PORT TOWNSEND — Fort Worden’s newest attraction, Taps at the Guardhouse, will open Friday.
The restaurant/pub combination is located at the crossroads through which all visitors must pass.
“This is probably our proudest opening, something that has taken a lot of thought and a lot of detail,” said Todd Gubler, general manager of the Fort Worden Lifelong Learning Center Public Development Authority.
“It’s pretty amazing both outside and inside and will bring attending a concert to a whole new level.”
Gubler and Dave Robison, executive director, provided an update on the public development authority’s work at Fort Worden to 80 people at a meeting of the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce at Fort Worden Commons on Monday.
After a preview last weekend, the restaurant will open at noon Friday.
Taps at the Guardhouse hours are expected to be from noon to 8 p.m. seven days a week. After June, hours might be extended into the evening.
The restaurant can accommodate 44 customers inside and an undetermined number outside, depending on the weather.
The inside of the restaurant will be open to those 21 and older, while youths will be accommodated in the outside area.
Cable House
Family-friendly dining will be available at the newly created Cable House on the beach, scheduled to open May 25 with an appearance by the Unexpected Brass Band.
The specialty will be frozen yogurt.
The Cable House will be open seven days a week until Labor Day.
“We put a lot of time and energy into the branding of these two establishments,” Gubler said.
“You will see all our food outlets taking on this new brand as they are ready to take them on.”
Gubler did not provide details about the rebranding but said it will include renaming many of the current facilities.
Fulfilling mission
Two years after taking over the management of the campus portion of Fort Worden State Park, the public development authority is fulfilling its mission as a center of culture and learning, the two said.
“One of the reasons the PDA was established was to become an economic driver for Port Townsend and Jefferson County,” Robison said.
“Our mission is to manage the campus as a lifelong learning center and to become self-sufficient.”
Gubler said the 13 partners on the campus “create a wonderful base of activity.”
The park — which hosts a steady stream of Centrum summer events celebrating voice, fiddle music, writing, jazz, blues and ukulele music — will add a classical music program this season.
The Olympic Music Festival, formerly located in a rural area north of Quilcene, will present performances for six weekends from July 16 to Sept. 10 in the Joseph Wheeler Theater in partnership with Centrum.
All concerts will begin at 2 p.m., with tickets costing between $33 and $65.
“We will miss the old venue, [but] we could not have found a more beautiful location,” said Susan Miller, the festival’s managing director.
“We can’t help noticing the energy and the enthusiasm here at the park, and we are proud to be a part of it.”
As an incentive, each out-of-town visitor will receive a 15 percent discount off the current overnight rate, which includes accommodations ranging from dorms to six-bedroom houses.
Building rehabilitation
Building rehabilitation and repurposing is a large part of the public development authority’s future plans, Robison said.
“A lot of these buildings are 100 years old. Some of the furniture is also that old, and some of the mattresses look like they are about that age,” Robison said.
“We are going building by building, figuring out what to renovate and what are our priorities to really serve the people who want to come out here.”
Robison said the public development authority has hired a three-person carpentry team that is renovating buildings wherever needed.
Disappointment
Gubler said there have been some disappointments, such as the postponement of the filming of a movie feature scheduled for this summer, but the public development authority is able to recover.
“We have a limber business model,” he said.
“We had this big excitement about the movie that was going to be filmed here, and then it didn’t happen.”
Gubler said there was an immediate financial setback, with “$375,000 going off of the books overnight.”
“It was a significant financial hit,” he said.
“Unlike many facilities that depend on consistent funding, we run this like a business. We have a model that allows us to flow, so if the money doesn’t come in, we only spend what we make.”
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
