PORT ANGELES — A new performing arts center envisioned for Port Angeles will occupy property on Oak Street, the Peninsula College Foundation has announced.
Dorothy Field of Port Angeles has gifted the foundation $1.425 million to purchase the undeveloped land on the northwest corner of Front and Oak streets near the city waterfront, officials said Wednesday.
“I love Port Angeles and its arts community, and I just wanted to do my part,” Field said.
The 70,000-square-foot parcel will house a performing arts venue that will be designed and built thanks to a $9 million gift from late Port Angeles resident Donna Morris, who died in 2014 at the age of 67.
The sale of the Oak Street property to the Peninsula College Foundation was privately negotiated with Tod McClaskey of Vancouver, Wash., who also owns Olympic Lodge in Port Angeles.
Negotiations resulted in a “bargain sale” with a purchase price that was $350,000 under the $1.76 million appraised value, officials said.
The Peninsula College Foundation is serving as a conduit for the funds that Morris bequeathed.
An ad hoc Performing Arts Center Committee was formed five months ago to oversee the project, which was publicly announced last Friday.
“We are grateful that the McClaskeys … were willing to make this significant contribution to the project,” said S. Brooke Taylor, Performing Arts Center Committee chairman and retired Clallam County Superior Court judge.
“They had previously donated a permanent easement over a portion of the parcel to the city the of Port Angeles for development of the new waterfront park and trail, leaving approximately 1.6 acres of land available for the performing arts center project.”
Ownership of the Oak Street property will be transferred from the foundation to a newly-created nonprofit as soon as the organization is granted tax-exempt status.
“Thanks to the generosity of Dorothy Field and the McClaskeys we now have in place a perfect downtown location for the facility envisioned by Donna M. Morris, and still have the entire Morris gift of $9 million intact,” Taylor said in a news release.
“The PAC (Performing Arts Center) Committee and the Peninsula College Foundation board are very excited about the possibilities.”
With a site in place, the committee will select an architectural firm to design the performing arts center.
A request for proposals was issued July 1. Responses are due Aug. 12.
Meanwhile, the committee will gather input from seven groups named in the Morris will: Peninsula College, Peninsula College Foundation, city of Port Angeles, Port Angeles Fine Arts Center, Port Angeles Symphony, Community Players and Juan de Fuca Foundation.
Public input will be solicited through a needs assessment, officials said.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
