The International District/Chinatown Seattle Public Library Branch has been closed until further notice due to an unidentified, long-term lingering odor, according to Jared Jonson, the co-executive director of the Seattle Chinatown International District Preservation and Development Authority (SCIDpda).
Since March 26, after library staff reported the odor, an investigation has been ongoing. As a result, the building went through a series of vendor deep cleanings in and around the library, as well as International District Square Village II, where the library is located. Garbage, electrical, mechanical rooms, the parking garage, as well as the HVAC system were searched.
On March 31, an exterminator service found the possible source to be a dead rodent problem, which was then treated. However, this ultimately did not solve the cause of the odor.
“The dead rodents were removed. The places that they were found were sealed off, which triggered a series of additional mitigation treatments, things like improving air filters, and putting in an industrial fan to produce better airflow in some of the fine spaces adjacent to the library,” said Jonson, “Things like charcoal air filters and others like spell treatments were added. Initially, the odor dissipated, but then another odor or a similar order kind of lingered.”
On April 7, according to a public health notice document provided by the exterminator, it stated that there are “no immediate health and safety concerns at the location. Routine monitoring and preventative measures remain in place. No evidence has been found indicating an infestation or conditions that would pose a risk to staff or visitors. The facility continues to maintain cleanliness and follow standard pest control protocols to ensure a safe and sanitary environment.”
Throughout the month of May, exterminators found more dead rodents in the drywall, under the stairs in the electrical room, and in other places in the building. However, these experts advised SCIDpda that these carcasses were unlikely to be the root cause of the odor.
As a result, SCIDpda staff began to review the building’s architectural drawings and blueprints,
And discovered a possible small, fully enclosed area that is a crawlspace, but it is inaccessible to SCIDpda staff and the exterminator. A crawlspace specialist was scheduled for June 1 to assess the area.
“In a nutshell, at a very high level, that is what’s been happening over the last two months, is just through a series of deduction, investigation, trying to figure out what could be the cause of the odors. Mind you, this is now a 22-year-old building. So it’s not an old building, but it’s not a new building either,” said Jonson.
A speculation surrounding the reason for the odor pointed to the neighboring seafood boil restaurant, Crawfish King, which shared walls with the library. Another Taiwanese restaurant, Gourmet Noodle Bowl, was also a tenant in the building. However, according to SCIDpda, neither was the original source for the odor, despite short term issues that were resolved.
“The waste created from that restaurant was obviously smelly, so we made improvements to try and mitigate those smells and increase the number of trash pickups during the week, so that you wouldn’t have waste from the restaurant sitting for very long. Now that both of those restaurants are now vacant, we’re working on filling those with new tenants,” said SCIDpda.
The organization also manages 14 other properties in the Chinatown-International District. This building, International District Square Village II on 725 S Lane St, also houses the International District/Chinatown Community Center.
“Essentially, now we are in the process of where we’re cutting into walls, and really examining building blueprints to see what other spaces the smell could be emanating from” said Jonson.
The Seattle Public Library spokesperson, Laura Gentry, issued a statement directing patrons to visit our nearby locations at the downtown Central Library, the Beacon Hill Branch, and the Douglass-Truth Branch located in the Central District.
“We look forward to reopening the branch to the community as soon as we can. We are working with SCIDpda to ensure that we receive a final report outlining the cause of these issues, how they were successfully identified, and how they were remediated,” said Gentry in the statement.
On the Seattle Public Library website, it states, “The International District/Chinatown Branch is closed until further notice due to a maintenance issue that is being addressed by the building’s owner. The book return will also be closed. We apologize for the inconvenience, and thank you for your patience. We will update this page with reopening information as soon as we can.”
There is no expected reopening date for the library branch, according to the SPL website and SCIDpda.
This story was updated on June 11 with a statement from the Seattle Public Library
Hong Ta (she/her) is a news writer from South Seattle and grew up going to the CID, specifically in Little Saigon. She graduated from the University of Puget Sound with degrees in Political Science and Spanish. You can read more of her work at thienhongta.com.
