PORT ANGELES — It was a garden party of a different kind.
About 10 members of the Port Angeles Garden Club joined City Council member Cherie Kidd in cleaning up the historic Port Angeles fire hall, 215 S. Lincoln St.
Kidd initiated the cleanup after nominating the fire hall SEmD along with the Clallam County Courthouse, Carnegie Library and Veterans Memorial Park SEmD to be part of a historic district.
The nomination has been accepted and will be voted on at a Feb. 24 meeting of the state Department of Historic Preservation, Kidd said.
Historic registry goal
If it is officially accepted into the registry, it would not become a historical site that could not be changed. Rather, it will be placed on maps that help travelers more easily find historic sites.
The building went up in the 1930s and once housed the Police Department, city administrative offices and fire hall.
“It was something of a civic center,” Kidd said.
The group cleaning up had a festive atmosphere, she said.
“It was such fun — it was a fabulous turnout,” Kidd said. “They showed up with smiles and hoes.”
The city of Port Angeles Parks and Recreation used a power washer to clean up the moss on the concrete porch, and the Garden Club fixed up the concrete planters and other grassy areas.
“The weeds have been vanquished, and the flowers are blooming,” Kidd said.
“It was a festive occasion with everyone attacking the weeds — oh, they were fabulous.”
Garden Club President Mary Lou Paulson said civic beautification is just one of the goals of the group — something they do on a regular basis.
“It didn’t rain on us at all — we were really fortunate because it was sprinkling in the morning,” she said.
About 10 other members of the club — which is made up of about 62 Port Angeles area residents — joined in on the beautification.
“She can stand proud now,” Kidd said of the fire hall. “There isn’t a crumb of dirt left.”
The Garden Club also regularly works on the garden on Railroad Avenue and helps the city with the planters that are hung in downtown during the summer.
Baskets at the Clallam County Fair promenade are also on the list of things they regularly work on, Paulson said.
The club meets every second Monday of the month at 10 a.m. or 11:30 a.m. at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 301 E. Lopez Ave.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
