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As most have already heard by now there was a that destroyed two buildings and displaced nearly a dozen businesses. Working through the night, it took nearly 50 firefighters to extinguish it. Here’s a video from The Daily Astorian:

I’m from Astoria – well, Warrenton to those of you from Clatsop County – and it’s always sad and a bit nerve racking to hear about fires in town. Astoria, especially its central core, has a rich history of fires. A majority of the downtown area has been burned down twice, once in 1883 and again in 1922. Since then there have been several other fires in downtown, most of which have at least spread to one or more nearby buildings because the buildings are so close together and are primarily constructed of wood.

While the history of fires in Astoria is something that should not be forgotten, I want to take a moment to talk about this specific fire and how it will affect the community.

In addition to losing a restaurant and bar close to my heart, Gunderson’s Cannery Café, Astoria also lost, in my opinion, its best office building: No. 10 Sixth Street. The building is one of many historic structures in Astoria that has been revitalized, but it’s only one of a few historic structures that have been converted to office space.

For those of you more familiar with Portland than Astoria, No. 10 Sixth Street is comparable to the Beam Development properties: Olympic Mills, the Water Avenue Building and the Eastbank Commerce Center. It’s an old industrial building (over the Columbia River standing on piling) that’s been gutted and repurposed into space for professional services and creative types using salvaged materials. Out of it came a building with a well-maintained historic shell and a minimalist, classy interior with contemporary touches.

But not only is it rare to find a historic building that has been preserved in such a pleasing – both visibly and accurately – manner, but No. 10 Sixth Street was actually one of the first buildings to undergo such a transformation, opening the door to several successful projects that followed.

No. 10 Sixth Street and Hotel Elliott, both restored by developer Chester Trabucco, were two of the first big historic preservation projects in Astoria. At a time when Astoria looked like a decrepit ghost town on the weekends, leading even the most logical professionals to believe it might be time to tear down some of the rotting building stock, these two projects showed that it can be viable to repurpose and restore buildings.

Since then, several developers – including Mitch Mitchum, Paul Carauana and Brian Farhety – have taken an interest in purchasing historic buildings and repurposing them. That trend has given Astoria a unique charm, a reinvigoration of its history and credibility among preservationists.

So, as much as I’m sure the building will receive support – both emotionally and financially – from the local and regional community, and a similar building will eventually be built on the property, No. 10 Sixth Street can’t be put back in Astoria’s historic building stock. And because of that, it’s a sad day in Astoria.