Public commenter urges action to protect former Leonardo, Northwest Pipeline Building and Holy Cross chapel

At the start of the meeting during general public comment, Cindy Cromer urged the commission to protect several downtown historic resources, focusing on the former Leonardo (the city's old library building), the Northwest Pipeline Building and a chapel on the Holy Cross Hospital site.

Cromer said the former Leonardo has “faltered for years” and that repurposing the building for city departments—bringing scattered offices together—would have been logical when the library relocated. She recommended the commission consider reuse opportunities and said Ken Sanders' bookstore occupies part of the building in the interim: “We should all stop by to see Ken Sanders… it will be good for his business while the rest of the building is getting repurposed.”

Cromer flagged the Northwest Pipeline Building (designed by Slack Winburn) as one of the few downtown mid‑century buildings and said evidence of reverse graffiti indicates unauthorized entry and vandalism; she told the commission she had submitted a photograph to staff. She warned that if the building were lost to fire it would eliminate a locally unique opportunity for rent‑to‑own housing.

On the Holy Cross Hospital site, Cromer noted the chapel has a newly replaced roof and said she viewed the reroofing as a sign the chapel’s future is more secure now that Holy Cross has returned to the site: “I would never re roof a structure prior to demolishing it. So I think this is good news.”

The commission did not take action in response to public comment; staff recorded the remarks and proceeded with the evening's agenda.