So said Marcus Aurelius, emperor of Rome from 121-180 AD.
And aren’t you starting to feel the winds of change blowing through Olympia? I certainly did while walking the wonderfully renovated Percival Landing recently.
The new section of boardwalk represents just one of many urban renewal projects under way or planned for the city’s core.
For example, the Olympia City Council is considering a state community renewal law that would allow them to designate areas as “blighted,” and then purchase derelict properties for redevelopment. This process, along with federal block grants, has worked in Bremerton and Vancouver.
The city might focus on parts of Fourth Avenue and the isthmus area.
The redevelopment of the isthmus itself got a push last month when the Thurston County commissioners approved a $600,000 award to the Olympia Capitol Park Foundation, provided they raise $1 million themselves within a year, and another $2 million within two years. It’s possible the park will succeed because they are focused and determined people.
Back in June, the old Reliable Steel property on West Bay started to come down, at the city’s insistence, because it had become unsafe as well as a visual eyesore.
Even neighborhoods are getting into the cleanup frame of mind. Eight neighborhood associations asked for and received about $16,000 from the City of Olympia to conduct a variety of improvement and beautification projects all over the community. While the groups request project funding every year, it is volunteers in each neighborhood that do the work together.
The easing of city regulations to allow mobile food venders in certain areas has added a festive feel to the streets and a culture that seems to snuggle in nicely with the Olympia lifestyle.
They all seem to be doing well, especially since the weather has finally improved. Nor do they seem to have affected the many top-notch restaurants downtown, at least from a casual observers perspective.
And the big renovation being considered in the long term for the outside of the Washington Center for the Performing Arts could be the trigger for more serious revitalization in the downtown core.
The 25-year-old siding at the center is leaking and needs to be replaced or repaired. There’s a real opportunity to transform the aesthetics of the center into a stunning centerpiece and perhaps begin the creation of a street that becomes the city’s signature feature.
Outgoing mayor Doug Mah believes the city does have a redevelopment plan and that it’s coming together, piece by piece, right before our eyes. I hope he’s right, because Olympia has so much untapped potential to be the jewel of Puget Sound.
ET CETERA
The Boots to Shoes Foundation is a nonprofit that links volunteer mentors with military veterans to provide insight into the language of the civilian workforce, provide objective discussions of career goals and job search strategy and act as a sounding board for the veteran’s job search progress. A volunteer sign-up event is scheduled for Sept. 15 from noon -4:30 p.m. at the Thurston County Chamber of Commerce office. ... Christopher D. Raastad, a 2007 graduate from Tumwater High School and a student at the University of Washington, has been awarded a Fulbright scholarship to Estonia in computer sciences. Raastad is one of more than 1,600 U.S. citizens who will travel abroad for the 2011-2012 academic year through the Fulbright program.
George Le Masurier, publisher of The Olympian, can be reached at 360-357 0206 or glemasurier@theolympian.com.
