SEQUIM — Ryan Schaafsma and Jason Hoffman have found plenty of surprises more than two years into a joint venture to restore Sequim’s 85-foot-tall downtown building.
One of their biggest problems came in the form of half-inch demolition crew members that ravaged two of the 12 posts that hold up the iconic grain elevator at 531 W. Washington St.
“The termite rot on the tower, for sure,” Hoffman said.
Despite a renovation that has taken about 27 months to date, the lifelong friends and Sequim natives are determined to not just keep Sequim’s “skyscraper” standing, but to usher in a new era.
Once completed, the project will become home to not one but three businesses that Schaafsma and Hoffman hope will become a top hangout for Sequim.
After mulling numerous options, the duo are set on hosting a full taproom/restaurant in the site’s south-facing side; three short-term “apartment”-sized rentals in the heart of the structure, and on the north end, a coffee bar and hangout space.
The pair bought the property and began renovations in May 2022 and since then have posted their progress on social media (facebook.com/thesequimgranary).
Schaafsma said the top two comments he gets when people stop in for a look or comment online — One: When’s it going to be done? And two, appreciation for what work is being done.
Hoffman had optimistically mused in an interview last year that the renovations would be complete by this summer. However, there is likely at least another year of work before opening up the site for business operations, the duo said, and probably more like 18 months before a full opening with all three portions in operation.
“We [had] to let go of the timeline,” Schaafsma said. “Once we did that, it became less of a burden.”
The duo said they could do a “soft opening” in a year if all goes well, but they’re not making plans just yet.
Schaafsma said he hopes the project jives with community expectations.
“That helps, knowing people are excited,” Schaafsma said.
History
The base of the Sequim grain elevator was built in the 1920s; Schaafsma said ledgers for the building would eventually refer to it as “the mill”; in later years, the grain tower would be called the “new mill” and the south-facing structure the “old mill.”
According to Sequim Museum & Arts, the first structure, a storage facility for lettuce and pea seed, was built by the Peninsula Grain Company. In the 1920s, it became a delivery and transfer station for local farmers who sent their produce to the Seattle metropolitan area.
According to museum representatives, Cecil Dawley purchased the building in 1935 and ran his feed and farm equipment business until 1941.
The building offered a grocery department in 1938: “A fresh fruits and vegetable counter extends almost across the entire front of the new addition. New display counters and other built-in features have been installed to facilitate handling of groceries and a new office has been added.” (Sequim Press, March 11, 1938)
Dawley then leased it to Western Farmers before selling it to the Clallam Co-Operative Association in 1943. The Clallam Co-Op operated the business, finishing the tower in the mid-1940s.
Construction of the tower that has become so familiar for Sequim residents began in 1944. A Sequim Press story noted that construction began to provide 10,000-ton capacity to replace the 3,000-ton capacity at the mill, “which has become inadequate to supply needs of Olympic peninsula dairy farmers.” (Construction Is Started on New Co-Op Feed Mill, Friday, Sept. 15, 1944)
Building manager Paul Pool claimed that “farmers will be able to virtually haul their grain at one side of the mill and take out ground feed at the other in all one continuous operation.”
In the decades following World War II, Sequim farmers produced seed for cabbage, beets, mustard, carrots and other vegetables, museum officials noted. In the 1950s and ’60s, 40 tons of grain were lifted by belt to the top and dropped into railroad cars every day.
The Clallam Co-Op sold to Dungeness Agriculture Cultural Supply in 1969, and the grain elevator ceased operations in 1977. Since then, it has been the site of the Landmark Mall (1981-1988) as well as Mexican-themed restaurants El Cazador and the Baja Cantina through 2020.
Friendship venture
Hoffman’s family already had been rooted in Sequim for several generations before Schaafsma’s family migrated to the area from Alaska when he was 3.
Over the years, the two became friends — attending the same church, school and occasionally sharing a sports team, working at Thomas Building Center, their first “real jobs” as teens — before eventually going into business together, following Schaafsma’s service in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Hoffman owns Olympic Peninsula Stone, Inc., a Sequim-based stone fabrication and installation company, while Schaafsma manages a local storage facility and works in commercial development.
