PORT TOWNSEND — Temporary shoreline fortification work to prevent a storm-damaged historic building from falling into Port Townsend Bay could begin at low tide around midnight.
Jan Hopfenbeck, a city of Port Townsend building inspector, said Tuesday that she was moving to issue an expedited city building permit that would allow Harry Dudley, manager of the family-owned building, to make emergency temporary repairs.
Work could take place early Thursday and Friday mornings, coinciding with low tides.
The building at the end of Taylor Street most recently housed the Surf Restaurant, and its closure left eight employees without work.
“This is a temporary stabilization,” said Hopfenbeck, adding that Dudley’s engineer, David Pierce, has signed off on the proposed project that would involve laying an 80-foot concrete foundation strip that is 10 inches deep.
It also allows installation of reinforcement steel, scaffolding and “jackscrews” that will lift and take the load off rotting, bent and damaged pilings and crossbeams.
Knows the sea bottom
Pierce worked on the City Dock and Union Wharf pier projects near the building, and is knowledgeable about the sea bottom along the downtown waterfront, said Hopfenbeck.
A state Department of Fish and Wildlife permit has already been issued for the placement of temporary footings, “not to exceed one year in duration,” said Hopfenbeck.
The city and state permits allow Dudley, who manages the 6,000-square-foot Hastings Estate Co. Inc. building, to save the 100-plus-year-old structure.
“Right now we’re in the process of making it safe enough to make sure it gets through the winter,” Dudley said Tuesday afternoon.
“This will be just to keep it from falling into the sea.”
