PORT ANGELES — Parker Paint will not reopen its doors as previously planned after a July 19 fire damaged the building at Front and Lincon streets.
Store Director Brad Stine declined to say why the store would be permanently closing or what had changed since late July when he had said it would reopen by the beginning of this month.
He referred questions to Mike Morris, vice-president of store operations, who works out of the company’s Tacoma headquarters, but Morris did not return calls for comment.
“We are taking care of our customers now, and we’re not going to leave anyone hanging,” Stine said.
“But we are not going to reopen for business since the July event.”
Stine said any customers who need help should phone the Port Angeles number, 360-457-5333, as it is routed to the Silverdale location where they may be assisted.
The fire was reported late in they day on July 19.
Damage was limited to the store’s paint mixing room, at the northwest corner of the store at 201 E. Front St.
The rest of the building suffered smoke and water damage, Stine said.
By Thursday evening the building had been cleared out with only some debris and small remnants of the paint store remaining inside the boarded-up building.
Employees who were packing up the last remaining cans of paint declined to comment.
Stacks of cans — some appearing in pristine condition and others charred and warped by flames — were hauled away from the building, which still smells of smoke.
William Bork, who some of the employees said owned the building, could not be reached for comment as a telephone number to his home rang, but did not have an answering machine.
The building housing both Parker Paint and Kokopelli Grill originally was a wooden building, housing Johnson & Bork Wallpaper and Paint in 1892, said Deputy Mayor Don Perry, who leads a downtown historical tour and is an authority on the history of the commercial structures.
Kokopelli Grill was not damaged during the fire.
The current building replaced the original Johnson & Bork structure in 1922, Perry said.
The business was sold to Parker Paint about 12 years ago.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
