From the Daily Olympian, Mar. 6, 1961:

East Capitol Site Plan Is Approved

By Dick Lawrence

Olympia has a new East Capitol site.

The House approved the Campus enlargement plan Sunday night after a fight. The vote was 59 to 35. The Senate had approved the measure February 24 by a 45 to 0 margin.

Senate Bill 212 now requires the governor's signature to become law. But the man who wants the authority to get on with Campus development is Charles Hodde, General Administration Department director. Hodde, a former House speaker, also is Al Rosellini's legislative liaison expert.

Will the boss refuse to sign Hodde's bill? That's about as likely as a legislator taking a lobbyist to lunch.

So, the Capitol Grounds will be enlarged to include these areas: Between Fourteenth and Sixteenth Avenues from Capitol Way to the Freeway: between Twelfth and Fourteenth Avenues from Capitol Way to franklin Street. The southern boundary of the Campus west of Capitol Way will be Fifteenth Avenue.

Hodde wants to acquire as soon as possible much of the real estate lying between the two state office buildings now under construction [stevenl note: present day Employment Security and Highways/Licenses buildings]. The other areas are tagged for future use. Property there will be acquired slowly as it becomes available.

Before approving the East Capitol site at a long Sunday night meeting, the representatives carried on some lively conversation. The ghost of the Olympia-Seattle fight over the location of state offices walked the floor briefly. And Republican Representative Harry Lewis of Olympia found himself in a strange predicament. Lewis was forced willy-nilly to steer the bill, requested by the Democratic administration through the House against oppostiion by many of his GOP colleagues.

Let's consider first Republicans Joel Pritchard and Slade Gorton, Seattle residents and seatmates in the House [stevenl note: Pritchard later became U.S. Congressman and Lt. Gov. A building on the Cap Campus is named in his honor. Gorton later became State AG, and then U.S. Senator]. Pritchard, frowning at the map of mid-Olympia, declared too much was being included in the expanded Campus.

"It is hard for me to see any reason for the long corridor winding to the Freeway," Pritchard told the House. "That's too much property. This is not the best long-range plan."

"I can't see having office buildings located so far from the other Capitol buildings. The long walk between them may make the state employees healthier, but it's going to waste an awful lot of time."

Amen, said Gorton, adding: "It is entirely unfair to property owners to designate this area as part of the Capitol grounds and not follow up by taking the property immediately. I don't believe we are going to need all of this land in the next fifty years."

Lewis countered with the argument that the Legislature should designate the direction of Campus growth to permit intelligent, long-range planning. Lewis added:

"The residents in the area are entitled to know ahead of time what we are planning so they can make decisions intelligently."

Support for this idea came from Representative Sam Smith. Said the Seattle Democrat: "We should buy this land as it becomes available." John Bigley, Kent Democrat, agreed in this manner:

"If this land had been acquired ten years ago, we could have bought it at a fraction of its present value. If we wait another ten years, the cost is going to be much more."

But Mrs. Joseph Hurley had another idea. Said the Spokane housewife: "Our government has expanded an awful lot already. If we have more and more office buildings, then we are going to have more and more departments. Then we will have more directors, assistant directors and assistants to the assistants to the assistants ..."

Mrs. Hurley is a Democrat. But her blast at bureaucracy charmed the delegates on the Republican said of the aisle. All, that is, but Lewis who arose to say:

"I am not in favor of constantly growing government. But I do know this: My family is growing and needs a bigger home. The state has the same problem and needs more room. Several state offices are required to move from Seattle to Olympia. Space is needed here for them."

Lewis obviously hoped this would end the debate. But he was to be disappointed. Up popped Representative Dick Taylor, Everett Democrat, the biggest House member and one with a large sense of humor. Taylor, harking back to the long PUD fight in the House, asked:

"Do the people involved in this condemnation area have the right to vote?"

After the legislators' laughter had subsided, Lewis answered: "We are not contemplating condemning property in the area. We want to deal on a long-range basis with the people there. We have no idea of pushing them around."

The debate might have been more extensive had not the public address system failed. Dead desk microphones cut-short speeches by representatives who, this late in the session, have no yen to shout. Some wags wondered if Hodde, the state's housekeeper, had silenced the loudspeakers.

When the delegates finally illuminated the red and green lights on their voting board, 53 democrats and six Republicans (including Lewis) favored the East Capitol site. Recorded against the plan were 29 Republicans and six Democrats.