Thursday, October 1, 2026
Sidewalk and utility work at the Daley Arts Center is going to make it tougher for pedestrians and motorists to navigate the area over the next couple of months.
The work is scheduled to start this week, and then continue until early October at Daley Arts Center, which was formerly known as Olympia Armory.
"All four street frontages of the site will be impacted with construction at one point or another. There will be a mixture of lane reductions and sidewalk closures on 5th Avenue SE, Eastside St SE, Legion Way SE and Quince St SE," said the City of Olympia Public Works Department in a construction and traffic alert.
"The construction will be fluid between the street frontages, although impact to multiple streets at the same time will be reduced as much as possible."
Flaggers, sidewalk detours and signage will be in place throughout the construction period.
"Please follow all posted signage and use caution when traveling in the area. If possible, use alternate routes to avoid delays," said the Public Works Department.
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KellyOReilly
I wonder who Daley was/is???
Monday, August 3 Report this
Olyrkrgrrl
Yeah, I was wondering who Daley was, too. So I looked it up, on the city's website. Details are very sparse... Here's what it says: "The Olympia City Council has officially approved "Daley Arts Center" as the new name for the historic Olympia Armory, following an extensive public engagement process and recommendations from the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee (PRAC) and the Community Livability and Public Safety (CLPS) Committee.
The historic Armory building is being reimagined as a Creative Campus that will foster arts, innovation, and community connection. The Daley Arts Center honors former Olympia Mayor Bill Daley, whose leadership played a key role in downtown revitalization during the 1980s and in the creation of Olympia’s Arts Commission."
I still don't know who he was, or what he did...revitalize downtown in the 1980's? It didn't hold... maybe we can do more revitalizing and re-name it again, if that's what it takes! Just teasing. Silly to not to give any info about the new facility's namesake.
Tuesday, August 4 Report this
jimlazar
Bill Daley was the last Mayor of Olympia under the 3-Commissioner form of government.
He was also a long-time regional education advocate.
Bill was a friend of mine.
When Bill became Mayor, our downtown was almost dead. They rolled up the sidewalks at 5:30 when the banks closed. During his term and after, it became much more lively, with new restaurants and stores.
After that revitalization, I became a regular downtown, enjoying music and other cultural events.
That lasted a couple of decades. Then the creation of magnets downtown for people in need of social services.
Now, nobody goes downtown any more, because there are too many people there. Or something like that.
Thursday, August 13 Report this