State buildings in Olympia to open July 1st

As we near Governor Inslee's COVID-19 vaccination goal of 70 percent of Washington residents aged 16 and over in tandem with a projected June 30th “grand reopening” of the state, we wanted to bring you the latest news from the state capital of Olympia. While many ports across the state have returned to in-person work, still others have remained mostly or all virtual. State-level government buildings will reopen on July 1st, with some restrictions still in place. We will bring you updated information once we receive it on whether emergency orders will be lifted on June 30th. For now, the below is a re-post from the Department of Enterprise Services, who operates many of the state-owned buildings.

After more than a year, the Legislative Building, commonly referred to as the Capitol Building, is scheduled to reopen to the public July 1. It has been closed since March 2020 due to the pandemic.

The Department of Enterprise Services is still working on many details with building tenants, including guidance to the public entering the building for both public spaces and tenant spaces. Tenants set their own requirements for the spaces they occupy. Tenants in the Legislative Building are the Governor’s Office, Lt. Governor’s Office, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, House and Senate, Legislative Support Services and DES Visitor Services.

DES is also working to re-establish public and civic education tours, including recruiting tour staff, volunteers for the tours and providing necessary training. Meanwhile, virtual tours are available. Learn more on the DES website.

Further announcements will be made as guidance becomes available and as DES public and civic education tours are restored.

Decisions on building access levels are made in coordination with building tenants. Conversations with tenants in other buildings throughout the campus are ongoing.

Updates on all campus buildings will be posted here.