PORT ANGELES — The dilapidated pool at the former Chinook Motel — which once hosted thousands annually on their visits to the North Olympic Peninsula — is being filled with dirt this week.
The action is part of a city-required nuisance abatement at the shuttered property on East First Street.
Port Angeles Planning Manager Sue Roberds said the owner is trying to sell the property but needs to clean up the exterior in the meantime.
She described the pool as an “eyesore” that contained “biological stuff.”
“The majority of the nuisance that was on the property was the pool,” Roberds said.
“It was not maintained to a safe condition.”
The owner, Aihab Gerges of Florida, hired a crew to punch a hole in the pool and fill it with material.
The work “should only take a few days,” Roberds said.
Gerges also is required to remove vegetation and a non-conforming wooden sign that once bore the name of the motel that the city condemned in June 2009.
The Chinook Motel, located near First and Ennis streets, was considered one of the finest motels on U.S. Highway 101 in Clallam County when it opened in the 1950s.
It was condemned for health and building code violations, including rodent droppings, living and dead bugs, and extensive water damage.
The interior remains uninhabitable.
“Let’s just say you wouldn’t want to go in there without a hazmat suit,” Roberds said.
Gerges inherited the property from his uncle, William Youtef, who died earlier this year.
“We’ve been pushing hard for them to put it up for sale,” Roberds said.
The assessed value of the 1.54 acres is $548,330, Clallam County Chief Deputy Assessor Michael Hopf said.
That figure is for the two lots — prime real estate on the city corridor — and does not include the buildings.
“We don’t have any value on the buildings at all,” Hopf said.
The site originally was listed for $1.5 million. The price had been lowered to $950,000 by March.
The current listing for the Chinook Motel is $799,950 through Aspen Real Estate LLC of Yakima.
The 53-room motel at 1414 E. First St. — once part of the Best Western chain — was prized a half-century ago for its outdoor swimming pool.
Time has not been kind.
“We’re very relieved that the pool is being attended to because that has been an eyesore for a very long time, and it has deteriorated in the last few years,” Roberds said.
Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
