Tumwater takes brave step on brewhouse
When it came time to fish or cut bait on the community’s iconic brewhouse, the Tumwater City Council bravely took the riskier — and potentially more rewarding — option. It agreed to accept a donation of the aging, decrepit brick structure from developer George Heidgerken.
The 111-year old brewhouse was used by the original Olympia Brewery until 1916. Its significance as one of the state’s early industrial sites has long been acknowledged, and in 1978 it went on the National Register of Historic Places.
A deed transfer still needs to be written and signed by Heidgerken and Mayor Pete Kmet. But the council’s consent sets into motion a long overdue effort to save the historic tower-like building before it collapses into the soil.
Ultimately the city needs to raise a lot of money to carry out a potential $5.6 million rehabilitation of the structure. That cost was estimated in a 2015 study.
We side with those who think some risk is worth taking after decades of inaction.
City leaders have been staking the community’s next big economic development push on craft brewing and craft distilling.
Critics are correct that liabilities from the neglected structure will move to the city’s ledger, and the burden for rehabbing this icon will land on taxpayers and donors — unless the building is left to fall apart.
Heidgerken retains ownership of adjacent lands including old warehouse space, which is in better shape. Kmet says the city is using grants to secure trail access so that the old brewhouse can be linked to other trails in the area. Meanwhile, Heidgerken hopes to turn his property into a space for a craft brewery or other venture.
City administrator John Doan and Kmet think grants for historic renovation can be obtained to defray rehabilitation once the city owns the building. Whether the site ultimately houses a museum, a craft brewery, or some other purpose, that is up to the city’s imagination, skill and financial backers.
There is urgency to act because bricks are falling off the structure. The first step is to put some kind of canopy over the roof top to limit deterioration; one option could cost $425,000. Doan and Mayor Kmet want at least an interim cover in place by winter.
Where the city gets that money, and how soon, remains a question. Whether the city digs into its own pockets is a question.
Faced with such uncertainties, it’s not hard to understand the position of the two skeptics on the City Council, Ed Hildreth and Joan Cathey.
But the city’s identity remains tied to its brewing past, and the brewhouse’s tower-like structure has long inspired copy-cat motifs on municipal and commercial buildings around town.
Second chances don’t always come along, and Kmet says he remembers with regret every time he drives past the brewery that the city had a chance to buy the structure in the late 1990s — at a time the owner wanted too much for it. This time, Kmet wasn’t going to pass up the chance to secure the property for posterity. We agree.
This story was originally published April 9, 2016 at 12:30 PM with the headline "Tumwater takes brave step on brewhouse."