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Debris burns on one of the floors of the tall building at Renton’s Garden Plaza on Park Avenue
I received a link to an Instagram Post which shows the inside of the dilapidated Park Avenue (Garden Plaza) buildings. The owner of the Instagram account states in one of the comments that the photos were sent to him, so the time of the photos is unknown.
I also stumbled upon a youtube video from August 17, with thousands of views, showing the hazardous state of the inside of the buildings. It was obvious that no steps had been taken by the building owner to remediate interior hazards as of the time these images were captured.
The photos and video underscore the danger to anyone moving about within these buildings, and the fire danger these buildings represent to the community. Recently, even Renton’s firefighters and police officers have been instructed not to go into these buildings unless there is a critical life-saving emergency need. No one from the public should enter them. I’ve only included a few sample screenshots from the Instagram post in this blog entry.
The link to the photos was sent to me after this six-minute television news story was broadcast about these dangerous buildings and the negative impact the buildings are having on the community.
For background on the history of these vacant buildings, see more related blog posts here.
The buildings still could have been saved when I wrote my first blog post on the topic in June of 2023, here.
This image from the youtube video shows a deadly drop down an open elevator shaft. No one should be going anywhere near this hazard without fall protection. Given that the the building remains unacceptably physically open to workers, the unhoused, and curious explorers, the owners should immediately be installing safety railings and caution warnings on these elevator shafts to prevent falls.
An open elevator shaft is visible in this image
This view inside the parking garage appears to include a pile of metal shavings (likely associated with metal theft activities.)
Most of these windows are now gone on the east side of the three-story 10-13 building, and the structure is being damaged by the elements
pacnorthwest_media, which owns the Instagram account, explains that the pictures were sent to him
Two days ago when a concerned group of residents walked around the outside of the building we found at least four open fence openings, such as this person-size gap in the chain link. While we didn’t go onto the property, it looked like there were also unsecured openings into the inside of the buildings.
This fence should not be relied upon to keep children out of this building
My kids walk all over that place. I do worry that it’s an attractive nuisance for other kids that perhaps aren’t so cautious. Frankly a construction site this bad would get shut down.
Randy, thank you for this post and the most complete and comprehensive coverage of this year’s long eminent disaster to the residents, and most tragically, to the children of Renton.
This post, with the YouTube video confirms my worst fears. Like you, I’ve spent time in those buildings. Like you, understanding how things burn is a topic I’ve been engaged in with the production of airplanes, sometimes inside those 2 buildings.
The YouTube video, made by idiots and criminals, published on an international platform displayed an unsecured firetrap. The detritus of petroleum byproduct created carpet, cubicles and wall coverings is everywhere, including adjacent to a propane tank.
If that building burns, and there’s been 2 fire calls to that building I’m aware of, but who knows. If that building burns out of control it will spout a plume of toxic forever chemicals. That spout of death will come, in deadly concentration, on Sartori Elementary School, and beyond.
Despite letters, public speaking, phone calls, Renton Responds reports, 911 calls, etc ad nauseum, the safety of our community continues to deteriorate at the ION Renton owned properties. For years and years now.
Renton’s Mayor, Armando Pavone, declined an interview with FOX 13 Seattle but stated that a demolition permit is associated with the property, with work expected to take 8 to 10 months to complete.
Yeah, the owners of the derilict property presenting a clear and present danger (FOR YEARS) to the people of Renton and it’s children’s education don’t comment either.
Our government aligns with the criminal owners communication strategy with the exception of something might possibly maybe happen, perhaps for the better, sometime in the not too distant future.
There is no part, section, division of our Renton City administration, including every elected representative, unaccountable at this point.
And the fish rots from the head.
Wow, p michael, that’s a whole lotta truth, that takes my breath away. To think of the toxic poisons our Community will experience in a full-on fire is staggering. And we know kids are easily accessing the property, as Anonymous shared above. We’ve been told by the city there is currently 24/7 security; I do not believe it. Someone let me know if you see any.
Thanks for your comment p michael.
Very strong points p michael, and I agree with you across the board. You make a significant case about the toxicity of these buildings if they ever become fully engulfed in flame, including forever chemicals entering the neighborhood. With the scattered propane tanks visible in the video, the buildings’ obvious history of fires, and the destruction of the buildings buit-in fire suppression, a major blaze is not an unlikely scenario. Thanks for your thoughtful and important comment.
At the Sept 2nd talk on the block with mayor P he said “they” have given the owner 3 choices 1. Demolish 2. Add a fence that cannot be scaled. 3. Add 24×7 security. Owner has requested the temporary permit for the fence. They supposedly have 2 weeks to comply. Only time will tell……
Reading your comment and accepting your synopsis of our Mayor’s talk as true and accurate, I am triggered by “given the owner 3 choices”.
My time to rant has expired, so let’s just point and laugh at a public display of incomprehensible incompetence.
But the city will release a communication to inform the public soon!
/sarcasm
That open elevator shaft is scary !
I was told owners when bought property wanted to turn it into apartments, yet area water access only zoned for business. That’s a shame . Any confirmation this is true ? They would have been nice apartments .
Great question Carter. The Department of Ecology has advised that this site not be used for residential activities, as it was previously the site of numerous industrial activities involving oil, gas, diesel, and other toxins. Under environmental rules, offices where individuals may spend about 40 hours per week can be built more places than residences where individuals (including children) might spend 168 hours per week.
When Garden Plaza (the office complex) was built in 1988, an agreement was in place that allowed only a partial clean-up (essentially removal of a top layer of polluted soil), and offices where they stand now, with the garage built on the most polluted section.
The rules for cleanup have become much more strict today, so it would likely take additional cleanup even to replace the offices, and a very thorough and expensive cleanup to ever allow residential on this site. I suspect the cleanup to accommodate residential, if it’s even possible, would exceed the costs of what the land would be worth.
Is the danger contained to the property, or is it leaching into the surrounding neighborhood?
The environmental toxins could potentially spread to nearby properties and to groundwater. Fortunately our municipal wells are upstream of this site, so our drinking water is probably not at risk. But the aquifer flows into Lake Washington, so the lake water quality could be impacted by gasoline contaminated groundwater at this site. I’m not sure whether there is any likely flow of contaminants toward the neighborhood. The buildings are currently directly surrounded by other business uses, with the closest residences being about 200-300 feet away. Here is a link to the Department of Ecology Status.
Another big environmental hazard is the risk of fire and smoke, and that can’t be understated. There were propane tanks shown inside the building in the video, a photo of fire in the building in the instagram post, and a history of major Fire Department responses to the building. The design fire-protection systems have all been stripped out and the water service cut, so if a large blaze gets started it could spread smoke and toxic particles throughout the neighborhood.
Even worse, if it happens on a windy day, a seven-story fire could potentially spread burning embers to the neighborhood. The fire department would of course do everything they could to prevent this, but the building was designed with sprinklers for a reason, and the sprinklers are all out of commission.
Honestly, the gas and arsenic don’t worry me as much as the newly found PBC on that site. Those are very-very bad because their uptake in biological systems is quick and they’re very long lived and very damaging. Once they’re in you…. you’re f$%@@#d
The gas and even arsenic aren’t that worrisome as the newly found PCB contamination. That stuff is truly terrifying.
Thanks Anonymous, and thanks to the other Anonymous commenter that pointed out the recently discovered PCBs on this site. I agree that this is likely the most worrisome of the contaminants found, as PCBs can cause many types of deadly cancers, nerve diseases, and other terrible health problems. They also last a long time in the soil.
For other readers, here is a link to the ecology report that mentions the PCBs found in the soil in 2021.