by Kimberly Jacobson
The red cannery along the shores of Guemes Channel was built in 1915 for the Salina Packing Company. It operated as a salmon cannery until 1935, when Sebastian and Stewart took over ownership. The building, at the end of D Avenue and Ninth Street, may become a hotel and restaurant.
The old red cannery building along Guemes Channel may be the future home to a new restaurant and hotel.
Gems LLC, which owns the downtown restaurant Star Bar, is proposing to build a 32-room hotel and restaurant with public access areas at the property near D Avenue and Ninth Street.
“The project will create and restore a unique part of Anacortes canning history through restoration and beautification of a rundown building and pier, as well as make the site accessible to the public,” the company said in its proposal.
The Anacortes Planning Commission is expected to hear the conditional use permit application early next year.
Archives show the Salina Packing Company pier and cannery facilities were built in 1915. Salina operated the site as a salmon cannery until 1935 when Sebastian and Stewart took over ownership.
In addition to salmon canning, the company started tuna canning in 1937, making the facility the only tuna processing plant on Puget Sound and north of the Columbia River. The building still bears the Sebastian and Stewart logo on the north end of the structure.
In 1964, the Whidbey-Fidalgo Co. took ownership of the cannery. By 1985, salmon and tuna processing had declined. The facilities then switched to the processing of other seafood, which included a fish meal plant dock for American Gold Seafood.
The developer says the structure requires constant repair due to age and weather. It is mostly vacant, but some cannery equipment remains.
Gems LLC, a private investor, purchased the property in early 2006 for $385,000, according to the Skagit County Assessor’s Office. It also took over a 15-year lease from the State of Washington Department of Natural Resources for the aquatic lands. Gems bought it to revitalize the facility as a waterfront showcase that would attract locals and tourists.
The company’s proposal includes three buildings. The first is a three-story boutique hotel with 32 rooms, the majority with views of the San Juan Islands and Guemes Channel.
“This structure will be set at the end of the pier with all the elements of the historic cannery and maintain the look and feel of the original cannery,” the proposal says.
The second building is a three-story restaurant/lounge and multi-purpose facility. The multi-purpose area will be available to the public for receptions, meetings or other civic functions. It will include a catering kitchen and capacity for up to 150 people.
The third building is a 2,000-square-foot utility building with kiosk spaces for local businesses to rent for things like kayak trips, whale watching or bike rentals. The company also proposes space for a biological research center.
The project is also planned to include a public access dock, parking and potentially moorage for small and medium-sized boats. Along the water’s edge, a one-eighth mile pedestrian pathway is planned, which could be linked to other city or public trails.
“We would like to provide a promenade setting in which the public will feel safe and at home strolling along the path that leads past the old cannery,” the company said.
The restaurant and hotel will share 52 on-site parking spaces. A free valet lot at the corner of 12th Street and D Avenue is planned for 75 additional spaces.
