wednesday.
But not to worry, Meyer said.
“They are acting as if they are trying to reassure the Eagles that, yes, they are intending to continue with this,” she said.
“I believe that is the government’s intent, that [April 15] would be the closing date.”
Richard Sinks, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Blaine Sector, had said in November that the closing would occur “early in the new calendar year.”
But he had also said environmental compliance work still had to be conducted.
Sinks didn’t know Wednesday afternoon what had caused the delay to mid-April.
The agency confirmed Nov. 18 that a price had been agreed upon between the agency and the Eagles on the lodge building and 4.6 acres of property valued at $2.14 million.
Meyer wouldn’t divulge the price then.
The federal government has budgeted $8 million in renovations.
The Border Patrol station, which covers Clallam and Jefferson counties, is headquartered at the federal building at 138 W. First St. in downtown Port Angeles.
The agency said the quarters have become too small, as the number of agents has quadrupled to 25 since 2006.
Customs and Border Protection has said it needs a capacity for 50 agents, which it said is the standard size for new Border Patrol facilities.
The agency has said there are no immediate plans to increase staffing.
It also has declined to release arrest data for the Port Angeles station, citing national security concerns.
The Eagles have said they need to move from the 36-year-old building that’s become too large and expensive for a membership that has dwindled from 3,000 several years ago to approximately 900.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement also is moving from the federal building to space it expects to lease in Port Angeles later this year.
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Staff writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
