The Washington Trust for Historic Preservation has shown interest in the Selmer’s building in downtown Aberdeen, which is slated to be demolished and the Gateway Center constructed on the land at the northeast corner of Wishkah and F streets. The old building has sat on the piece of property since it was built during the 1920s.

Michael Houser, the state architectural historian with the Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, reported to the Seattle-based, non-profit trust last week that Selmer’s is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places after the Trust requested such a finding by the state.

“The building retains a high level of architectural integrity (a rare find in Aberdeen) and boasts some unusual brick detailing,” Houser wrote in a letter to the trust.

And Selmer’s is eligible not only as an intact example of early 20th-century architecture, but also for its “direct connection to the growth and development of Aberdeen,” Houser explained.

Among occupants over the years of the Selmer’s building were the U.S. Department of Labor, Heikel’s Drug — which also had a location in Hoquiam back in the 1930s — a laundry, at least one tavern, lodging providers, and the Import Bazaar; a retailer that sold products from around the globe.

Local historian Roy Vataja remembers the importer being there in the 1970s, when he was a youth.

“It was all very exotic,” he recalled. “The wicker furniture, the smell of patchouli.”

Selmer’s Furniture, which operates now across the street and a block down from the old brick building, sold mattresses and bedroom items from the structure in question beginning in the 1980s.

“There was this big freight elevator we used to move the furniture between floors,” said Tim Schlaht, who today owns Selmer’s Furniture on the 400 block of East Wishkah. As a youth, he worked in the other building and spent many hours inside of it moving heavy furniture around.

Among his other memories were discussions with the owner of the motel located there years ago and having his first beer in the tavern near the store.

“I was only 16 or 17,” he said somewhat sheepishly about the alcohol purchase.

Jennifer Mortensen, preservation services coordinator for the trust, contacted the state to ask for the determination about Selmer’s. The organization she’s involved with helps smaller communities save historic structures that have small or non-existent programs available to preserve these buildings.

An Aberdeen resident sought the trust’s assistance because they were concerned about what might happen to the old building, she explained without providing the identity of the interested party.

The group also generates a list of endangered buildings around the state. Aberdeen’s Electric Building was on that list in 2013 but its owner continues struggling to make the structure habitable. It was built in 1913 and represents electrification of the area — a major part of the community’s history.

“We’d love most to see the Selmer’s building reused,” Mortensen also said. “We’ve heard it wasn’t built very well, but we haven’t seen the structural reports. We want more information about the building before acknowledging that preserving it entirely is totally not an option.”

Houser’s department provided a grant to the city for documenting historic structures in its downtown core. Selmer’s is not within the area slated for this process scheduled to begin in February; it’s two blocks outside of this designated area, said Lisa Scott, the city’s community development director.

Aberdeen owns the building and the land beneath it. City officials purchased it and property around it for the future Gateway Center and adjacent parking. The Tesla Supercharger station is next to the location where the parking lot is planned — where the Crystal Steam Bath stood until it was knocked down earlier this month.

Plans for this 20,000-square-foot visitors and enterprise location might include two of the building’s facades. Such a design concept — along with another created based on a months-long process involving community input — will be presented during a meeting tonight at 5:30 in the Rotary Log Pavilion. Both concepts are being presented during that event and people can voice their opinions about them there and online.

“While we think saving the two facades of Selmer’s would be better than nothing, it’s not really preservation of that structure,” Mortensen said of the plan to use facades of the old building as part of a new Gateway Center.

Preservation of the entire building was estimated to cost between $1 million and $2 million in 2016. It was announced earlier this month that preserving only the two facades would cost $852,582, an amount that includes the $306,000 price for the building’s demolition because the tasks are linked if the facades are to be salvaged.

Constructing a new building for the center has been estimated to cost about $8 million. That excludes the incorporation of the facades.

Aberdeen Mayor Erik Larson said Wednesday he remains neutral about the final design concept of the Gateway Center. He and architect Matthew Coates, the city’s contractor for the conceptual design, have said citizens participating in public meetings give construction costs a high priority. There’s also a segment of the community that wants to see portions of the old building incorporated into a new design because the building is a familiar and beloved site for these people.

Larson said some of the people who want the building saved, or are opposed to all of the Gateway Center concepts or even the project itself, are coming out of left field.

“The accusation made by some that the decision about the building’s design has already been made is wrong,” he said. “And some of these efforts are attempts by people in favor of saving the building to force that decision rather than let it go to the public — no matter whether the project warrants the building be saved.”

He made it clear that other recent actions have been to foster public interest or inform the city. The city’s Historic Preservation Commission reportedly opting to support preserving the old Selmer’s building is one example. The commission advises the city council, which will make final decisions about the center. Because Larson was on vacation and only returned late Tuesday, he hasn’t had the chance to find out what the commission wants specifically, he said.

Scott, the commission’s staff liaison, said the meeting’s minutes still haven’t been approved by the head of the group so their exact decision wouldn’t be made public as of Wednesday.