More renovations coming to historic Tumwater brewhouse
Tumwater’s 1906 brick brewhouse on the Deschutes River is about to embark on some of the most important renovation work on the historic structure.
The Tumwater Historic Preservation Commission was given an update on renovations to the Olympia Brewery brewhouse last week.
The iconic brewhouse — a predecessor to the nearby dilapidated brewery off Capitol Boulevard that closed its doors in 2003 — had itself fallen into great disrepair over the years until the city committed to renovations. Phase 1 finished up in August 2020. Phase 2 has been underway, and some major interior projects are coming soon.
Phase 1 of renovations of the brewhouse entailed replacing old bricks that had eroded from the facade of the building, as well as installing new gutters and windows. Some of this work was foundational as well as cosmetic, but project manager and city spokesperson Ann Cook said this next phase is probably the most important one, despite its lack of visual interest.
Phase 2 involves retrofitting the building with proper seismic safeguards and infrastructure, which are required for any future interior public access or use of the brewhouse.
Cook said geotechnical drilling and testing was completed in September, and the data has been provided to a structural engineer and an architect who will work with her and Capital Projects Manager Don Carney on future scenarios for use of the building and a support system for the tower.
Phase 2 also will include more schematic design proposals, structural engineering, drawing construction plans and more. Cook and Carney asked the commission for $20,000 in funds to continue supporting this leg of the project. The commission approved the proposal unanimously on Thursday.
“This work is probably the most boring and the least visible, but it’s the most critical and it’s what we need to do to allow people access,” Cook said.
Cook said the group already has started talking about ADA accessibility and putting in new staircases and a new elevator. She said the biggest part of the puzzle is figuring out how to fit in two staircases when only one exists now. The existing staircase isn’t up to code and the higher up in the building you go, the less room there is to navigate, she said.
She said the existing elevator shaft isn’t ADA accessible either and will need to be replaced with a larger one.
“Pretty quickly this six-story building, the actual footprint on each floor gets pretty small,” she said.
Following these renovations, the interior of the building will be further restored. The original tile floors will be cleaned, interior walls replaced and re-tiled, and the road that leads to the tower will need to be paved.
Cook said the plan is to keep the first four levels of the building publicly accessible with businesses such as a tasting room, restaurant or museum. The third floor may be used as a mezzanine and the fifth floor as office space. The sixth floor inside the tower has limited space and most likely won’t be open to the general public.
The Olympian previously reported the city estimates the project will cost an overall $6.5 million. The commission’s $20,000 comes from its annual budget and will help pay architecture and engineering fees.
Restoration efforts are expected to be completed and the brewhouse open to the public sometime between 2024 and 2026.
This story was originally published November 21, 2021 at 5:15 AM.
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