Top 10 stories of 2015: New look at water’s edge

Published 10:00 am Thursday, December 25, 2014

Could it have, should it have… been different?

The question will probably be kicked around for years.

But at the height of summer 2014, the town council gave a collective thumbs up to the Port of Friday Harbor’s much-debated design of the building which one day will rise at the site that was once home to Downriggers Restaurant. Created by architect Peter Brachvogel of BC&J architects, the Spring Street Landing building, expected to cost in the neighborhood of $4 million, will feature a public plaza, restaurant, retail space, more than a dozen underground parking spaces and expanded access to the waterfront. But it will also gobble up a greater portion of the sky, as the pitch of its roofline exceeds the town’s basic building code because its historic look and feel drew the endorsement of the town historic review board.

Approval of the design signaled the start of major renovations at the port, including reconstruction of the marina and replacement of the seawall that will serve as the foundation and footprint of new Spring Street Landing building.