The capital city must be involved as the state shapes big plans for the Capitol Campus

Big changes are afoot at our state Capitol Campus, and we’d better pay attention. We are the capital city, and the capitol is part of our city. What happens to it happens to us, more than to Washingtonians from anyplace else.

The failing 1930s-era Newhouse Building is slated to be torn down and replaced to make room for Senate offices. The previous state library, the Joel Pritchard building, may be in danger of a similar fate. The empty General Services Administration building is on the hit list for wrecking and replacing too. And two old houses that used to be filled with an Olympia press corps from all over the state are also about to become history, and the remaining reporters moved into the Legislative Building.

Right now, the most controversial part this simmering stew is the idea of demolishing the Joel Pritchard Building, which many regard as a great exemplar of mid-century modern architecture.

The building is beloved by the city of Olympia’s Heritage Commission, the Olympia Historical Society-Bigelow House Museum and other preservationists. The Heritage Commission, in a memo to the City Council, argues that “The state is not adhering to statutory requirements for historic preservation, is moving forward without a long-term plan in place, has not engaged in public outreach commensurate with the size and impact of the proposed undertakings,” and should consider options other than demolition.

Mayor Selby chimed in with a letter calling for more frequent consultation with the city, more public engagement, long-term master planning, and a reprieve for the “iconic, mid-century Joel Pritchard State Library Building.”

The South Capitol Neighborhood Association also weighed in with a plea for “serious attention . . . to the nexus between our State’s Capital City, neighborhoods surrounding the campus and these proposed new buildings.”

All of those objections were aimed at the State Capitol Committee, the decision-making body created early in our state’s history to the be custodian of the Capitol Campus. It consists of four statewide elected officials or their designees: the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the Secretary of State, and the Commissioner of Public Lands.

There is, of course, another side to the argument about the Joel Pritchard building: More than 60 percent of the building was designed for book storage, with very low ceilings that make the space unusable for offices. All that space is now empty. Critics contend the building was poorly constructed and is expensive to maintain. And a lot of people just don’t like mid-century modern architecture and think the building is incompatible with its older neighbors.

We will leave it to others to pursue that argument. But we agree with the critics’ point that the State Capitol Committee needs to step back and consider the need for master planning and more public engagement. Fortunately, on Jan. 28, at the first meeting chaired by our new Lieutenant Governor Denny Heck, its members voted to do just that.

Representatives of the South Capitol neighborhood and the historic preservation advocates who attended that Zoom meeting were cautious, but pleased. They are cautious because they know that all this is going to be complicated, and they can’t afford to miss the next meeting or the next one after that.

Neither can the city of Olympia. There’s a lot at stake.

Heaven knows the Olympia City Council has had a full plate dealing with the crisis of homelessness, a pandemic, a racial justice reckoning, violent demonstrations, and an economic emergency — not to mention the usual business of running a city. We regret to tell them they need a bigger plate.

They also need the help of the Chamber of Commerce, other civic organizations, and the general public. A demand for more public participation must be followed by a robust public response to do any good.

And it’s not just the State Capitol Committee that needs our attention. State legislators, who control the purse strings, also need to regard our city as a welcoming host. It might help to revive lost traditions of annual welcome events at the start of each legislative session.

State government has an unmet obligation to the city, too. But Heck regards Olympia as his hometown, and his chairmanship of the State Capitol Committee is a guarantee that we now have a willing partner for improving the city/state relationship.

This is an opportunity we can’t ignore. Momentous decisions will be made in the next handful of years about the future of the Capitol Campus. We need to invest all the civic energy we can muster to ensure that those decisions result in a campus as wonderful as the one bequeathed to us.

This story was originally published February 14, 2021 at 5:45 AM.