RECLAMATION OF BELLINGHAM WASHINGTON WATERFRONT!!!!!

Sometimes you read about how some old, run down building is repurposed and the story needs to be told........
This is such a story. This coffee shop was the steam turbine building for the E.K. Woods log mill.
This concrete building replaced a cabin in 1853, and years later, the log mill burned down leaving only this building.

This is a photo of a plaque inside the Woods coffee shop.

Then the building was used a boat manufacturer. When you walk along the outside sidewalk, the ramp going down to the bay is still there. Until I read the story behind this building, I always wondered why there was a ramp.

This building sat vacant for years when the Bellingham Parks and Recreation Department took the deed to the land.
They rented it out to the Community College as a pottery shop and eventually took out an ad in the local paper to find a occupant. In the ad they suggested that it would be a good location maybe for a coffee shop..........

The owner of the Woods Coffee Company saw this vision and renovated the old building into their coffee shop.

Much of the old building remains as it was. There are marks in the concrete floor where pottery carts were rolled into the kiln, and paint splatter on the floor.

Much of this saltwater bay in the 1800's was heavily industrialized, leaving the bay polluted and the cleanup continues to this day.
My hat is off to Bellingham City planners and the Parks and Recreation Department for reclaiming the land and miles of walking trails ........