PORT ANGELES — The Bubble is still without a home.
The City Council voted 5-2 to table a decision on placing the inflatable field house, known as the Bubble, at Erickson Park Tuesday.
City Council member Karen Rogers, who also chairs the city’s lodging tax advisory committee, made the motion to postpone a decision because she said there are too many questions that have yet to be answered.
Rogers said she would like the project to go through the permitting process and receive the private funds and donations it needs prior to a council decision.
“I’m perplexed frankly why it was brought specifically to us, knowing these questions are not resolved,” she said.
James Schouten, representing Friends of the Fieldhouse, which is behind the proposal, said that all of the council’s questions already have been answered, or can be answered, in the near future.
Mayor Gary Braun declared him out of order for interrupting the City Council discussion.
“It’s really an unfortunate choice to sidestep the issue,” Schouten said after the vote.
“What remains unanswered will be solidified in the next step of permitting.
“We need a site to carry on with future funding efforts.”
The Bubble is a 296-foot long, 118-foot-wide, 40-foot tall air structure currently in storage.
Erickson Park
The YMCA of Clallam County Board of Directors has said it would fund the maintenance and operations of the facility if it was placed at Erickson Park, which is near their location at 302 S. Francis St.
Council member Betsy Wharton said she supports placing the Bubble at Erickson Park because it would contribute to the city’s recreation corridor, which encompasses that area.
“There is not a lot of activities in the winter,” she said.
“I think it is a reasonable deal for the city.”
Council member Cherie Kidd said she supports the Bubble, but is unsure where the appropriate place for it would be.
“It’s a puzzle,” she said. “I know there is a place for it. I just don’t know what the answer is.”
Council member Larry Williams said he would like a different place for the Bubble because of concerns about nearby trees falling on it.
On Sept. 18, the Port Angeles parks commission, which serves as an advisory committee to the city, voted 4-3 against placing the Bubble at Erickson Park.
They recommend placing it at Volunteer Park near William R. Fairchild International Airport, which Schouten said at the meeting would require replacing the ball fields already located there.
Junior Babe Ruth
Roger Wheeler, Junior Babe Ruth president, spoke in favor of the Bubble and against placing it at Volunteer Park.
“The Bubble is a great idea,” he said.
“We need more things for kids to do.
“But we don’t need to lose any more ball parks.”
On Sept. 24, the five-member Port Angeles Lodging Tax Advisory Committee voted unanimously against providing Friends of the Fieldhouse with $350,000 over seven years for the Bubble project.
Schouten said that decision is not a deal-breaker for the project.
“We have other funding options in the community,” he said, referring to donations.
“Let’s give our kids and families a better chance to interact and excel.”
Schouten said lodging tax money would have funded placing the Bubble adjacent to the skate park.
The project would involve replacing the 37 parking spaces at the park with 78 spaces on the north and south side of the Bubble, possible storm water drainage work, and adding the turf field and tennis courts.
Schouten said the project would cost $600,000.
So far, he said, the Friends of the Fieldhouse have raised $250,000 in private funds.
Upon City Council approval, the city would provide the YMCA with the space for the Bubble for 25 years.
The city would receive the field, tennis courts, and other improvements, Schouten said.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
