A smoke-damaged wood-sheathed EKG machine, some hardy plants, a shattered pane of glass—only a few physical mementoes remain of the old Snoqualmie Valley Clinic.
A lot of memories went up in smoke for folks like Bill Whitaker, Sheri Moklebust and Doctors Thomas Balch and Maurice Doerfler when a damaged light component dropped from the ceiling last October, sparking a consuming fire at the downtown Snoqualmie clinic.
“We all left something personal, something that you couldn’t replace,” said clinic manager Sheri Moklebust. For her, it was a special family photo that contained an electronic voice recording of her two-year-old daughter Amelia, now nine.
“Most things were so damaged, there wasn’t anything to save,” Moklebust said. No old photos were saved of the building from the fire; if any exist, they’re somewhere out in the Valley.
New memories should be coming soon, though. Contractors are rapidly finishing the new clinic building at 38700 S.E. River St. The site changes daily as employees of AK Construction of Cle Elum flesh out the timber skeleton.
“Right now, we’re pleased with the progress,” said Bill Whitaker, whose family owns the property. Contractors “are really pushing hard.”
“It’s basically the same footprint,” as the original, built by his father, Dr. John Whitaker, for his general practice in 1958.
The historic long, flat building had a lot of gardens and fences that made it look bigger than it really was. The new structure’s River Street facade and sweeping roof add a more vertical dimension, while the ground floor is three feet higher due to flood rules.
Whitaker is anxious to get the doctors back inside, just as they and their 10 employees are excited about coming back.
“We miss being there,” Moklebust said.
The clinic’s floor space will be the same, though some elbow room is being sacrificed for modern accessibility requirements. Patients won’t notice that, but may notice the building’s historic-style facade and entry, which faces River Street. Air conditioning will also be a plus.
“We’ll have an X-ray room again, yay!” Moklebust said.
Just about everything inside the burned clinic was original. After the fire, staff tried to save what they could.
Moklebust saved a shattered pane of glass from the building, in an effort to preserve touches of the original. She’s still pondering what to do with it.
Doerfler has practiced out of the Snoqualmie clinic since 1974, Balch since 1976. Since the October fire, they have operated out of the former North Bend clinic of Snoqualmie Valley Hospital.
The cost of construction of the 3,500-square-foot building is estimated at about $500,000.
• The Snoqualmie Valley Clinic can be reached at (425) 888-2299. Doctors are temporarily at the North Bend clinic, 213 Bendigo Blvd. N.
