PORT ANGELES — Parker Paint will not reopen its doors in the wake of a July 19 fire that damaged the building at Front and Lincon streets.
Store director Brad Stine declined on Thursday to say why the store is closing permanently, or what had changed since late July when he had said it would reopen by the beginning of this month.
He referred questions to Mike Morris, vice president of store operations, at the company’s Tacoma headquarters.
Morris did not return calls requesting comment.
Stine said: “We are taking care of our customers now, and we’re not going to leave anyone hanging.
“But we are not going to reopen for business since the July event.”
The location has housed paint stores since 1892.
Stine said customers seeking assistance can phone the company’s Port Angeles number, 360-457-5333. The call will be routed to the company’s Silverdale location.
The fire was reported late in the day on July 19.
Damage was limited to the store’s paint mixing room, at the northwest corner of the store at 201 E. Front St.
The rest of the building suffered smoke and water damage, Stine said.
By Thursday evening, the building had been cleared out, with only some debris and small remnants of the paint store remaining inside the boarded-up building.
Employees who were packing up the last remaining cans of paint declined to comment.
Stacks of cans — some appearing in pristine condition and others charred and warped by flames — were hauled away from the building, which still smells of smoke.
The building that contained both Parker Paint and Kokopelli Grill originally was a wooden building, housing Johnson & Bork Wallpaper and Paint in 1892, said Deputy Mayor Don Perry, who leads a downtown historical tour and is an authority on the history of the commercial structures.
(Kokopelli Grill was not damaged during the fire.)
The current building replaced the original Johnson & Bork structure in 1922, Perry said.
The business was sold to Parker Paint about 12 years ago.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.