An online petition addressed to Aberdeen Mayor Erik Larson and the architectural firm working on designs for the proposed Gateway Center downtown asks that the brick facades of the old Selmers building at the intersection of Wishkah and F streets be incorporated into some of the design options for the Gateway Center construction project.

The 20,000-square-foot location would house a visitors and tourism center, a centralized location for the county’s various enterprise and economic development organizations, some retail businesses and space for meeting.

About 80 people as of mid-day Monday have signed the petition posted on the change.org website. E Aria Alexandra, a former board member of the Aberdeen Revitalization Movement and one of creators of the petition, said the goal is to get the idea in front of the public while Coates Design Architects continues work on a building design.

None of the four design options offer it as a choice, Alexandra said.

Alexandra pointed out that discussion about this as a possibility occurred earlier in the process but has since faded away.

“We’re trying to get the issue back on the table,” she explained.

She also wondered whether more could have been done to ensure more people from outside of city hall and the chamber of commerce participated in the process of choosing a concept for the style of the center.

“It should be a community decision,” she said. “Perhaps a note in everyone’s water bill might have helped with that.”

The second meeting attracted a much larger number of people than the first and responses from the public have been individualized, said Heidi Happonen of Storyforce, one of the professionals involved with the presenting the design meetings for the center.

“The comments coming back in have been very constructive, by no means are all people attending the meetings agreeing,” Happonen said. “There are many different voices being heard.”

One of the four design concepts presented earlier this month takes the city’s downtown architectural history into account. Concept No. 4 is brick with a modern glass facade, Happonen said.

Alexandra said the design Happonen refers to is more reminiscent of the Armory than Selmers, however.

Happonen said a structural engineer looked at the old Selmer building nearly two years ago and determined that saving the facades would cost at least $1.5 million.

“We’re not looking at saving the entire building — just to brace the brick and incorporate it into the design,” Alexandria added. “We should respect past generations’ work. So few buildings in Aberdeen have that style. It seems a shame to completely lose this one.”

The petition is at this location — https://www.change.org/p/gateway-center-save-the-selmers-facade