PORT TOWNSEND — The ReCyclery, part of a nonprofit organization that promotes refurbishing bicycles and basic mechanics, might expand its footprint at Mountain View Commons.
A public bicycle skills park with routes for beginning, intermediate and advanced riders could come with it.
The ReCyclery is working through a potential 45-year lease with the Port Townsend School District for the property at the corner of Blaine and Kearney streets, ReCyclery board member Kees Kolff said.
Kolff presented the plan last Thursday during the Port Townsend School Board meeting. School board members might have an opportunity to vote on the proposal at their regular business meeting at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 18 at 1610 Blaine St., Room S-11.
“We see this as a destination for families for biking, and it will be adjacent to a dog park as well,” Kolff said.
The ReCyclery and the Port Townsend Cycle School operate under the Community Arts & Recreation Alliance (CARA), which had a lease for the Mountain View location through the city of Port Townsend. Since the city actually leases the space from the school district, city council members last week terminated the lease with CARA so it could work directly with the school district.
“We’ve been working for over a year, prompting the city, prompting the school district,” Kolff said.
“We need to do something,” he added. “We think the time is right.”
Kolff said the year-to-year lease with the city was challenging because the ReCyclery couldn’t be approved for any grants without long-term security.
The proposal between the ReCyclery and the school district is for three consecutive 15-year leases.
Jonathan Arp, ReCyclery shop manager, talks with Lisa Flores, right, about getting a bike for her four-year-old grandaughter Aria Winterburn. (Jesse Major/Peninsula Daily News)
“What that does is it allows us to actually start realistically looking into architectural designs and putting a lot of money into this space,” said Jonathan Arp, the ReCyclery shop manager. “All of the facilities we have are temporary structures without great infrastructure.”
The ReCyclery already partners with the school district with many programs, including a bicycle education class at Blue Heron Middle School. It also uses a trailer the city purchased through a Safe Routes to School grant with about 30 bikes, Kolff said.
Rent is proposed at $1 per year plus any leasehold taxes that may be due, according to the potential agreement. In return, the ReCyclery and the Port Townsend Cycle School would provide services that include assembling and manufacturing bicycles and bike-related components, sell new and used bicycles, and donate others to make biking affordable for anyone, according to lease documents.
“They would provide a more structured, robust presence in our [career and technical education] programs for students at no cost to them to be able to access that type of programming,” Port Townsend School District Superintendent John Polm told board members last Thursday.
Kolff said the nonprofit would start a capital campaign to raise funds to build permanent structures.
“What we’re exploring now is what those possibilities look like,” Arp said. “We’re looking at restructuring this whole site in stages where the ReCyclery can remain in operation, and new facilities can be implemented.”
The cycle school, started last year, is the only professional bicycle institute that teaches bike mechanics in the state, Kolff said.
“Before we came in, you would have to go to Oregon or Colorado to take a weeklong course in bike mechanics,” he said.
Its first series of classes were held in October and November at the Cotton Building. The next set of classes is scheduled for June.
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Jefferson County Managing Editor Brian McLean can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 6, or at bmclean@peninsuladailynews.com.
Reporter Jesse Major contributed to this report.
Bob Lakey of Port Townsend looks over free bike parts at the ReCyclery. (Jesse Major/Peninsula Daily News)
