Arson investigation continues at former Gateways property

The transformation of Gateways for Youth and Families began while Jamie Beletz served as interim president. He led a reorganization that included forcing out employees, renegotiating Gateways’ contract with Savers Inc. (parent company of Value Village) and moving administrative offices from Tacoma to the Jessie Dyslin Ranch property in Summit.

Moving out of the old “Home on the Hill” property on South Adams Street allowed Gateways to sell the property and inject some cash into its operations.

Beletz talked first about giving the Adams Street property to the nonprofit Martin Luther King Housing Development Association in exchange for space in a building the association plans to put up at 11th Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way. In addition, Beletz discussed buying a condominium in the building for his own use, said Felix Flannigan, executive director of the association.

But Flannigan and Beletz couldn’t reach an agreement, and Beletz struck a deal to sell the bulk of the property to the Tacoma Rescue Mission. In April 2006, the parties agreed to a $1 million purchase option agreement that gave the mission one year to buy the property.

Then-Gateways board member Steve Downing opposed the sale of the land, which had been the charity’s home for decades. If Gateways needed to leave the property, Downing said it would have been better to donate it to another nonprofit agency rather than sell it.

An Aug. 8, 2006, arson that destroyed one of three buildings on the old “Home on the Hill” site complicated the land deal. Under the terms of the purchase option signed four months earlier, the Tacoma Rescue Mission was supposed to be added to the property’s insurance policy, but never was, said David Curry, mission executive director.

The mission followed through and bought the property, where it plans to build a $6.5 million family center. But questions about the insurance remain unresolved, Curry said. An agreement may soon be reached, Curry said.

The arson investigation is ongoing, but there are no suspects, said Tacoma fire Lt. Mike Curley. Curley sent some material to the state crime laboratory for testing, and based on the results he contacted other investigators and experts with additional questions. He’s waiting to hear back.

A Tacoma police report indicates that firefighters found all of the available gas lines turned on inside the building when they arrived at the midafternoon blaze, and the building’s sprinkler system shut off in the basement. Two doors were unlocked and the building’s burglar alarm system might have been turned off, the report states.

Chris Seim, a neighbor who bought a small piece of the Gateways property, told investigators and The News Tribune about a suspicious man he encountered in his backyard shortly before he smelled smoke from the burning Gateways building. Seim described the intruder as a white man in his 40s with slicked-back salt-and-pepper hair, a mustache, glasses and a tattoo on his bicep. The man wore a tank-top undershirt and baggy jeans, reeked of alcohol, and carried a white trash bag, Seim said.

“I hope they catch who’s responsible because I think it’s awful to go after charities,” Beletz said the day after the fire. “I think it’s despicable.”