<< Previous   of   Next >> Enterprise/CHRIS FYALL  (click to enlarge) Alternatively called the "Pink House," the "Bettinger/Kretzler House," or "The Victorian," the house at 555 Main Street is one of downtown's oldest buildings. It is pictured here in May.

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Hopes fade for endangered home

• City reluctant to host Pink House at Civic Field

By Chris Fyall
Enterprise editor

Plans to save Edmonds' Pink House as a public building are on life support.

Without much political will to move one of Main Street's last grand, old homes to Civic Field from Main Street, it looks like saving "it is not going to happen," said Fred Bell, president of the Edmonds-South Snohomish County Historical Society.

Bell criticized the City Council, which has been reluctant to allow the building onto city property. The Historical Society would pay for the move, and the upkeep of the building, Bell said.

"I see our heritage here in Edmonds slipping down the drain," Bell said July 15. "If we cannot save the building, then we have told the people of Edmonds that we do not really care about our heritage."

Purchased in January for $1.1 million, the 1907 Victorian-style house at Sixth Avenue and Main Street will make way sometime this year for the new corporate headquarters of MaverickLabel.com, an Edmonds-based sticker and label distributor.

The owners of MaverickLabel.com, who live in Edmonds, are willing to give the house away to the city or the Historical Society, but need to know by Aug. 1 where the house will go. Otherwise the house will be sold to the highest bidder, officials said.

The Historical Society tried to move the house to Fourth Avenue, but couldn't find any available land.

Recognizing the threat the home faced, in May the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation listed the house as one of eight buildings on its Most Endangered Historic Properties list.

Preservationists turned to the city, and asked for permission to put it on a city park.

The city has expressed concern about giving up open park space for a building, and jamming a large building onto a very small corner of Civic Field.

Despite those concerns, the council offered tepid support for the relocation plan last month, but in the July 15 meeting asked for commitments from the Historical Society that would ensure the Historical Society paid for future renovation costs, liability costs, and the expense of future moves or demolition costs.

The commitments need to be written, said council president Michael Plunkett.

"I do not think we can save the building until we have these other, contractual issues settled," said councilmember DJ Wilson. "They go hand-in-hand."

Given the deadline, Bell and MaverickLabel.com's Rick Kent were not optimistic the building could be saved after the meeting.

Still, while the council raised objections and hurdles that make relocation unlikely, they did not kill the plan entirely.

In a tight 4-3 vote, the council said it would listen and consider to additional information. The dissenting councilmembers -- Steve Bernheim, Ron Wambolt and DJ Wilson -- suggested the Historical Society's effort would ultimately be wasted.

Even while acknowledging the long odds, Bell said after the meeting the Historical Society will do the footwork necessary.

What next?
Even if the building is not moved to Civic Field, it is possible the house could stay in Edmonds.

At least two people have said they want to move the Pink House to their properties in Edmonds, where they plan to live in it.

That is a plan that could be worked to the Historical Society's advantage, officials said after the July 15 meeting.

Rick Kent, the president of MaverickLabel.com, said the company is considering donating the Pink House to the Historical Society like it was an old car. The society could immediately turn around and sell it, generating some profit for the society.

It is possible MaverickLabel.com could get a tax write-off, Kent said.

Reporter Chris Fyall: 425-673-6525 or cfyall@heraldnet.com