PORT TOWNSEND — The city council heard of the need to quickly come up with a development strategy for Point Hudson to pay for the needed jetty replacement project during updates this week on major projects in the Port Townsend area.
Port of Port Townsend Executive Director Sam Gibboney gave a presentation to the council at its Monday meeting.
“If there’s one thing I want you to take away from this, it is that this jetty is failing,” said Gibboney.
She said the port is already looking at temporary alternatives to patch the jetties should they be breached before they can be replaced.
According to Gibboney, the port has estimated the project will cost roughly $5.5 million and plans to start replacing the south jetty in July 2018.
However, Gibboney said in order for that project to be financially sound, Point Hudson Marina and RV Park needs to bring in more money.
“Our goal is to install infrastructure and sort of set the table so that private enterprises can come in and develop living-wage jobs for the community,” Gibboney said.
According to Gibboney, she has been meeting with City Manager David Timmons and Jake Beattie of the Northwest Maritime Center to discuss opportunities.
Gibboney said the port has received a Community Economic Revitalization Board grant for a revitalization study for Point Hudson.
“Because of this impending need to replace this key piece of infrastructure, we need to have this grounded in financial reality,” Gibboney said.
The port is planning to hold formal stakeholder interviews in the coming weeks with city officials and local businesses that depend on Point Hudson.
According to Timmons, the presentations Monday by the port, the Port Townsend School District superintendent and the executive director of the Fort Worden Public Development Authority (PDA) were meant to show that these community projects need to be collaborative.
“We’re approaching this now from a team perspective,” said Timmons.
While the port’s Point Hudson project is still more than a year out, Salish Coast Elementary School will break ground this summer.
According to Timmons, the city is rushing to get all the permits in order so construction can get underway.
“We’ve got many of the processes in place and ready to roll,” said Superintendent John Polm, “but there’s still a long way to go.”
The school is scheduled to open for the 2018-19 school year, and the school board recently approved $2.8 million as the maximum construction cost for the building.
The project is funded by a bond passed in 2014, and Polm brought renderings of the interior and exterior to show the council.
According to Polm, the current plan is to have two main buildings with a courtyard in the middle.
“We want to connect inside to outside,” said Polm.
The new school’s pickup and bus area will be located on Discovery Road rather than Grant Street.
As an example of how the city and district are working together, Timmons said the city is looking to improve pedestrian safety and bike lanes along that portion of Discovery Road.
“It really is a community effort,” said Polm.
The district will have a ceremonial groundbreaking on the last day of school, June 16, at 8:15 a.m.
Updates about the project will be posted to the Grant Street/Salish Coast Elementary page on Facebook.
After Polm, executive director of the Fort Worden PDA Dave Robison updated the council on the new Makers Square campus.
Makers Square will be a new addition to the Lifelong Learning Center, which covers 90 acres and includes 73 historic buildings on the 434 acres of Fort Worden State Park.
The Makers Square project, which is meant to house an art school, performance spaces and a culinary school, will cost an estimated $13 million and require the redevelopment of three buildings, according to Robison.
Currently, the PDA is working to perform a feasibility study on the potential culinary program and a business plan for the Makers Square campus.
Robison also updated the council on some of the PDA’s projects from this year, which include a $75,000 renovation of the Bliss Vista accommodations that will wrap up next week and $1.6 million in energy upgrades to make Fort Worden more efficient.
“Our largest costs at Fort Worden other than staffing is energy,” said Robison.
Robison said he is also spending time in Olympia to try to get nearly $1 million back into the State Parks budget to pay for exterior improvements to the historic buildings.
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Jefferson County Editor/Reporter Cydney McFarland can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 55052, or at cmcfarland@peninsuladailynews.com.
