Olympia in springtime

Robert "Berd" Whitlock is one of Olympia's indispensables, a photographer who blends politics, philosophy and imagery from his unique, and uniquely Olympian, perspective. Regardless of your partisan proclivities, you can enjoy his work--and, if you're like me, it'll inspire you to go outside / get a better camera / learn how to actually use the better camera.

Here's his latest set, in which he somehow manages to make the Ugly Building look beautiful.  And here's his Flickr stream.  Enjoy.

the ugliest ugly building

No matter how aesthetically atrocious Olympia's Ugly Building is, repeat to yourself: it's no Portland Building. It's no Portland Building.

visualize a world without the Ugly Building

Or, have someone else visualize it for you.

con-don't

So much for the planned condoization of the Ugly Building. The Olympian reports:

Downtown's vacant Capitol Center office building will not be remodeled for condominiums, the project spokesman said Wednesday.

Instead, the developer will spend the next year remodeling the eight-story building as a possible home for state offices, spokesman Neil Falkenburg said.

A slower residential real-estate market and rising remodeling costs killed the condo idea, he said....

"The building, as an office, is ideally situated for state government," he said. "Nobody's going to argue it's an amazing location."

And nobody's going to dispute its ugly, ugly exterior. Or the sky-abrader's remarkable longevity. Long live the Ugly Building!

Ugly Building to get a facelift?

This is huge. The Ugly Building, long the bane of this blog, isn't going away. It's turning into condos and getting prettier.

The developers plan to convert the vacant Capitol Center office building across from Capitol Lake into eight floors of 36 condos, including a mix of two- and three-bedroom units with 1.75 and two bathrooms in each unit. Pending approval of building permits, remodeling could begin this fall and take a year to complete, said Falkenburg, an Olympia partner with Seattle developer Jim Potter.

The developers have dropped plans to add balconies to the building and have yet to work out details about parking, Falkenburg said.

The development, known as The Views on Fifth Avenue, would include 8,000 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor. The office, built as a bank in the mid-1960s, has been vacant since last year, when the state Department of Corrections moved out for offices in Tumwater.

Falkenburg said the developers have not decided how much the view condos would cost, but one of the development partners this year estimated the range from $600,000 to $1 million. The building offers views of the Capitol Building, Capitol Lake, the Olympic Mountains and Mount Rainier.

And, by consequence, obscures views of the same from many directions.

If it ain't ugly, though, I can probably live with that. Another means of boosting the downtown economy wouldn't be so bad, either. We need a permanent customer pool tax base. (Click to read the nay-saying comments, though. Will residents flock to fill million-dollar condos?)

Update 9/9: stevenl of Olyblog wants to preserve The Ugly Building as-is:

Like the twin WPPSS cooling towers on the Chehalis River Valley near Elma that were never used, this building stands as a monument to our failings, to an era of wrecked expectations, to something I can't quite define at this moment because I'm getting hungry now and want to stop typing. But you know what I mean. Save the Capitol Center Building!

big plans for the Olympia waterfront

Yesterday my wife and I were wandering about the downtown as we are wont to do. This time, in search of urban hiking footwear (for her), we stopped at The Alpine Experience. As we exited, I looked around at the LOTT wastewater treatment plant, the abandoned gas pump, the rusting rail line, and all the other industrial detritus lining the ugly side of the downtown. "You know," I said to my wife, "I'd bet this is the part of the downtown the city wishes it could take back."

Their do-over starts here.

By late 2009, a new City Hall could stand along the shore of Budd Inlet's East Bay, anchoring a waterfront development that could also feature a hotel, a parking garage, a children's museum and mixed-use buildings.

City Manager Steve Hall will recommend to the City Council on Tuesday that the new City Hall be built at State and Jefferson streets on land now owned by the Port of Olympia.

"One of the things our City Council said is we want to be closer to the core downtown," Hall said. "Essentially, we've settled on the best site for moving City Hall and consolidating our operations."

Project Manager Rick Dougherty said the building, which might have 88,000 square feet and cost at least $25 million, could be finished by late 2009.

The implications are huge, say city leaders, who have kicked around the idea of relocating City Hall for two decades. A new building would consolidate city offices now scattered throughout at least 14 buildings.

Read the whole thing for the details, including projected costs and the (minimal?) problem of contamination cleanup.

Port Commissioner Bob Van Schoorl wants the development to be a gateway to the downtown. From this eastsider's perspective, it would certainly help. Right now it I've got the bus station, the backs of 4th Ave businesses and the vast industrial playground east of the inlet for my morning commute / welcome to downtown.

Another location the city should consider: the Ugly Building across from Capitol Lake and the fountain. It and its neighboring graffiti-stained abominations--tear those suckers down.

Update: And don't forget about Cliff Lee's vision for Griswold's, which is still in the planning stage.

Update II: Olyblog reader stevenl has a plan to deal with the inevitable revolt of the seas:

The best solution for a site? Have the city pull an eminent domain on Ralph's Thriftway and the solid high ground as an HQ.

The city does seem to be on an eminent domain kick these days.

sniffing out a story

Lots of action, locally speaking. First, the state government is trying to buy out its lease on the Ugly Building, and if that option fails, threatening to reduce its rent payment because of lackadaisical maintenance. Problem: they're offering less than half the total rent, some $528,474. I doubt the landlord will budge, and smell eminent domain afar off.

Next, thieves hit a Lacey development, absconding with appliances. I smell microwaved pizza afar off.

Last, Elma cops tried to sting a meth-head in the Everybodys parking lot. (Everyone from Elma knows exactly how appropriate that is.)

Once the purchase was complete, the suspect and a second man did not surrender and instead acclerated their vehicle towards the detectives, who then fired three rounds to stop the car, he said.

No one was hurt. The passenger was arrested, but the driver escaped.

I smell cat urine afar off.

citizens of Olympia, unite...

... to convince the state to demolish the ugliest building in Olympia.

Not only is it ugly, but it scars an otherwise aesthetically pleasing skyline. (Looking from the capitol, you've got the solitary crane, the snow-capped Olympics, the verdant hills, and this beast.)

On top of that, it happens to be unoccupied at a cost of $118,000 per month.

There's gotta be something we can do.

Update: An anonymous Olympian commenter has the solution:

Washington needs a militia to roam the eastside at night and clean this town-up. The militia could over-take that super-ugly super-tall hunk of junk state building that's blocking my view of the capitol and they could jail their captures there until the police find enough time to arrest all the criminals. Forget the borders, there's plenty of crime to go around right here in Oly. LETS UNITE WITH THE OLYMPIA MILITIA!!! OVER-TAKE THAT UGLY BROWN BUILDING AND SET-UP HEADQUARTERS THERE. FROM THERE THE MILITIA COULD KEEP WATCH AND THERE THEY COULD LOCK-UP CRIMINALS UNTIL THE POLICE FIND ENOUGH TIME TO MAKE AN ARREST.

I won't join up until they call it a "posse."