PORT TOWNSEND — Internal renovations of the Mountain View Commons will begin in January and be completed before the end of 2016, city staff hopes.
“We’re in the middle of a space analysis,” said City Manager David Timmons.
“When that is finished, we’ll put together a list of the tasks we can afford to do.”
The analysis is being completed by Rolluda Architects of Seattle under a contract that is not to exceed $24,147.
The team has visited all of the campus’ occupants to assess their needs and is preparing a report that will be available in about three weeks, Timmons said.
The Mountain View site is leased by the city of Port Townsend from the Port Townsend School District.
Tenants at the former elementary school include the Port Townsend Police Department, the Port Townsend Food Bank, Jefferson County YMCA, the ReCyclery, the KPTZ 91.9 FM radio station, Working Image, the Olympic Peninsula chapter of the American Red Cross and the only public pool in Jefferson County.
Timmons said most of the renovations will center on the classroom building with a special emphasis on the police station, the food bank and Working Image, a service that provides clothes to low-income women who are entering the job market.
The major renovation is the installation of a walk-in freezer for the food bank while other improvements include upgrades to improve disabled accessibility, safety upgrades, flooring replacement, interior painting and storage for Working Image.
“We aren’t getting too excited about this until we’ve read the actual grant and know exactly what it supports,” said Working Image business manager Liz Berman.
“We don’t know what we are going to be able to do, or if our [$200 monthly] rent will stay the same.
Timmons said he doesn’t expect any of the rents to increase, but the city may request that tenants assume responsibility for a share of maintenance and janitorial costs.
“We want to make all the areas more efficient so they can work better,” Timmons said.
“It will be a series of projects rather than just one project, and we hope to complete all of them by the fall.”
Timmons said that he also expects that each tenant will have more or less the same space as they do now.
Voters overwhelmingly approved Feb. 10 the sale of up to $3.6 million in bonds to go toward the estimated $4.1 million needed to complete repairs at the aging complex at 1919 Blaine St.
The roof was repaired over the summer and about $1.2 million is left from the bond sale, according to Alex Wisniewski, Parks and Facilities manager.
“There won’t be enough bond money to do everything we want to do,” Wisniewski said.
The bond will be supplemented by a $414,450 grant from the state Department of Commerce to subsidize the food bank and Working Image.
The grant money can’t be used for other tenants as it requires funds to be used in support of programs to benefit low-income people, Wisniewski said.
Wisniewski said there is only one unoccupied space in the classroom building, while his own office is too big and now has a considerable amount of wasted space.
The police department consists of a hallway full of classrooms behind locked doors but it will need to be reconfigured, Wisniewski said.
“We may move some walls around in the police department,” Wisniewski said.
“We want to modify the space to fit their needs better.”
YMCA Executive Director Erica Delma said she would like to see better interactivity between the current tenants and improved signage on the street and better directions on the campus itself.
The YMCA’s long-term presence at Mountain View depends on the construction of an adjacent multi-million dollar facility that is now in the planning stage.
“It’s moving right along,” Delma said of the project.
“We’re in the middle of a campaign feasibility study that will inform us about the capacity of our community and the regional ability to raise the funds needed to construct the building.”
The project — which is separate from the changes funded with the help of the Mountain View bond money — is being undertaken by the YMCA with Jefferson Healthcare, the city of Port Townsend, the Port Townsend School District and the Jefferson Aquatic Coalition as partners.
The cost is estimated between $13 million and $15 million for a building between 47,000 and 52,000 square feet.
Ground-breaking for construction is planned for early 2018.
Jefferson County YMCA is a component of the Olympic Peninsula YMCA, which is based in Port Angeles.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
