PORT ANGELES – An inflatable “Bubble” field house, proposed to house three indoor tennis courts and an indoor soccer field, was awarded to the Clallam County Family YMCA on Thursday afternoon.
“Now is the time to get busy and work out the details,” said James Schouten, a Peninsula Tennis Club member who spearheaded the effort to obtain the building, which is being donated by an anonymous tennis enthusiast.
“Now that it is finalized, and we do have ownership, we definitely have to go through more formal procedures with city government,” he said.
The Port Angeles City Council has made no decision about where the inflated building would be placed, although the initial proposal was to put it on a parking lot and grass plot at Erickson Playfield, near the YMCA.
“Now the real work will begin,” said Mayor Karen Rogers, “including the public hearings and public process and site location.”
“I look forward to working with everyone to make the project happen,” she said.
“The parks oversight committee will discuss it and probably the parks board too.”
The Pacific Northwest division of the U.S. Tennis Association sought applications earlier this month from nonprofit organizations for the donation of a air-supported building, dubbed “The Bubble” by its manufacturer.
The Clallam County Family YMCA agreed to submit the application.
The building – offered free if shipping costs are paid – is now in storage at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
