‘Left in the dark.’ Businesses forced to close after wreck cuts power to UW Tacoma campus

Over a dozen small businesses along Pacific Avenue and most of the buildings at University of Washington Tacoma are still without power after a fatal car crash led to a campus-wide power outage .

Almost 20 businesses on the corridor from 17th Street at Zeeks Pizza to just shy of Abella Pizzeria have been dark since last Saturday when a vehicle, suspected to have been speeding , landed up 21st Street in the Cragle parking lot. The crash destroyed a high-voltage switch gear that electrifies most of the urban campus, university spokesperson Victor Balta said.

The Harmon building, the ground-floor unit now occupied by Tim’s Kitchen, is on a “different power feed,” Balta confirmed by email. “We acknowledge how frustrating this is for the businesses that call our campus home and we share in that frustration.”

While business owners say they have felt under-informed since the incident, UWT rejected that characterization. Tenants received emails on Saturday, with “specific calls” to food service tenants, said Balta. Alerts followed on Sunday through Wednesday, he added.

“It just feels like they’re leaving us in the dark,” said AnnaLee Zenkner, manager of Water from Wine at 1704 Pacific Ave. She said she wished for more details on progress, at least to assuage anxious feelings that she likened to the unknown timing of pandemic closures.

“If we can’t open, what do we do to survive?” she said in a phone call with The News Tribune on Wednesday. “Those feels are back right now.”

Liz Van Dyke, owner of Stocklist Goods and Gifts, said Wednesday that sales have dropped to a quarter of expectations since the outage occurred.

“We’ve been completely without power since [Saturday],” she said. “For a busy holiday weekend, we were expecting to get a kick start to our sales for the month after a lackluster June.”

Van Dyke said the drop would have lasting implications. More than half of the affected businesses are restaurants, which bore the additional brunt of below-temp refrigerators and freezers.

At Indochine Asian Dining Lounge, owner Russell Brunton pointed to the common paycheck-to-paycheck reality for many restaurant staff and worried about being closed for so long that some would need to look elsewhere.

“The rug is just pulled out from under us, right?” he said. While he navigates insurance claims that might assist with paying his employees, he also encouraged them to apply for unemployment in the event that the paperwork and the power restoration drags into weeks.

On Tuesday morning, facilities crews were refueling a backup generator used for emergencies and safety, including fire alarms, egress lighting and card-key access.

A few doors down, Sandra Ford popped outside Pho Thanks Brother in between tossing spoiled food and cleaning in hopeful preparation of a quick return. Customers have shown up unaware of the wreck. She said she’s heard chatter of maybe a week without power.

On Wednesday, UWT updated that campus operations would be suspended until at least July 20. As for the power, “A team is working diligently and quickly to build a project scope and timeline this week that will give us a better idea of the duration of the disruption,” Balta told The News Tribune in an email.

The business owners and managers wondered if the university might provide some sort of financial relief or at least more personally acknowledge the impact not just on sales but on their staffs.

“They all have bills,” said Brunton. “They all have to go to the grocery and pay rent.”

Van Dyke has also been frustrated that business tenants have not been offered ways to power their spaces from the university or Tacoma Public Utilities as they enter day six of the outage.

WHEN WILL POWER BE RESTORED AT UWT?

In-person operations will continue to be suspended through July 20. There is no date for the restoration of power on campus. Classes will continue to be taught remotely and campus spaces are closed. Offices and services are operating remotely, according to the University of Washington Tacoma.

The university said it has identified the components of a solution:

• The equipment needed to restore power is not readily available. A refurbished piece of equipment has been located. It needs to be evaluated for compatibility and tested to ensure it is working properly.
• Cable was damaged in the crash and needs to be replaced. A team is identifying sources for replacement cable.
• Rebuilding the infrastructure will require design, permitting, procurement and construction. Design work for the rebuild is beginning.
• On Thursday a team of contractors, designers and representatives from UWT and UW Facilities will convene on site to plan the next steps for completing the project as quickly as possible.
• In parallel, the team is exploring the possibility of sourcing generators to provide limited power for parts of campus and/or tenants.

Even though their in-person operations are temporarily closed, Van Dyke said that customers have been supporting them by purchasing items through their online store.

“We’ve been fortunate and have a great community here,” she said. “It’s our anniversary month, so we have a sale and are hoping for a stellar July.”

To offset the missing revenue, she and others on the block organized a block party on Thursday, asking the community to support them in this unexpected moment. Van Dyke said it is a way to connect small businesses with Tacomans — for now, on the sidewalk.

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