WALLA WALLA — The Marcus Whitman Hotel and Conference Center officials announced parts of the business reopened Thursday, Oct. 12.

A hotel spokesperson said The Marc Restaurant, the Vineyard Lounge and the hotel lobby will remain closed, but all private events and catering will proceed as scheduled. Overnight hotel guests will be back in the building starting Oct. 12.

The spokesperson did not have an estimate on when all of the hotel’s operations will reopen.

The hotel is where the first gasoline-tainted basement sump was discovered on Sept. 14, leading officials to immediately close it to ensure the safety of guests and staff members. On Sept. 27, state officials identified the source of the underground gasoline leak was the Chevron gas station at 7 E. Rose St., across the street from the hotel.

There are multiple requirements the hotel must meet before reopening to both staff members and guests.

Local and state health jurisdictions such as the Walla Walla County Department of Community Health, the state Health Department and the state Department of Labor and Industry will determine whether the hotel meets the requirements.

The latest update from the Washington State Department of Ecology on the city’s website said pumping operations at two monitoring wells and the sumps of the Marcus Whitman Hotel and the building at 106 N. Second Ave. are continuing. The material recovered is continuing to be filtered and eventually discharged to the city’s wastewater system.

With the reopening of the Walla Walla Post Office on Oct. 10, Sumach Street and the section of North Second Avenue between Sumach and Cherry Street have been reopened. The lanes on this section of Second Avenue are currently marked with cones and are narrower than usual to accommodate equipment on the west side of the roadway.