Fairhaven Library receives donation from Wilks estate

             The Fairhaven branch of the Bellingham Public Library received a donation of $37,500 from the Winifred Wilks Estate this January.

            It has not yet been determined how the money will be used. The Friends of the Bellingham Library have been discussing the possibilities, Assistant Director Christine Perkins said.

            “With a donation this large, we want to be thoughtful about what we propose, so that we make best use of the funds,” Perkins wrote. “We do not have anything finalized at this time.” Perkins stated that the decision should be made in the coming month or two.

Potential for improvement

            Librarian Donna Grasdock would like to see the funds used to enhance the building for the community. As a library specialist who works almost exclusively at the Fairhaven branch, she has a soft spot for the children’s room.

            “There used to be a skylight in here,” Grasdock said as she looked around the small space. “I’d like to make this room more kid-friendly; lower shelving, reading chairs, maybe some baskets for books.”

            Shelving for the children’s area is one possibility, according to the Bellingham Public Library’s Board of Trustees minutes from its Jan. 23 meeting. Other ideas that were mentioned include a “bestseller” collection for the Fairhaven branch, and putting some of it into a fund at Whatcom Community Foundation, an organization that helps to manage and distribute gift money for community betterment.

            Visitors to the library have some suggestions of their own.

            “I’d really like it to be open a little longer,” library patron Carol Ouellette said. “Two ‘til six doesn’t always fit my schedule.”

            Ten-year patron Kay Mason also advocated for longer hours, but also hoped for a stronger online presence.

            “I think it’d be great if there were more e-books available,” Mason said.

            The library system welcomes public suggestions, wrote Assistant Director Perkins. Suggestion forms are available at every library location.

A history of philanthropy

            Wilks, according to the Board of Trustees, was known to stop in at the Fairhaven branch on a weekly basis, “usually to get a stack of British murder mysteries.” This is just one of many donations made to the Fairhaven branch by a community member.

The Wilks donation is a continuation of the philanthropist efforts that first began the Fairhaven Library. According to the Bellingham Public Library, it started as a private reading room and subscription library in the bank building, paid for by citizens. It continued thanks to very generous donors with now-familiar names such as Larrabee and Wilson.

The Fairhaven Library’s current site was funded by a Carnegie grant and built on land donated by Charles X. Larrabee. This makes it an official Carnegie library, one of the 44 built in Washington State and one of the 14 in the state that still serve their original purpose. Throughout its creation and existence, philanthropy has been a vital source of income, keeping the library open.

Although private dollars have kept the library’s doors open, public funding has kept the building standing. The Bellingham City Council approved a repair plan that cost $1.3 million in 2008. Thanks to this contribution, which came out of the council’s emergency reserve fund, the building is in working, waterproof condition.

As discussions on the Wilks donation continue within the Friends of the Bellingham Public Library, the public is still encouraged to contribute what they can. Books, CDs, DVDs, and other material are as welcome as money in the library system.

According to Assistant Director Perkins, the Bellingham Public Library hopes to announce its plan for the donation during National Library Week, April 8-14. 

Rocket Donuts to begin construction on Harris Avenue

            With construction scheduled to begin in March, Rocket Donuts is close to establishing its second location in Bellingham, on the corner of 11^th Street and Harris Avenue. A Lot of Flowers, the garden shop that currently occupies the lot, will be given a space in the new building.

            The two-story building, which was designed by RMC Architects and will be built by Pearson Construction, will include business space for Rocket Donuts, a new Rocket Foods venue called Fat Pie Pizza Restaurant, and A Lot of Flowers. It should be finished by the end of the year, Teri Treat, Rocket Donuts spokesperson, said.

            “We anticipate having A Lot of Flowers in by Christmas, and the others following very soon after,” Treat said. A Lot of Flowers will be temporarily relocated to the retail space next door to the downstairs portion of the Colophon Café. The business has agreed to be moved to this location by the end of February.

A bittersweet transition

             Penny Ferguson, who said she has worked at the garden shop for 21 years and owned it for 15 years, is cautiously optimistic for the new structure, but sad to see the old one go.

            “I know this space better than I know my own yard. I know each plant; I know each nook and cranny. I’ve spent every hour of the day and night here, in all types of weather,” Ferguson said. “It’s a living space. A lot of the plants are over 25 years old, and a lot will have to be cut down. The entire nursery is going to be removed.”

            Ferguson said that the public reaction had been, for the most part, lukewarm. Many people are upset to hear that the outdoor nursery area would be gone, she said. But Ferguson does not believe the discontent will last.

“That will change once the building is done,” Ferguson said. “Change happens, and we’re just trying to move forward.” Ferguson said that the new building will provide much more in-door space than the current shop, and that she hopes to utilize natural light and houseplants to create an outdoorsy look.

Treat said that Rocket Donuts is aware of how beloved the garden shop is, and believes that the three businesses sharing the space will all be complementary.

“They’re an excellent business, and we want to continue to create business for them,” Treat said. “Taking a business that’s been successful and helping it to continue is really important to us.”

Multi-use structure introduces a new restaurant

The new building will have three floors, wrote Jason Williard, an architect at RMC: a basement (to be used primarily for cooking and employee space), a ground-level main floor, and a second level of seating for Fat Pie Pizza. The final structure will be approximately 3,200 square feet at the main floor, he said.

While Rocket Donuts will maintain its vintage science fiction aesthetic, and A Lot of Flowers will be selling more giftware and indoor plants, the business with the most room for development and surprise is Fat Pie Pizza. Although owned by the same company as Rocket Donuts, it will not have the same sci-fi look, Treat said.

