Local businesses will have greater access to the resources and guidance of the Economic Development Council thanks to a financial contribution from the county’s 2260 Fund. The County Council voted 4-2 Tuesday to contribute $8,400 from the fund, which is dedicated to financing public projects that foster economic development, to the EDC to increase its executive director’s hours.
Oren and Peggy Combs, formerly of the Front Street Alehouse, have purchased Pazzo Vivo (175 First St.) from Mari Lariviere. They are remodeling and will reopen it in mid-June as Rumor Mill. “It’s going to be more open and bright,” Oren Combs said of the restaurant’s interior. The interior design will be “industrial modern with a nostalgia twist,” and the First Street frontage will feature a 12.5-foot glass slide garage door that will swing open to give diners the ambience of sitting outside.
The building at Front and Spring streets formerly occupied by San Juan Brewing Co. and Front Street Alehouse is available for lease. The price: $8,000 a month, according to attorney Stephanie Johnson O’Day. O’Day predicts that an upscale restaurant will ultimately occupy the site. “It’s a prime location,” she said.
Islands Convalescent Center is now Life Care Center of the San Juan Islands. The care center is owned by Life Care Centers of America, based in Cleveland, Tenn., and most of the other centers have “Life Care Center” in their names. The local administrator is Nai Saefong.
Concepia: Your Center for Photography is moving from Churchill Corner to the former Springtree Restaurant, 310 Spring St. The Springtree Restaurant site was last occupied by the Islands Museum of Art, which moved to First Street. Concepia owner John Sinclair’s new location features a courtyard shaded by a camperdown elm (according to Wikipedia, the camperdown elm was first cultivated at Camperdown House in Sinclair’s native Scotland). The courtyard will have a community arts notice board, seating and refreshments for sale.
Stepping Stones is moving from 54 Marguerite Place to the former King Typesetting building at 720 Park St. Director Bridget Altena said she expects to be in the new location in June. Advantages: It’s newer and freshly remodeled. There will be a toddler room and a preschool room and, eventually, an infant center.
Madden Surbaugh, formerly of Steps Wine Bar & Grill in Friday Harbor, is opening The Quilted Pig in the waterfront veranda of the Moran Mansion at Rosario Resort. The resort reopens Friday with the new restaurant, a refurbished spa, and guest accommodations. The Barto family of Anacortes purchased the 30-acre resort in 2008 from Olympus Real Estate Partners.
Bob Coleman, president and CEO of Islanders Bank, announced Tuesday the following officer promotions approved by the Islanders Bank Board of Directors at the April 29 board meeting.
Six San Juan Island-based whale watch companies will honor Earth Day by donating a portion of proceeds collected on Saturday to a pair of non-profit groups that are helping to restore Puget Sound’s marine habitat.
Replacement of the dock on the wharf outside the Roche Harbor Market and Lime Kiln Cafe cost about $500,000, Roche Harbor General Manager Brent Snow said. The dock was completed in March. It complements an expansion of the Lime Kiln Cafe and other improvements to the wharf buildings. The buildings date to 1923, when they were built to replace earlier buildings destroyed by fire.
For the first time, a portion of lodging tax money reserved for construction or maintenance of tourism-related facilities will be used to promote visiting Friday Harbor during the summer, from May to August. The Friday Harbor Town Council Thursday allocated $40,000 for a blitz of summer promotions over the Internet, in print, on radio and on television. The San Juan Island Chamber of Commerce was allocated $15,000 for a promotion with Comcast for on-air and online promotions in South Snohomish, North Seattle, Bellevue-Issaquah, Woodinville-Redmond. A commercial by SanJuanIslandsTV.com will be broadcast over Bravo, Comedy, E!, Headline, Animal Planet and Fox News channels. A banner video will be placed on Comcast.net.
The San Juan Island Chamber of Commerce celebrates the success of local businesses with its first annual Recognition and Celebration Banquet, April 29 in Friday Harbor House’s San Juan Room. The evening will start at 6 p.m. with a no-host bar. Dinner will be served at 7 p.m., with the program and awards to follow.
Even as real estate sales slowed … to … a … trickle, Pat O’Day of John L. Scott in Friday Harbor remained confident that the market would rebound. Sellers just had to be patient. “The light at the end of the tunnel is that we are the Martha’s Vineyard of the Pacific Northwest,” O’Day said at the time. “God isn’t making any more San Juan Islands and there is an insatiable thirst by a very affluent, young generation, as they head toward their retirement years, to have a presence on the islands.”
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