PORT ANGELES — Organizers of an ongoing project to spruce-up downtown thanked their hundreds of volunteers during a ribbon-cutting ceremony at The Gateway on Saturday.
About 150 people attended the celebration, and several city of Port Angeles officials also came to show their appreciation.
A group photograph was taken afterward.
So far, about 15 buildings and storefronts, mostly downtown, have been repainted by volunteers or hired paint crews since the effort began about May 1.
There are about 20 more buildings to go.
Organizers said they needed to congratulate the volunteers and other supporters for everything that has been accomplished as part of “Our Community at Work — Painting Downtown.”
Port Angeles Downtown Association Executive Director Barb Frederick referred to it as a “midway party.”
“Today’s celebration is really about the hundreds of volunteers that have put in all together over 3,000 hours of work,” she said before addressing the crowd.
“We needed to stop and really thank the people that have made this happen.”
New outdoor art
The celebration also coincided with the unveiling downtown of three of the four new art pieces that are part of the Art on the Town project headed by the downtown association and a car show.
As with most of the other 62 art pieces downtown, the new exhibits are placed on display for at least one year. The one-year contract can be renewed if the piece is not purchased.
“We are one of the highest sculpture towns in the state,” in terms of numbers of outdoor sculptures, said Bob Harbick, head of the downtown association’s art committee. He and Jan Harbick, Painting Downtown co-chair and downtown association vice president, own Five SeaSuns Bed & Breakfast.
The new exhibits are titled “Flying Fish Woman,” “The Long Journey,” and “The Vernal One.”
They are located at First and Cherry streets, Oak and Front streets, and Oak Street and Railroad Avenue.
The fourth, “Vertebrae,” will be located at the Valley Creek Estuary Park. Artist Alex Anderson of Sequim will build the bigger-than-life size whale vertebrae at the park throughout the summer.
Painting project
The painting project is fueled by volunteers, now totaling about 200 people, who adopt buildings and paint them based upon designs approved by their owners.
The volunteers then receive donated or discounted supplies from local stores.
Organizers say that volunteers have completed about $54,000 worth of labor at no cost.
Some of the buildings have been adopted by their owners, who have contracted with professional paint crews.
Kathy Charlton, co-owner of Olympic Cellars and one of the project’s organizers, said the spirit of volunteering has been central to this project.
“Port Angeles is a gem, and it shines a little brighter because of all of your hard work,” she said.
The painting project will continue until all the work is done, Jan Harbick said.
So far, the project has raised $5,000 for supplies, and “we should be able to go on into August,” she said.
Jan Harbick told the crowd that everything should be done in six weeks.
Charlie Smith, an architect who has volunteered designs of all the paint schemes, said he has received 37 requests for designs.
“I’m about halfway through that,” he said. “People are still signing up.”
Edna Petersen — project co-chair, owner of Necessities & Temptations gift shop, and City Council candidate — gave Smith a paint brush decorated as a person and a bouquet of yellow roses to Jan Harbick in recognition of their efforts.
Mayor Gary Braun, City Manager Kent Myers, and city Economic and Community Development Director Nathan West all thanked the organizers, volunteers and other supporters for the work they have done.
“Port Angeles has never looked so good in my lifetime here,” Braun said.
Project buildings
The celebration at The Gateway took place in view of several of the buildings that have been painted. They include the Harbortowne Mall, Wenger building, the now closed DeLaney’s Other Side bar, and two city-owned buildings.
The city’s buildings are the former On the Boardwalk restaurant location and the Budget-Rent-A-Car building.
The city paid Liquid Painting $19,000 for the job.
This week, several more buildings will be painted, Jan Harbick said.
They are Lee Plaza and the storefronts of Baxter Auto Parts and Cottage Queen, which are all on First Street downtown. The Red Lion Hotel will also be painted soon, she said.
As part of the project, 10 decorated wine barrels were placed in an empty storefront at 123 E. First St. last week.
Prom dresses and a cardboard cutout of Bella Swan in the “Twilight” movie were placed in the window of the former Gottschalks building.
The Port Angeles Gottschalks is where Swan, heroine of the Twilight series of four novels set in Forks, shopped for a prom dress.
________
Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
