POULSBO — One visitor put it this way: Boomer’s Pet Boutique is the only pet store she’s visited that has chandeliers.
There’s a story behind those chandeliers. In fact, many of the details at Boomer’s have meaning — even the pet store’s name — but back to that in a moment.
The pet store moved to its new location — 18932 Front St., the former site of Voodiez Dining & Cheer — in late December, just in time to accommodate Christmas shoppers. The store, built by Erika and Jim Cecil, is light and airy, with soft colors and high ceilings. Henry, the couple’s Giant Schnauzer, is a steady presence as the store’s mascot.
The store has an eclectic mix of pet-related fun: Food, toys, and treats; art, accessories (how about an umbrella featuring your pet’s breed?), clothing, decor. That early 20th century-style signage with the dog on it? That could be your pet; a local artist will paint your pet’s image onto art or pillows.
Now, back to those significant details. Jim Cecil said he and his wife had wanted to remodel — extensively remodel — the original building, but there were structural issues so they decided to rebuild.
Anton Nelson built the original building in 1918 and operated a blacksmith shop there; Nelson was an early City Council member and assistant fire chief. Those elegant wrought-iron chandeliers pay tribute to the site’s origins as a forge, Cecil said. (Cecil donated horseshoes and other tools of the blacksmith trade, uncovered during demolition, to the Poulsbo Historical Museum.)
The new building’s architect was Danish-born, and the building features Scandinavian architectural elements — a tribute to the immigrants who came to this place in the 1880s and established the city of Poulsbo.
Cecil said the name of the store, Boomer’s, is a salute to the city’s ties to the Navy, particularly the famed ballistic missile submarines at nearby Bangor (a ballistic missile submarine is known as a “boomer” in Navy parlance).
Completion of the new building is an accomplishment in itself. The original building was torn down in March 2013, but completion of the new building was delayed by a property line dispute with a neighbor. When Voodiez was demolished, the developer took down the pole to which the building’s power line was connected. The pole was located in the parking lot behind the building; the parking lot is owned by the Sluys family.
As the new building neared completion, the Cecils sought to erect a new power pole on the same spot but the Sluys family declined, saying they may redevelop the site in the future date, requiring that the pole be moved. (The Sluys family contends it offered the Cecils permission to erect a new pole on the condition they move it in the future, if needed, at their expense.)
Then, the Cecils discovered a surveying anomaly called a “hiatus.” When the original building was built, surveying methods were not as sophisticated as today’s. Over the years, as the property and neighboring parcels were resurveyed using more accurate methods, a result was a postage-stamp piece of land outside the Cecils’ and Sluys’ property lines. According to legal descriptions, the postage stamp didn’t belong to the Cecils or Sluyses.
The Cecils tracked down the descendants of the original owner of that land before the postage stamp became a postage stamp — we’re talking more than 100 years ago — and bought it from them for $2,057, according to Kitsap County Assessor’s online records. They erected a power pole on the hiatus, but from there the power line would still cross over Sluys’ parking lot, potentially interfering with any future development.
The Cecils were forced to install a new underground power line under Front Street, connecting to a transformer near Anderson Parkway. The City of Poulsbo agreed to let the Cecils run a power line over Front Street, but Puget Sound Energy preferred the connection be made underground. According to PSE spokesman Ray Lane, the utility prefers electricity distribution lines be underground for reasons of “safety, maintenance, construction, and aesthetics.”
Mayor Becky Erickson is pleased with the outcome.
“They tried very hard to create a new building that looked like it fit in downtown. They succeeded,” Erickson said of the Cecils. “It’s modern, it’s up to date, yet it has that small-town, quaint feeling of Front Street. They did a wonderful job … It fits in [and is] part of the fabric that’s already there.”
By the way, the building has an upper floor and a rooftop patio, with a separate entrance on Front Street. Cecil said the upper floor will be leased to other commercial tenants.
