Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Nate Brigham and apprentice help friend, Austin Storm, with reconstruction work.
COLFAX - St. Ignatius' old laundry house building is under significant repair as the owners work towards their goal of preserving the grounds.
"It's worth preserving not just because of the history but because of how beautiful it is," said owner Austin Storm.
The building remains behind the hospital and was initially built as a nursing school for St. Ignatius. St. Ignatius suffered from a lack of nurses at its construction.
"I believe it was built in the 1910s, but the last use of the building was as a laundry room," noted Storm.
The nursing school became a historical landmark in Washington State's history after graduating Washington's first male nurses, Archie McClintic and Philip Kromm, in 1941.
The building was later solely converted into a laundry center in 1963 after being a dormitory since 1936.
"It's first about restoring the buildings as we found them; the building had a bad roof. There was a lot of damage to it," reported Storm.
The exterior of the building still largely resembles how it did 87 years ago.
"It is just a great-looking farmhouse-style structure. At the minimum, this year, we want to replace the roof and remove the dirt around the foundation."
Storm predicts this project will take on most of the summer as the owners work towards their final restoration goal.
"Ultimately, our vision for the main hospital building and this other building is for people to stay in it like a hotel or, at the very least, an Air B&B. We have so many people that come to look at the building, and it would be great for us to have a place to stay on the property. It's all about baby steps," he said.
St. Ignatius received much of its funding for this restoration project from an anonymous donor.
"We got a really wonderful anonymous donation from someone who knew we were trying to save the old house buildings," Storm noted.
Storm reports that the rest of the funding used in the restoration projects comes from various donations but mainly from the ghost tours that the St. Ignatius Staff put on.
As of right now, the building is underway in its demolition process.
"We are currently in the process of demo work to reveal the state of the building. It will allow us to figure out what's rotting and solid. People familiar with old houses know that the more you look, the more you find," he said.
Following that, Storm hopes to move quickly into roof replacement.
"We are grateful that we get to be the stewards of the building. We don't see it as something we own, and it's an honor to be responsible for the building," said Storm. "We are not big developers, and I don't have a lot of experience saving gigantic old builds; I don't think anyone does, but we are super grateful for everyone involved."
Olivia Harnack is a Journalist at the Whitman County Gazette. Olivia is enrolled at University of Idaho and is majoring in digital film studies. She serves in the United States Army National Guard and is proud to serve Whitman County.
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