SEQUIM — The first phase of the renovation of the 34-year-old Guy Cole Convention Center in Carrie Blake Community Park is complete.
Tonight, city staff will discuss design and funding options for Phase II. The City Council meeting will begin at 6 p.m. in the Sequim Civic Center, 152 W. Cedar St.
After years of planning, the finished first phase was celebrated last Tuesday when the Sequim city staff and members of the Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce were joined by 30 people to cut the ribbon and reopen the building to the public.
The building was last rented in December 2015. In 2016, it was closed for remodeling, which included renovating the bathroom, lowering the ceiling and adding new acoustic tiles, installing new carpet, windows and trim, a new roof, exterior lighting and paint inside and outside.
“Going through this process, it’s reaffirmed the importance of this building,” Assistant City Manager Joe Irvin told the crowd. “Our calendar is already booking up.”
Assistant Public Works Manager Matt Klontz said the project cost about $340,000 using a $436,500 grant from the 2015-17 state capital budget through the Department of Commerce Direct Grant Program.
Sequim City Council members agreed to a contract with Hoch Construction of Port Angeles in November of last year and they opted to go with an asphalt shingle roof over metal to save funds.
Council members told staff that any leftover funds should go to Phase II of renovations, which includes remodeling the kitchen and teaching rooms and adding distance learning equipment.
Klontz said that in today’s meeting, staff and council will discuss options from keeping it simple by installing a warming kitchen to creating a commercial kitchen with “all the bells and whistles.”
“The costs vary, so we’re going to zero in on what is the right kitchen for that facility,” he said.
On Tuesday, Mayor Dennis Smith concluded the celebration by saying “We’re going to have a world-class facility here soon and we’re getting closer every day.”
The centerpiece of the first phase remodel includes a 6-foot tall by 8-foot wide leaded glass window created by local artist Millie Harrell.
She told the audience Tuesday the piece took her 1½ years to make.
Members of the Sequim City Arts Advisory Commission attempted a fundraiser last summer to raise $29,000 to purchase the elk from Harrell, but secured only some of their goal.
Harrell ended up donating the piece, saying she wanted it to stay in Sequim.
“I hope the community really enjoys it,” Harrell said.
Sharon DelaBarre, chairman of the Arts Advisory Commission, said Harrell’s piece is the first secured for the city through the commission and she and other members of the group hope to bring more projects into the city with community support.
After Harrell was honored, Sequim Deputy Mayor Ted Miller recognized the efforts of former mayor Ken Hays, citizen advocate Pat Johansen and former city manager Steve Burkett for starting the push for the project in 2012.
Students with the North Olympic Peninsula Skills Center also remodeled the former Lions Den meeting room from 2014-2015.
The original Guy Cole building was finished in 1983 by the Sequim Lions and named after community advocate Guy Cole who served in many roles.
According to the article “So who is Guy Cole” by Judy Reandeau Stipe, executive director of the Sequim Museum and Arts Center, Cole and his wife Gertrude moved to Sequim in 1962 to open Cole’s Jewelry.
He went on to become president and vice president of the Sequim Lions Club several times, as well as serving on the Sequim City Council, president of the Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce’s board, and being a charter member of both the Sequim Bay Yacht Club and Sequim Elks Club.
Reandeau Stipe wrote that Cole and Lions members convinced the Sequim City Council to allocate $35,000 for the convention center, which they’d match and build with volunteer labor.
The Guy Cole Convention Center was completed in one year, Reandeau Stipe wrote.
In 2015, the city council approved a change in its rental policy for the building to promote usership. Hourly charges of $56 per hour for non-city residents and $50.40 for city residents were increased to $90 for city residents or $100 per day for non-city residents.
For more information, call the city of Sequim at 360-683-4139 or visit www.sequimwa.gov.
Matthew Nash/Olympic Peninsula News Group Millie Harrell, on right, created and donated the glass elk to the City of Sequim for its Guy Cole Convention Center remodel. She told a crowd May 16, including Sharon DelaBarre, chairman of the Sequim Arts Advisory Commission, on left, that she wanted it to stay in Sequim.
