Arena prompts courtroom clash

Not everyone in Everett is on the bandwagon for the city’s hockey arena and events center.

By Theresa Goffredo

Herald Writer

EVERETT — Everett attorney Geoffrey Gibbs not only sees his 1890s-era building on Broadway as an important historic structure, it’s also his nest egg.

With the building paid off in seven years, Gibbs had planned to rent out some of the office space and have a cushion for his retirement.

But his best-laid plans went into the wastebasket last year when he received notice from city leaders that they intended to buy his property to tear it down and replace it with an events center and hockey arena.

Gibbs has decided to fight the city.

He’s not alone.

All totaled, 16 property owners’ buildings make up the two-block downtown area at Hewitt Avenue and Broadway where the city wants to build the $50 million arena.

Five of those property owners sold their parcels, but the city had to sue the remaining 11 who have refused to sell. Now the city says there are at least seven property owners still planning to go to court.

Gibbs takes comfort in that number.

"So I feel my position is validated a bit," he said. "And I don’t feel like I’m riding alone tilting at the windmill."

The holdouts

The seven downtown property owners who are refusing to sell to the city to make way for a $50 million events center are:

Geoffrey Gibbs, who owns land fronting Broadway, home to a law office.

Betty Knutson, who owns land fronting Lombard Avenue with an office building on it.

Joseph Murphy, who owns land fronting Broadway, home to Big Bob’s New &Used Carpet.

Carlin McKinley, who owns land on the northeast corner of the events center site, home to Keller-Williams Realty.

Sno-King Investments, which owns land that fronts Hewitt and is home to a Filipino restaurant.

Larry and Rochelle Sturman, who own land fronting Hewitt, home to Sam’s Western Wear.

Ancient Scottish Rite, home to the Scottish Rite Temple at Oakes Avenue and Wall Street.

Gibbs and the other property owners will be in court Monday. Their hearing is before a visiting Skagit County judge who will decide whether the city has made a valid argument to legally condemn those downtown properties for public use and for the public’s good.

"The public-use argument is pretty obvious here," said attorney Walter S. Tabler of the Seattle law firm Graham &Dunne. Tabler is working with the city as lead counsel in the litigation.

"The typical condemnation use is a road. There’s no question a road is a public use. But an events center is also a public use because it’s used for the public and the benefit for the city and the citizens of the city."

The city’s attorney, Mark Soine, said he didn’t view the number of people who are refusing to sell as "exceptional" and hoped the city would be able to negotiate with the remaining property owners to avoid any lengthy legal procedures.

Though he realizes that the property owners prefer to stay put in buildings they’ve occupied for years, Soine believes everyone has a price.

"They’ve got a price, and we’ve got a price and even though there are those who are reluctant to relocate, it may ultimately come down to the money," Soine said.

He considers Monday’s hearing as a step in the condemnation process more than a hurdle in the building of the events center. The center is expected to seat 8,000 for hockey and 10,000 for concerts and shows and to be paid for, in part, through a $25 million sales tax rebate from the state.

A practical man, Gibbs, whose building at 2940 Broadway has held law offices for 30 years, realizes he may not win in court but said, "I’m not going to run away because of that."

Gibbs had planned to rent out space in his office to two other attorneys and also remodel the upstairs for other tenants. He calls himself an "unhappy camper."

"This truly was my retirement planning and what the city is offering me won’t produce anything like that. Even if I would invest the money," Gibbs said.

The 53-year-old attorney said the city should build the project at another site closer to the new Everett Transit Station and the new Pacific Avenue overpass. But with the economy the way it is after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Gibbs isn’t sure the city should build the events center at all.

Gibbs’ attorney, Jeff Smyth of Seattle, agreed, and worried that the project’s financial underpinnings might unravel, or that the city will get "caught up in some wacky momentum."

"And then the city winds up with a white elephant that takes 10 years to draw a profit but in the meantime drains the city like a flushed toilet," Smyth said.

You can call Herald Writer Theresa Goffredo at 425-339-3097

or send e-mail to goffredo@heraldnet.com.

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