Status of the Printery? Limbo
After writing about the Printery and its role in the approximately $8 million of FEMA funds the city of Atascadero may have to pay back to the federal government, many people have asked me about the status of the structure.
The Printery is one of several buildings that made up the original civic center of E.G. Lewis’ Colony. It was the first to be completed so Lewis could print the Atascadero News and his nationally distributed picture magazine, The Illustrated Review. Initially, the building contained the largest rotogravure printing presses west of the Mississippi River. The presses were moved to Oakland in 1927.
I have been through the building since it was damaged as a result of the 2003 San Simeon Earthquake. I’ve walked into every single room in the two-story structure. The building has been pretty much gutted of all its old bathroom fixtures, dividing walls and doors by its owner, developer Kelly Gearhart.
He was getting ready to make the repairs to the structure at about the time his contracting and development enterprises were coming to an end and he left the city for Ohio. There is even a pile of newly created medallions sitting in a corner, intended for the exterior trim.
The original Ralph Holmes murals still adorn the entrance area and grand stairway. Some minor damage has been done to the murals, but they seem to be safe from the elements at this time.
A large painting that hung on the second floor of the stairway landing has been restored and now hangs in the lobby of the present City Hall.
Frankly, the building is broken. Being an un-reinforced masonry structure, the earthquake sort of shook it apart. The end walls lean out slightly at the corners.
Those walls are being supported by a large network of heavy beams to keep them from falling outward. Many of the windows are damaged and in need of extensive repair or, in some cases, total remanufacturing.
The Printery wasn’t built with the same care and quality of the City Administration Building a block away. It was, after all, an industrial building. Lewis never got around to putting a tile roof on the building. That is why it has a tin and tar roof today.
Before the earthquake, the city estimated it would have to spend just a little under $1 million to make it functional. That estimate is closer to $3 million to $4 million now.
On top of that, two loans close to $4 million were outstanding on the building. Complicating things even more, the building is tied up in the whole Gearhart mess. The future of The Printery, as well as hundreds of other Gearhart assets, is unknown.
As a past president of the Atascadero Historical Society, I wrote a letter to the city on behalf of the society’s board of directors in 2000 asking the council to retain ownership of the building and not give it away.
The directors felt there would be more grants and sources available to a municipality to make the necessary repairs than to a private individual. The fate of the historic building is certainly unknown at this time.
Lon Allan has lived in Atascadero for nearly five decades. His column appears here every week. He can be reached at 466-8529 or leallan@tcsn.net.
This story was originally published April 16, 2012 at 10:24 PM with the headline "Status of the Printery? Limbo."