Neither of them were looking to take on a big project until the property came up for sale two years ago. Something about the local history spoke to both of them, and they took the plunge, purchasing the structure from Linda “Candy” Diesen, owner of Tootsie’s, the popular drive-thru hamburger restaurant located next door.
“We weren’t looking to make or do a business; we came into this because of the building,” Schaafsma said last year.
He recalled celebrating his grandfather’s birthday each year there on Dec. 23.
“Anyone who’s been here has their own family history,” Schaafsma said. “I’ve always loved this building.
“The stars sort of aligned. Neither of us would have touched this independently … but we knew we could trust each other. I knew there was no way I could touch this on my own.”
On their first day in May 2022, the two walked in and naively mused there would just be a few minimal changes, Hoffman recalled in an interview at the site.
“A little bit of drywall here, some changes there,” Hoffman said, looking around the unfinished portion that will become the taproom.
“Every turn, we would dig deeper [and find problems] and say, ‘We can’t leave it like this,’” Schaafsma said.
“We want the structure to survive, even us.”
And so began the restoration and renovation that has taken up much of their non-working, non-family time over the past 27 months. They added a new roof, completed new siding and revealed and replaced the windows in the upper cupola that had been covered since the 1980s.
And then there’s the inside: termites had infested and destroyed key posts holding up the tower.
Hoffman said he estimated about 10 percent to 15 percent of what they inherited has been replaced, and all of that includes major components of the structure.
And while he admits he has struggled with the weight of this project, Hoffman said he’s relied on Schaafsma’s energy: “He’s been positive and driven.”
Both say their families have been very supportive — to a point.
“They’ve been,” Schaafsma started … “’tolerating’ is a good word,” Hoffman finished.
The pair also got plenty of words of wisdom from Thomas Moore, who, with partner Ronnie Riggs, completed a renovation and transformation of a similar grain elevator in Greenville, Ind.
The vision
Schaafsma said he and Hoffman want to provide not just another retail place for Sequim but a place that celebrates Sequim’s past.
To that end, as the project carries on, they are collecting pieces of local history to be featured in the to-be-completed venues. That includes pieces from the granary itself, from other parts of Sequim — such as an irrigation wheel-turned-chandelier, already in place, and an old railroad switch — or items that are similar to what was used on site, such as a vintage truck scale.
Schaafsma said he has two storage units dedicated to collecting the items.
“We would like to have a legacy, [with] both of us living here most of our lives,” he said.
On the south end, the taproom and restaurant will include a covered patio, full stage for live music, conference/meeting room, a drop-down screen for movies and more, with a bar to feature local brews; Hoffman said he’s hoping for a signature granary brew, too.
They aren’t interested in running the restaurant, however.
“We need a venue manager to take our vision and run with it,” Schaafsma said.
On the north side is envisioned a coffee bar and hangout spot.
“Families can come down here and spend some time, not feel like they’re being rushed off,” Schaafsma said.
On the north end, a closed-off portion of the space is currently dedicated to Verizon’s cell tower equipment. Schaafsma said there’s been “promising” conversations that the cellular giant may move that out of the structure itself, which would open up much more room and allow for the business partners to show off more of how the grain elevator was used.
In between are the three short-term rental suites; one facing south that has an outdoor space; the second a three-tiered suite; and the third, a space with a loft, horseshoe-shaped kitchen and more.
Schaafsma said they’ve thought about trying to make the tower itself accessible, but that is not part of the plan yet and would be contingent upon the cost of constructing stairs.
All three parts of the project will likely open at the same time rather than in phases, Hoffman said, as construction on unfinished parts would be too distracting.
The progress of the tower can be tracked at facebook.com/thesequimgranary.
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Michael Dashiell is the editor of the Sequim Gazette of the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which also is composed of other Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News and Forks Forum. Reach him at michael.dashiell@sequimgazette.com.
