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closeThe shock of this week’s fire that destroyed the Lynden Department Store building on Front Street is still fresh. The double shock is that two teenage boys stand accused of starting the fire.
But we hope that the owner of the building and city of Lynden officials are already starting to think about what comes next.
The historic building, in existence for more than 75 years, is lost. And today many Lynden residents feel a hole in their community. For many of the years it stood, it served the community as home to the main store in town. In recent years it was home to a conglomeration of shops and restaurants and offices, all adding to the success of downtown Lynden.
The building stood at the center of historic Lynden. Its location in the 400 block of Front Street is near the town’s post office, City Hall, museum and theater. While growth and development have changed the city much in the past 15 years, the building and the businesses in it, helped provide an anchor for downtown, which remains a legitimate business district and the heart of the city.
There are a lot of details to be worked out in coming weeks. Police and prosecutors must decide how to prosecute the two teenagers accused of starting the fire. The owner’s insurance company will weigh in.
There should be no doubt about rebuilding something on that site. We suggest city officials begin earnest discussions with the property owner about the future. We hope the citizens of Lynden will be active in supporting redevelopment.
Such rebuilding or redevelopment is not always easy, but it is also not unheard of.
Bellingham can serve as an example of the best and worst of what can happen.
When two teenagers started the fire that burned the historic Mason Building in 1994, located at the corner of Railroad Avenue and Holly Street, that important Bellingham location sat empty for several years, a fence around a “pit.” The city of Bellingham eventually stepped in and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars preparing the site for new development. The Mason Building site now holds a building with apartments, offices, a bank branch and downtown Bellingham’s Starbucks Coffee location.
That redevelopment was not without controversy, with many people concerned by the city’s spending and others concerned by how the city choose who to redevelop it. Still, that site is now a vibrant part of an active downtown.
Just two blocks away, at the corner of State and Magnolia streets, the historic Larson Building burned down in late September of 1994. That location has never been redeveloped with the same vigor. It hosted a drive-thru coffee stand for a couple years, but is an empty lot today.
Downtown Lynden would not be served well by years of emptiness and argument over the fate of the Lynden Department Store building site. Once the shock and pain of this week’s fire subsides, we hope building owners, city officials and community members can work to support redevelopment on that site that will help keep downtown Lynden the vibrant place it is today.
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