PORT ANGELES — The residents of this city aren’t going to let the Hood Canal Bridge closure get them down — and they showed it at the first public meeting for the “Our Community at Work: Painting Downtown” project Tuesday evening.

Nearly 100 people showed up, and 81 signed up to volunteer.

“I think half of Port Angeles is here,” said Kathy Charlton, owner of Olympic Cellars, and one of the organizers of Painting Downtown, after the meeting.

Volunteers plan to spruce up downtown Port Angeles by repainting buildings and washing windows, with approval from building owners, while the eastern half of the Hood Canal Bridge is replaced from May 1 to about June 15.

While the hope is that tourists will be introduced to a fresh-looking downtown when they return after the bridge is re-opened, the goal is to improve the area for everyone, organizers said.

The 81 signatures weren’t all that the project gained Tuesday.

Project organizers also got commitments from:

• Port Angeles High School Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, or JROTC. Major Leo Campbell said each of the 120 students will help with the cleaning and scrubbing.

• The Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce. Chamber President Betsy Schultz said the organization will adopt a building to improve and will encourage each of its 525 members to get involved.

• Nor’Wester Rotary. The club will clean and seal two murals on Laurel Street between Front and First streets.

• AmeriCorps. The organization will provide volunteers.

• First Security Bank. Branch Manager Mike Rainey said the building at 1405 Front St. will be spruced up as part of the project.

“I’ve lived here for 2¬½ years,” Rainey said, “and I have always felt it is very important to spruce up Port Angeles. This is a fantastic opportunity.”

As of Tuesday, property owners of eight other buildings have joined the effort. They include the Morse Building and the buildings housing Blue Dolphin, Corner House restaurant and Downtown Hotel, Copies Plus, The Other Side, Oak Street Center, The Toggery and Bella Italia restaurant.

“I think it’s brilliant,” said Neil Conklin, owner of Bella Italia, before the meeting.

“It’s the perfect time to do some spring cleaning and promote the downtown.”

Edna Petersen, owner of Necessities and Temptations and the co-chair of the project, said there are five more buildings that may be part of this project.

“Pooling our talents and skills, we can make this happen,” Petersen said.

“Our community working together to make it happen — it just doesn’t get as good as this.”

Trial run

The owners of the building that houses Blue Dolphin have offered the structure for a trial run, she said.

“This is the building that we are going to practice on,” said Petersen as she showed a Powerpoint slide of what the building could look like.

The slide showed the concrete building painted with shades of yellow, red and blue and with the two shuttered windows replaced.

The design was created by the three-member design team made up of Charlie Smith of Lindberg & Smith Architects, architect Mike Gentry and Trisa Chomica, owner of Trisa Chomica Interior Design.

The designs have to be approved by building and business owners, the design team members said.

Supplies will be donated or provided at wholesale cost to building owners and volunteers from Hartnagel Building Supply, Angeles Millwork and Sunset Hardware.

“It’s a perfect opportunity to not only change the look of our community but to really change the perception of visitors that come to our community,” said Bill Sommers, Hartnagel sales manager.

The city of Port Angeles is cutting the red tape by providing a blanket right-of-way permit and waiving the fees — saving the project $75 per building.

The idea for the project came from Petersen and Charlton after they attended community meetings with members of the American Institute of Architects, who were in Port Angeles last month on a grant to recommend improvements for the design of the city, and recent workshops on sustainability at Peninsula College.

As of Tuesday, eight people were organizing the project.

For more information, or to sign up, visit www.portangelesdowntown.com.

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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.