PORT TOWNSEND — Construction of the enhanced Pope Marine Park, which city officials hope will make the area more attractive to both tourists and residents, is expected to be completed by summer’s end.
The east side of Port Townsend’s downtown has been disrupted by construction, rerouted sidewalks and congestion.
“By the middle of August we hope to have the south side of Water Street completed so people can walk around a new park, go down steps leading to the water and end up at a brand new public rest rooms,” said project manager Tom Miller last week.
Until then, people traveling through downtown will be subject to dirt, delays and disarray although the city is making every effort to lessen the inconvenience for businesses, city Planning Director Rick Sepler said.
Funds for the more than $1.2 million project are from three sources: A $650,000 grant from the state Public Works Board’s Small Communities in Rural Counties Grant Program, $350,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and $290,000 from a 2008 city bond.
The city was able to get the FEMA grant because the project included the removal of metals and other hazardous materials from the park area, Miller said.
A building constructed in the late 1800s — and which has served in its long career as an office building, a gas station and a police station — is being converted into a 2,525-square-foot visitor center.
The Port Townsend Police Department moved from the building in 2009 and now shares the Mountain View Commons at the corner of Blaine and Walker streets with the city parks offices, city maintenance staff, Port Townsend Food Bank and the YMCA.
The police couldn’t stay in the Pope Marine Park area because regulations prohibited having a police station in a earthquake hazard zone, Sepler said.
In its incarnation as a visitor center, the historic building will contain public meeting rooms, reception spaces, and in addition to the inclusion of a new public restroom.
Its function and its formal name are undetermined, Sepler said, adding that it will not compete with the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce-operated visitor facility near Safeway.
“Along with the new visitor center, the Pope Marine building and the [Northwest] Maritime Center, we have the facilities to host a small conference,” Sepler said.
City officials hope to complete the project before September so that it will be ready for the Wooden Boat Festival, set Sept 10-12, and the Port Townsend Film Festival, scheduled Sept. 24-26.
The entire project has been scaled down from the earlier conception.
The original plan was to pave Madison Street with bricks, but that proved to be too expensive.
Some pavers will be used to offset the intersection of Madison Street and Water Street, but the main surfaces will be asphalt.
The sidewalks will be widened from four feet to seven feet in places. That required the removal of several trees.
These will be replanted, Miller said, and supplemented with eight wooden planters of various sizes and shapes.
Sepler said the next scheduled projects include filling in the Tidal Clock, a failed art work next to Pope Marine Park, and strengthening the dock behind the buildings on Water Street behind Madison Street and Quincy Street to result in an area to be known as Pope Park.
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Jefferson County reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
