Strawberry Council Signs on Dotted Line to Begin Restoration
— from Patsy Stephens, Olga Strawberry Council —
The long-awaited restoration/rebuild of the historic Olga Strawberry Barreling Plant, more commonly known as the Artworks, has begun. The Olga Strawberry Council, non-profit owner of the building, is pleased to announce the awarding of the construction contract to Sound Construction. Sound is a local, well known company of long standing and high regard.
The official signing of the contract documents took place April 19, exactly nine months from the date of the arson fire. With the oversight of project architect, Ben Trogdon, Terry Gillespie of Sound Construction and Patsy Stephens of the Olga Strawberry Council put their signatures on the official documents.
The first obvious sign of progress will be the relocation of a septic tank on the east side of the building where the most significant fire damage occurred. This first step is required for the improvement of the back deck. This work will be done by Bart Curtis of Orcas Construction Co. The construction project will go “full speed ahead” with completion expected by year’s end.
Two of the popular and longtime tenants are planning their return, the Artworks and the Hardman Gallery. We are sorry to report that the Café Olga will not be returning, so the Strawberry Council will be looking to fill that space with a new Café tenant. Inquiries by interested parties will be welcome soon. That process will follow later in May.
Thank you for this update of the construction timeline. We SOOOO much miss our beloved Artworks and are eager to see it,
literally, rise from the ashes…