Bellingham’s most recent wind storm ripped the side off a downtown Bellingham business
Winds from a spring storm that pounded Whatcom County Sunday and Monday, April 3-4, hit one downtown Bellingham business particularly hard, ripping an entire side of its building away and forcing it to temporarily close.
Fourth Corner Frames, a custom framing business, reported via Facebook that Sunday night’s windstorm had caused substantial damage to the building at 311 W. Holly St., forcing the store to close for the foreseeable future.
“The wind was horrendous, but I did not expect to see this,” owner Sheri Wright told The Bellingham Herald Tuesday, April 5.
The early week winds ripped a portion of the building on its southwestern side away from the rest of the building.
“Our building took a big hit from Sunday’s wind-storm and we will be down for a time but not out!” Wright wrote in the Facebook post. “Everyone is safe and we are still assessing our losses but were very fortunate that no significant damage to anything inside the building occurred. All of our clients, and artists treasures are safe and accounted for!”
Wright told The Herald that saving customer’s art and photos was the top priority for Fourth Corner after the damage was discovered.
But the impact was still felt, as Wright said the store, which she has owned since 1973 “is my sole source of income.”
Fortunately, Wright said, “the outpouring from the community has been great.” In the Facebook post she thanked numerous people, including a crew from RAM Construction that “saw what had happened and spent their entire day helping us move everything to safety, providing boxes, manpower, and even lunch with skill, caring and alacrity.”
Wind gusts at Bellingham International Airport topped out at 60 mph at 2:07 a.m. Monday, according to wunderground.com weather records, with top sustained winds of 35 mph at 10:53 p.m. Sunday.
According to Downtown Historic District records, the building Fourth Corner Frames now occupies was built in 1914 and it was known as the Meacham’s Jewelry Co. building.
