PORT ANGELES — Port Angeles is officially historic.
In a nod to the city’s past, the state Advisory Council on Historic Preservation approved the creation Wednesday of the Port Angeles Civic Historical District.
The district includes three buildings on Lincoln Street: the Museum at the Carnegie, the original Clallam County Courthouse building and, in between them, the building that once acted as the city’s fire hall, jail and council chambers.
The state will recommend that the district be added to the National Register of Historic Places.
“It’s one of the happiest days of my life,” said City Councilwoman Cherie Kidd, who has championed the idea of a historic district since before she was elected more than three years ago.
Kidd attended the advisory council’s meeting in Olympia with City Manager Kent Myers and city archaeologist Derek Berry.
“I just felt that I represented all the people who worked for so many years to create a beautiful civic center for Port Angeles,” she said.
County Commissioner Mike Doherty also has been a strong promoter of the district’s creation.
Doherty could not attend the meeting because of a scheduling conflict and could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Kidd said she is working to organize a celebration of the historic district May 21.
If approved, the buildings would be open to the public that day, and a parade would be held on Lincoln Street, she said.
Deputy Mayor Don Perry, a local historian who operates Heritage Tours, said he was “tickled pink” to hear the district was approved.
Perry noted it would be a tourism draw for history buffs.
“I think there’s a tremendous future in it [historical tourism],” he said.
Without the historic district designation, neither the former fire hall, built in 1931, or the Carnegie, which was the city’s first library, could be listed as historical buildings because their interiors have been altered.
The courthouse is already listed as a historical building.
County Administrator Jim Jones said the county supported the effort to form the district in order to get the other two buildings on the register and because the former fire hall would be an ideal location for the county’s Veterans Center, now located at 261 S. Francis St.
“It makes a lot of sense that if we’re going to honor our past and keep these buildings in such a manner for all time for their historical significance, this is the way to do it,” he said.
There are no immediate plans to relocate the center to the former fire hall, which sits next to Veterans Memorial Park.
The building is known to be in need of extensive repairs.
A $40,000 study to determine just how much needs to be done is under way.
The city contributed $25,000, with the rest coming from the county.
State grant money can be used to repair the building because it’s now on the state’s historical register.
The building has been on the city’s surplus list since 2007.
City Manager Kent Myers said the City Council will consider removing it from that list at its next meeting.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
