SEQUIM — It’s against the law for the Sequim Valley Lions — the club that built the Guy Cole Convention Center and other Carrie Blake Park amenities — to stay in their den.
Such is the finding of City Attorney Craig Ritchie, who sent the Lions an eviction letter last month.
The convention center, constructed 26 years ago with some 5,000 volunteer Lion hours, belongs to the city.
The now-53-year-old club gave it to Sequim in 1982 and has enjoyed free rent ever since, thanks to a 25-year lease agreement.
After completing the convention center, “we didn’t just rest on our laurels,” said Jack Napiontek, president of the Sequim Valley Lions.
“We’ve built bridges and trails . . . we helped with the skate park,” he said.
The club also erected Carrie Blake Park’s picnic shelter in 1994, and raised $32,000 to put in a pair of softball diamonds.
Napiontek estimates that altogether, the Lions have poured about $100,000 into the park.
None of that means the city can go on giving the Lions free rent, Ritchie said at the Sequim City Council’s May 12 meeting.
