PORT ANGELES — The project to spruce up downtown gained momentum Monday as volunteers and contractors started prepping two buildings for a new coat of paint.
At Front and Laurel streets, the owner of Liquid Painting and four of his employees were scraping away the old paint on the building that houses the Downtown Hotel and Cornerhouse restaurant in preparation for an entirely new paint scheme.
A block to the east, the owner of the local Windermere Real Estate franchise and three of his employees from the Port Angeles location were pressure-washing the Wenger building at Front and Lincoln streets.
Both buildings are part of the “Our Community at Work: Painting Downtown.”
The project encompasses about 32 buildings and store fronts, most of which are downtown, and about 175 volunteers. It is intended to coincide with the Hood Canal Bridge closure, and is expected to run until June 15.
But the two buildings worked on Monday weren’t the first in the project.
Last Wednesday, the owner of the Warren Morse building at Laurel and First streets began prepping her building for a fresh coat of paint, and last week the Strait View Credit Union office on Lincoln Street had some landscaping and other work done and the Blue Dolphin store on Front Street was pressure-washed, said project co-chairwoman Edna Petersen.
“At this moment we are forging ahead,” she said.
A work schedule has not been completed for the buildings that are to be painted by volunteers.
Petersen, who is the owner of Necessities & Temptations at 217 N. Laurel St., said that is being sorted out.
At the Wenger building, volunteers washed as much grime and moss from the structure as they could, from the edge of DeLaney’s Other Side to The Gateway Tavern.
“It’s really surprising how much road grime there is on this thing,” said Associate Broker Doc Reiss.
The building is expected to be painted Friday by between eight and 10 Windermere employees.
Due to some confusion early over how much of the building the volunteers would be painting, the entire building didn’t get pressure-washed Monday.
Reiss said the four volunteers will return today to finish pressure-washing the rest of the building, from The Gateway Tavern to the alley.
Taking a minute away from his pressure washer, franchise owner Terry Neske applauded the organizers of the project, which includes about 10 people.
“I think it’s a great plan,” he said.
“It’s time that the town is seen in colors other than yellow or brown. It will give the town a little appeal.”
Watching from the sidewalk, the manager of The Gateway Tavern said she is glad to see the work happening.
“I’ve said for a long time that [the building] needed to be spruced up,” said Vivian Bertelson.
“I think it will make a difference. It’s the first thing people see when they come into [downtown].”
The project’s design team, made up of three local architects and other designers, selected the painting scheme for the two buildings.
The Wenger building will be painted with a black trim and a brownish color on the base and wood panels.
The building housing the Downtown Hotel will be painted mostly a light sage color with dark green on the brick and dark copper as an accent, said Jacob Oppett, Liquid Painting owner, from a lift donated for the project.
“It should be a nice modern touch to it,” he said.
In the spirit of the project — in which people are volunteering their time and local suppliers are providing discounts or donations – Oppett said he doing the work with a 20 percent discount on what he would usually charge.
Oppett said he is also offering tools to the volunteers, and his workers are volunteering to oversee some of the painting.
Other local contributors include Swain’s General Store, Parker Paint, Sunset Do-It-All Hardware, Hartnagel Building Supply and Angeles Millwork, which are providing discounted supplies.
United Rentals is providing lifts at a discount rate to NC Machinery and Sunset Do it Best Hardware, which are donating their use to the project.
The idea came from Petersen, owner of Necessities and Temptations, and Kathy Charlton, owner of Olympic Cellars, after they attended community meetings with members of the American Institute of Architects, who were in Port Angeles last month on a grant to recommend improvements for the design of the city, and recent workshops on sustainability at Peninsula College.
Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
