Residents anticipating the historic Alki Homestead restaurant's re-opening will have to wait a little longer. Alki Homestead’s owner Tom Lin unveiled plans at the Sept. 17 Alki Community Center meeting to reconstruct the historic structure following a Jan. fire.

Lin also explained how a bed and breakfast, a lounge-style bar and a spa might also come to occupy the 15,000 square foot property.

An investigation following the fire uncovered so much damage to the 100-year-old landmark—much of it related to the building’s age—that Lin presented reconstruction as the viable option over restoration.

While many of the original logs still rest in the same places as they did during the first decade of the twentieth century, many also do not. Rot and bug damage during the past 100 years displaced or rotted a majority of the timber.

Lin stressed reconstruction as the best option in lieu of restoration.

“People don’t want to lose Alki Homestead,” he said.

The proposal for the landmarked property involves reconstructing and moving the Homestead partially because a majority of the structure cannot be salvaged, but also because the house currently straddles a property line. Lin’s architect, Jeffrey Smith, explained the new Homestead restaurant would use intact logs from the old Homestead as well as dismantling and reassembling the stone fireplace inside the main dining room.

The reconstruction would mimic the old building’s look while also altering the design, according to Lin and Smith. The new building would raise the roof to include space for a banquet area on the second floor and the building as a whole would become more accessible for wheelchairs, Smith said.

The proposed bed and breakfast, lounge and spa would occupy the current parking lot so an underground parking garage might fit underneath the new edifice, Smith said. The bar’s name would be the Seattle Auto Club and the residential building would be named the Fir Lodge.

Both proposed names hearken back to the building’s historical names before it became the Alki Homestead Restaurant during 1950.

“I think a bed and breakfast is spectacular,” said Dylan Reidt, Alki resident. “If you’re talking about bringing the spirit of the Homestead back, I think it’s great.”

No one, however, conducted any tests concerning whether or not a plan to construct an underground parking garage is feasible. Also, Lin did not provide estimates for expenses or a timeline for when the Homestead—and the other proposed buildings—might open (or re-open) for business.

“This is preliminary with a capital ‘P,'” Smith said.

Smith predicts the proposal for the Homestead will drastically change during the coming year when members of a city review board handling landmarked buildings scrutinize and alter the proposed design.

Members of the Landmark Preservation Board added the Homestead to its list of historical landmarks during 1996, more than 90 years after Gladys and William Bernard began constructing the log building.

While Lin goes to the city with his proposal, he hopes to erect a fence around the property because it won’t be used for the foreseeable future.