Olympia crews demolish historic Capitol Campus building. What will replace it?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Demolition of General Administration Building is underway after sitting vacant since ‘18.
- The Department of Enterprise Services says demolition will run March through year’s end.
- Deputy secretary of state proposes replacing building with archives and library facility.
Demolition is underway on a long-standing building at the Capitol Campus in Olympia, raising questions about future plans for the site.
The General Administration Building, completed in 1956, has been vacant since 2018.
Officials have said that it would cost more money to renovate the building — which no longer meets safety, mechanical, plumbing, electrical or structural standards — than it would to replace it altogether.
The state Legislature provided funding last year for the tear-down project. The cost? Some $16.5 million, according to the Department of Enterprise Services (DES).
DES puts the demolition timeline from March through the end of this year.
Here’s what else to know about the plan for the building and its lot.
General Administration Building demolition
State offices once filled the GAB, which was the first building on campus to be constructed since the Great Depression, as noted by the Olympia Historical Society. It was designed by A. Gordon Lumm, a Tacoma architect, in the “International Style,” recognizable by its minimalist ornamentation and cubical, horizontal form.
DES Director Matt Jones said it’s a historic building that acted as a bustling service agency in its heyday and once housed the Washington State Patrol headquarters.
Some minor demolition work has been accomplished so far, and the site is fully secured, Jones said. Demolition will pick up in the next few months.
DES is salvaging certain artifacts from the GAB, including a large state of Washington seal that once hung on its exterior. The Beall mosaic, a colorful mural depicting Washington’s industry and natural resources, has also been moved to the Helen Sommers Building.
Jones said crews are in the process of conducting hazardous material abatement like looking for asbestos. After that’s complete, the building’s structural elements will come down, he said — though the contractor will be asked to preserve the granite steps through the building’s old main entry and sandstone that once accented parts of its facade.
As for what will replace the GAB? That’s up to the Legislature to decide.
Whatever does wind up there, Jones said, will “have a significant part of our state’s history moving forward.”
“It’s really important to me leading DES that we honor the past history and future development on this campus to ensure it meets the needs of the people of this state,” he said.
What’s going to replace the GAB in Olympia?
Although nothing has been decided yet, Deputy Secretary of State Randy Bolerjack has an idea for what he’d like to see fill the Capitol Campus’ GAB-sized hole.
With the building’s demolition, “we’re really in a once-in-a-century opportunity to build a home to our state archives and state library collections,” Bolerjack said.
“I would envision something beautiful, modern, publicly accessible, and a home to our state’s history and literature,” he added.
Bolerjack explained that the State Archives Building was constructed in the early 1960s. It was built underground and acts as a bomb shelter, which hasn’t been exactly ideal given the Pacific Northwest’s wet weather. That puts collections at risk of water damage, he said, and sewage pipes are running over parts of them as well.
The more-than-60-year-old facility also counts deficiencies in its plumbing, HVAC, electrical and fire systems, Bolerjack said.
“The roof is covered in topsoil and trees … inviting the very elements that we want to protect these historic records from,” he said.
On top of that, the building doesn’t have the space needed for the state’s growing collections, which have been harmed during major flooding events, Bolerjack said. The archives house everything from the original state constitution and a letter penned by George Washington to various legal records and birth, marriage and death certificates.
The State Library, meanwhile, moved from the Capitol Campus after the 2001 Nisqually earthquake, Bolerjack explained. It was supposed to stay in Tumwater for a year before returning to the Capitol, but never did. Now, it’s also running out of space to store state and federal publications, plus a robust Northwest collection of literature, he said.
Bolerjack said he isn’t aware of any significant interest from another state agency for the current GAB site.
The way he sees it, Capitol Campus visitors should be able to experience Washington history while being a stone’s throw away from memorials and state lawmakers.
“I can’t think of a better place to have those collections accessible to everyone,” Bolerjack said.
This story was originally published May 14, 2026 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Olympia crews demolish historic Capitol Campus building. What will replace it?."
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