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Ultimately, the aspiring architects will leave merchants who choose to participate with detailed plans to redo their storefronts, whether it be a new paint job or a full renovation of their building’s facade. Jim Nicholls, a UW lecturer who has worked with graduate students to bring the program to 10 other towns in the state, told those at Monday’s chamber meeting that the so-called Storefront Studio project doesn’t intend to force a new look on a town or make it look more like other cities — something he said residents often worry about when the project comes to their locale. Nicholls said the students will spend extensive time researching Vashon and its history and hope to learn what aspects of the town are most important to Islanders. They’ll then develop a vision for what the town’s main street could look like after a remodeling effort. He showed the group several examples of buildings in towns such as Roslyn and Puyallup that had been given a new lease on life based on the budding architects’ suggestions. “They’ll say, ‘Here’s what it looks like today, and here’s a possible revisioning of it,’� Nicholls said. Students will be flexible and alter their ideas based on feedback from Islanders at individual meetings and at several open houses, he added. At
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the open houses, which will take grant from King County. The grant place throughout the spring, digital came from a pot of money that renderings of remodeled buildings became available last year when will be on display, and students will the county dissolved its Economic use computer programs to show Enterprise Corp. — which issued merchants what their storefronts bonds to foster economic developwould look like with various treat- ment — after the state began a ments. similar program. The King County “You guys are the key. We’re just Council voted to put the corporathe skills set,� Nicholls told the tion’s $95,221 to work as 10 grants business owners. “It’s your vision for development in communities we want to give shape to.� that could use an economic boost. Debi Richards, director of the Julie Koler, a historic preservation chamber, said in an interview officer for King County — which that some busipartners with the ness owners UW on the proji5IF UPXO JT WFSZ FDMFDUJD were hesitant ect — said at the when they first chamber meeting *U XJMM BMXBZT CF FDMFDUJD learned about the the county also CVU JU DBO CF GSFTIFOFE Storefront Studio plans to make VQ BOE NBEF UP CF NPSF a few months low-interest and ago. However, XFMDPNJOH BOE DIFFSGVM w maybe no-intermost warmed up est loans available %FCJ 3JDIBSET to the idea once EJSFDUPS 7BTIPO $IBNCFS PG $PNNFSDF to Islanders who they understood want to perform the graduate stuwork on their dents wanted to hear local opin- storefronts. ions. Richards said no one wants “The students will come in and Vashon to be “another Leavenworth do their work, and hopefully within or Poulsbo.� a short period of time we’ll come in For her part, Richards said that and provide the power to do that she thinks remodeling some of (remodeling),� Koler said. Koler didn’t say how much Vashon’s more neglected storefronts could do the Island a lot money would be available but said of good, both aesthetically and the funding, unlike the Storefront Studio, would also be made availeconomically. “The town is very eclectic. It will able to businesses outside Vashon always be eclectic, but it can be town. Bill Brown, owner of the Brown freshened up and made to be more welcoming and cheerful,� Richards Agency, said money would be the said. “Not just for visitors, but the key to change for many local business owners. people who live here everyday.� “My ears perked up when I heard The project will be funded by a $10,000 economic development small business loans and funding,�
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he said at the meeting. “I’m sure a lot of business owners downtown would love to redo their facade but simply don’t have the money.� Koler, in an interview, said that simply getting free consulting work from the young architects will be a great deal for business owners. It would cost upwards of $30,000 for an architectural firm to do the same work on Vashon, she said. Koler, who has been involved in Storefronts Studio programs in other towns, said the students’ efforts could make over Vashon town, or make very little difference, depending on what business owners do with the plans. “Some communities really haven’t done much of anything, and others are moving forward on it,� Koler said. She named North Bend as a town that has embraced the project and where merchants have put the Storefront Studio’s vision to work. “It’s really brought vitality back to their downtown,� she said. Langland, who has co-owned the Vashon Pharmacy for 20 years, said he was looking forward to learning about the young architects ideas for the town, as well as for his particular building. He said he would consider investing in a remodel and hopes other merchants will keep an open mind as well. “We’re not going to ‘Leavenworth’ this (town) ever,� he said. “I hope everybody will listen and not just brush off an outside opinion, or something that costs money, without giving a chance to another point of view.�
7BTIPO OBNFE B AGBOUBTZ UPXO CZ OBUJPOBM NBHB[JOF In its most recent issue, Sunset Magazine named Vashon Island as one of 20 “ultimate fantasy townsâ€? to live in in the Western United States. The article in Sunset, a lifestyle magazine with a circulation of more than 1 million, listed Vashon in the “woodsy dream townâ€? category along with four other towns. In a short description, it said Vashon’s “forested, farm-y land is studded with honor-bar fruit stands, and hosts professionals who are artist-hippies at heart.â€? Debi Richards, director of the Vashon Chamber of Commerce, said she heard about the article when a friend in California who had read it called her. “I think it’s an honor,â€? Richards said. “It is a great place to live. That’s why we all live here.â€? Richards added that some may be bothered by the magazine’s “hippieâ€? reference. “You hear people say all the time ‘I wish they wouldn’t keep calling us hippies.’ ‌ We are just a different culture here, and it’s a positive thing,â€? she said.
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