Federation's building
צילום: איי פי
Jewish Federation returns to Seattle shooting site
Along with a new, secure second-floor lobby, the building now puts more emphasis on security and surveillance
The Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle held a ceremony Sunday to mark its return to the building where a man went on a shooting spree last summer, killing one woman and wounding five others.
The building has been remodeled since July 28, 2006, when a gunman walked into the building and opened fire, killing Pam Waechter.
Naveed Haq is charged with aggravated first-degree murder in Waechter's death, and five counts of attempted first-degree murder. Prosecutors say he said he was a Muslim angry about the war in Iraq and U.S. support of Israel.
Along with a new, secure second-floor lobby, the building now puts more emphasis on security and surveillance.
"Some people felt that we should move to another location. Others thought it was important to come back... this is our space and we should move back into it," said Robin Boehler of the federation.
"The majority of the folks thought that we should come back, that this is our space and we shouldn't be chased away by an act of hate."
New memories
The remodeled building also has a bright yellow painting in memory of Waechter.
"Because when you come up, it's the first thing you see. And it's the bright, vivacious smile of Pam Waechter," Boehler told KOMO-TV.
"Those who saw it before knew that it was a dark place and there were long corridors. And now it's a light-filled place," said federation member Richard Fruchter.
Another visitor Sunday was Cheryl Stumbo, one of the women wounded in the shooting.
"The first time I came in I kept looking ... where was my office, where was I shot, where did I fall down," she told KING-TV. "But since we've been back in the building we've created new memories for those spaces."
The $1.1 million renovation makes it so no one has to work in the spot where the gunman opened fire.
"How do you now assign office space to people at a place where things had been horrific? So we just made a decision that we would turn the entire front into conference rooms," Boehler said.
Haq's trial is scheduled in January 2008. If convicted, he faces life in prison without parole. King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng decided not to seek the death penalty, in part because of Haq's history of mental illness.
Three of the five survivors have returned to work at the Jewish Federation. Two others are still recovering from their injuries.
