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TACOMAWEEKLY NEWS FREE • FRIDAY, JUNE 29, 2018

WWW.TACOMAWEEKLY.COM

DEVELOPERS TOUR THEN PONDER NEW USES FOR OLD CITY HALL BY STEVE DUNKELBERGER stevedunkel@tacomaweekly.com

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PHOTO BY STEVE DUNKELBERGER

Tacoma officials provided tours to developers and investors last week in hopes that the hands-on tours would inspire them to develop plans to renovate and reuse the iconic landmark of Tacoma.

he City of Tacoma is shopping Old City Hall around again with hopes of landing a buyer to redevelop the iconic building into a mix of offices, hotel rooms, shops, restaurants or apartments. A deal could come as early as this fall. “It has been a project very near and dear to our hearts,” said Assistant Director of Community and Economic Development Elly Walkowiak. “We are looking for very creative ideas for its long-term and successful use.” City officials toured Old City Hall last week with developers who represented more than a dozen firms from around Puget Sound in hopes that contractors and investors will see potential reuses of the 55,000-square-foot building in Tacoma’s downtown. Tacoma had bought the building for $4 million – when it was appraised for $1.6 million – from a private developer in 2015. Destination-pub developer McMenamins had eyes on it from the start, with visions of tying it into its $34 million renovation of

u See CITY HALL / page 10

DISCARDED NAPKIN LED TO ARREST IN 32-YEAR-OLD MURDER CASE BY STEVE DUNKELBERGER stevedunkel@tacomaweekly.com

The final break in a 32-year-old murder case came after Tacoma detectives picked up a napkin that their suspect had discarded after eating with a co-worker. The DNA on the napkin was all they needed to determine that they had their man after decades of investigating hundreds of leads and theories in the murder of 12-year-old Michella Welch in 1986. The Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office charged Gary Charles Hartman, 66, with first-degree rape and first-degree murder last week. Hartman pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Monday. He is being held in Pierce County Jail,

with bail set at $5 million. Hartman has no prior criminal record. He had never been a person of interest as the parade of investigators took on the unsolved case as the years passed into decades. But those thousands of hours of dogged police work paid off with advances in DNA technology, and ultimately, an arrest. But that arrest means more work is still underway. “This case has been under investigation for 32 years,” Tacoma Police spokeswoman Loretta Cool said. “The detectives are still working this investigation.” The case started on March 26, 1986. Welch was playing in the Puget Park with her two younger sisters. She rode

her bicycle home to get them some lunch. Her sisters left the playground to go to a nearby store to use the restroom and play nearby. When her sisters returned, Welch’s bicycle was found at the playground. The sandwiches sat on the picnic table. The sisters searched and could not find her. A search and rescue unit found Welch’s body in a gulch more than a quarter mile away. She had been sexually assaulted and killed with a slash across her neck and a blow to her head. Months later, Jennifer “Jenni” Bastian, a 13-year-old girl, was assaulted and killed while riding her bicycle through Point Defiance Park. It was thought that the killing of both girls was u See ARREST / page 12

Pothole of the Week...........2

Sports...................................13

City Life...............................19

Night Life Calendar.......... 26

Bulletin Board......................3

Hot Tickets..........................15

Culture Corner................... 24

Word Search...................... 28

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Michella Welch

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