PORT ANGELES — Here’s how you build a cooking shelter to feed 8,000 people:
Step 1: Draw careful plans for the 36-foot by 28-foot structure.
Step 2: Throw the plans away and follow your vision.
That’s how Warren Stevens and Robert “Sonny” Francis proceeded with the project behind the Lower Elwha Tribal Center.
Considering that they threw away their tape measures, too, it turned out mighty fine.
Built with old-growth cedar pillars and cedar planks, the shelter will cater to the expected 8,000 Native American participants at the 2005 Tribal Canoe Journey on Aug. 1-6 on the Lower Elwha Reservation.
“It’s something we’ve wanted for a long time,” said Stevens, the tribe’s head of maintenance. “This was the time to do it.”
Stevens said Steve Wirth of Crescent Bay provided the logs and lumber at a “dramatically reduced price.” The structure is as traditional as he and Francis could make it while incorporating modern efficiency.
A construction vision
As for how they built it, Stevens said they drew plans, then threw them away.
“We did it mainly through vision,” he said.
He and Francis also “eyeballed” where they placed the pillars.
“At a certain point we just threw our tape measures down,” he said.
The project, started in mid-May, will take three more weeks to finish, according to Francis.
The building will have three fire pits — one for salmon, one for shellfish, one for other purposes — plus a sink. Its earthen floor will be covered with crushed rock, and a lawn will surround it.
“I’ve never seen one this big,” said Darrell Barkley, a canoe journey coordinator, as he admired the structure. “This is just heaven.”
“We can’t wait to get the fires going,” Francis said.
