The Wenatchee Downtown Association hosted an architect from the state Department of Archeology and Historic Preservation this week who came to town to talk about creative ways that can be used to improve and use historic buildings.

Nicholas Vann talked about many tools that could be used by property owners to restore and redevelop buildings that could enhance the downtown core, said Linda Haglund, the WDA’s executive director.

It’s great to see the WDA tackling this issue because the way historic preservation rules have been applied in recent years to downtown buildings and the Grandview Historic District has left a sour taste in the mouths of a number of folks. The city’s approach used to be built on a regulatory-based “thou shalt not” model rather than a solutions-based, common-sense approach. To their credit, city officials have shown much more flexibility recently.

Historic preservation is important in our community and if the conversations that the WDA are sponsoring lead to more opportunities to enhance and use downtown buildings, that would be a great outcome for the community.

A number of property owners and local architects showed up at the meeting on Tuesday at the Wenatchee Convention Center to talk about what might be possible downtown, Haglund said.

There’s a huge opportunity in developing the upper floors of downtown buildings. There is a tremendous amount of space that could be restored or redeveloped if the right tools and incentives were in place. More housing downtown would go a long way to solidifying Wenatchee’s unique downtown that sets it apart from so many other communities. It’s easy to envision a more vibrant downtown with plenty of housing and other creative uses of upper floors.

Haglund said she’ll encourage her board to hold a design charette and hopes to find a building owner willing to do a workshop with interested local architects.

It’s also critical to move quickly on this issue because in 2013, Wenatchee Avenue is going to be torn up for repaving and that presents a golden opportunity to make sure the needed utilities are in place.

Right now, the WDA, the city and local building owners and architects seem to be motivated to find creative solutions and move beyond past issues. Working together to envision and execute a plan for a more vibrant downtown is an excellent idea.

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