DARRINGTON – Like a favorite shirt you just can’t bear to throw away, Darrington’s old city hall still has appeal.
Most other buildings in similar shape would have kissed the wrecking ball long ago. But the Darrington Town Council just can’t do it – not yet, anyway.
The council decided Wednesday to pay a structural engineer to assess whether renovating the 60-year-old building would be worth it.
Councilman Gary Willis said people are nostalgic for the old building because of the many things that went on there. The building has been far more than a city hall. It’s been a library, jail, fire hall, food bank, dance hall and haunted house.
“I know there’s seniors probably here now that had their first date on that dance floor,” Willis said.
Councilwoman Sandi McCaulley said she and her husband, Merle, were both on the board that organized teen dances there. As adults, they square-danced there.
“It’s really the last – especially two-story – historical building left in the community, and we would like to save it,” she said.
A leaking roof forced the library and city offices to move to a new building in 1990, and the old hall’s concrete block walls have obvious cracks.
If the structural engineer decides the building can be saved, the town would have to find grants and volunteer labor to make it happen, McCaulley said.
“It’s going to take a community effort to save it,” she said.
If the building is too far gone, the town will have to find a new home for the food bank, the building’s last remaining tenant.
If the building is fixed up, McCaulley hopes the Darrington Historical Society will finally have a home for its many artifacts.
But the society is having its own share of problems. Its membership has dwindled so low that it might disband, secretary Martha Rasmussen said. A meeting Saturday will decide its future.
Reporter Scott Morris: 425-339-3292 or smorris@heraldnet.com.
Old city hall
Built: 1944, by volunteers
Functions: City hall, library, jail, fire hall, food bank, haunted house, dance hall. It still serves as a food bank.
Vacated: 1990, when a new city hall and library were built.
Darrington Historical Society
Meeting: 10 a.m. Saturday at the Glacier Peak Cafe.
Why?: To discuss whether to disband because of a lack of members.
Scott Morris / The Herald
Darrington’s old city hall has not been used by the town since 1990. Structural engineers are being consulted to see if it is worth saving.
Darrington Historical Society
Meeting: 10 a.m. Saturday at the Glacier Peak Cafe.
Why?: To discuss whether to disband because of a lack of members.
Old City Hall
Built: 1944, by volunteers
Functions: City Hall, library, jail, fire hall, food bank, haunted house, dance hall.
Vacated: 1990, when a new city hall and library were built. Still serves as a food bank.
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