“It’s a completely different venue,” Treat said. “We’re just developing the concept. We’re thinking of making deep dish pizzas; kind of like Chicago-style, but lighter and smaller.”

Ferguson said that she believes that the new businesses will be good for Fairhaven’s commercial area.

“I think that, after the shock, [Rocket Donuts] will be just fine,” Ferguson said. “There’s always competition with restaurants. It just makes all the businesses there step up and keep doing the good job they have been doing.”

While Ferguson said she had experienced some disappointing reactions from the public, Treat said that, in her experience, the feedback has been encouraging.

“It’s been difficult for some, because change is always difficult, but overall it’s been very positive,” Treat said. “It’s really going to be an upgrade.”

Images courtesy of RMC Architects

Commercial area wants growth, needs parking.

            Downtown Fairhaven is a thriving area, buzzing with local business, and it always seems to have a new event, vendor, or eatery up its sleeve. But with hustle and bustle and development comes a tricky question: as the neighborhood’s commercial area fills with more businesses, where do the increasing customers go to park when they come to visit?
            In March 2007, the Fairhaven Neighbors conducted a survey in the form of a questionnaire that collected nearly 400 responses from residents as well as business owners. In this survey, parking was identified as one of the top three aspects of the neighborhood the respondents would like to see improved. According to the Executive Summary of this survey, “a large majority of respondents say that the parking and traffic situation in the commercial core of Fairhaven is bad.”

The neighborhood has given the parking issue a good deal of consideration. The most recent draft of the Fairhaven Neighborhood and Urban Village Plan (published December 2011) dedicates an entire chapter to parking. While the situation is not yet dire, the plan outlines a future increase in demand. According to the plan, demand is anticipated to grow to approximately 2,300 to 2,800 vehicles, and the current supply is approximately 2,000 spaces.

Paid parking: a bittersweet solution?

Several recommendations for adjusting to the increasing demand are listed in the plan; perhaps the most radical is the possibility of time-restricted parking.

Merchants may be hesitant to support enforced time regulations. “Patrolling the area is not going to help, because we see a lot of loss of business with paid parking downtown,” Pamela Felke, wholesale and marketing manager for Avenue Bread, said.

But parking fees could do the area well, said Paul Stangl, an associate professor in the Environmental Studies department at Western. Stangl, who has done research in pedestrian planning and urban landscapes, referenced Donald Shoup, a parking and economics expert.

“If parking is priced appropriately, there won’t be a problem,” Stangl said. He explained how research and even case studies had shown that paid parking works for the merchants in the area if the profit from parking fees had a direct benefit on the location, rather than being swallowed into the larger and more nebulous pot of city funds.

While there are many solutions being considered, the neighborhood and the city have yet to take action.

“At the request of stakeholders, no specific management strategies are being imposed at the regulatory level for parking until conditions warrant such a change,” wrote Project Manager Nicole Oliver, in the Jan. 10 update on the plan. “No changes to the Parking District are proposed at this time.”

Complicating the issue: historic character

According to the drafted plan, the parking issues of downtown Fairhaven go beyond the standard growing pains of any business district. Most commercial neighborhoods will face the conundrum of development in a limited geographic area: an increase in customers and a decrease of places for customers to park. Fairhaven’s unique challenge can be found in its character: as a historic district, there is a certain aesthetic that does not allow for tradition storefront parking lots.

“Fairhaven’s core character (buildings against the street, safe sidewalks, interesting uses tantalizing the eye as one walks along) is impossible with parking between the building and the street. Even parking beside of the building breaks this compelling story,” according to the plan.

Development vs. Space

One example of the parking dilemma is the empty lot located on the corner of Mill Avenue and 11th Street. Cars can be seen lined up in this lot on any given day, and it is even advertised on Fairhaven’s website as free parking for all visitors to the district. Jacaranda Development, the company that owns the lot, has no current plans for the land.

            “There's a real need for additional parking in the [Fairhaven] core, and this site would be a natural one for an underground garage. Unfortunately that's going to be very expensive to construct, and is beyond the scope of the type of building that we've been doing,” wrote owner Brad Imus in an email. “We're ready to sell the property, but only to a developer who we think will do something really positive for the area.”
            While development could be a positive thing for some people, others would prefer that the lot remain undeveloped and open for customers.
            “There’s a standard of building requirement that comes with creating space, and that is not being followed in Fairhaven. It’s not measuring up,” Eclipse Bookstore owner David Carlsen said. “[That lot would] be a fine location for permanent parking as far as I’m concerned.”
            This lot, along with others like it on McKenzie Avenue, 9th Street, and 13th Street, is officially allocated as Fairhaven employee parking. The Old Fairhaven Association determines these designated parking areas, Felke said. Felke is also the Chair of Advertising on the board for the association.
            “It would negatively impact us if we lost that space,” Felke said. But Felke wasn’t quite as alarmed by the situation as Carlsen. “We pay a little bit too much attention to the parking issue. There is parking available.”

Fairhaven faces a parking dilemma, with limited time to concoct a solution that will please business owners, employees, and customers alike. As the neighborhood moves into a future of development and growing business, its residents will consider how to welcome and accommodate not only new customers, but their cars as well.

Welcome to the neighborhood.

My name is Osa Hale, and I'm studying journalism at Western Washington University. This quarter, I'll be covering the Fairhaven neighborhood. This is a part of my Reporting class, taught by Carolyn Nielsen. My goal is to explore and report on the issues that matter most to residents, merchants, and land owners in the neighborhood.