SEQUIM – As parts of the Olympic Theatre Arts building came down, communication seemed to collapse, too.
It was a tragicomic drama, unfolding in the playhouse at 414 N. Sequim Ave.: James Bay, the city’s Public Works Director, shut down the venerable theater Feb. 28.
The hope now is to have building ready for use in September.
With demolition of the northern wing under way – in preparation for construction of a new main stage – the building was unfit for occupancy, Bay said in February.
Anyone not directly involved with the demolition work was barred from entering.
OTA volunteers had to pack up the sets for “Auntie Mame” – including a two-story staircase and many trunkloads of costumes and props for 26 actors – and cart them across the street to Sequim High School’s Performing Arts center.
The final shows went on the weekend of March 3, and more than 700 patrons turned out.
“I believe in the impossible,” Elaine Caldwell, vice president of OTA’s board, said afterward.
But Caldwell and others at OTA had yet to hear exactly what was required before the city would issue an occupancy permit.
