The Olympia Downtown Alliance held its 24th Annual Meeting at the Heritage Room on Monday, March 21, 2022. 

The audience heard from Alliance Board President Todd Monohon of Olympic Rentals, Alliance Executive Director Todd Cutts, Carrie Whisler from Olympia Federal Savings, and Cheryl Selby, City of Olympia Mayor. The evening included a review of 2021 and a look forward to 2022's program of work.

For more information on how to sponsor LoveOly CleanUps and get your business's logo on the back of the freshly rebranded t-shirts, contact Desiree Freeland, Olympia Downtown Alliance Downtown Projects Manager at 360.507.8598 or by emailing dfreeland@downtownolympia.org by March 28. *limited availability

Now, the City is demolishing the current building (demolition began on February 28) and selling the property to Urban Olympia, a local development firm headed by Walker John, for $50,000. In exchange, the community gains 20 years of guaranteed additional affordable housing and the removal of the blight that has tarnished this section of 4th Avenue for 17 years.

On Tuesday, the Olympia City Council acted to designate February as Black History Month 2022 and urged Olympians to seek opportunities to learn more about local area Black leaders, history and events.

The City event is joined by additional cultural and educational opportunities available to the public throughout the month, such as exploring the Olympia Society and Bigelow House Museum Diverse Voices collection, reading the City’s Olympia Area Black Pioneers brochure; and watching the “Omo Africa” Juneteenth celebration by the Women of Color in Leadership Movement, Hawk Foundation, and Media Island International developed in partnership with the City of Olympia. For outdoor opportunities, individuals can take a self-guided walking tour of Downtown banners celebrating diverse community leaders, or attend a 1 p.m. Feb. 26, 2022, Howard Point celebration of a City-sponsored historic site marker.  

Recently, the Olympia Downtown Alliance welcomed four new board members to its Board of Directors and installed new officers. The Olympia Downtown Alliance Board is comprised of locally owned small businesses, property owners, non-profits and downtown champions.