Port Angeles: State dignitaries help open skills center complex – — – “a launching place for dreams”

Published 12:01 am Sunday, January 11, 2004

PORT ANGELES — The state’s top educator on Saturday hailed the newly opened Lincoln Center as a key to the North Olympic Peninsula’s future development.

“I wouldn’t have missed this day for a million bucks,” said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson in her keynote address for the center’s dedication ceremony.

“This is a red-letter day for your community and for the state of Washington.”

Lincoln Center — home to the North Olympic Peninsula Skills Center, Clallam Business Incubator and Peninsula College Training Center — opened to students for classes last Monday.

It was officially dedicated Saturday afternoon with speeches, acknowledgments and a ceremonial ribbon-cutting.

More than 300 people filled the building’s lobby and lined a staircase leading to a second-floor balcony as leaders from state, county and local governments spoke about the longtime vision for the facility.

“To have it actually happen, a place where hope and opportunity is right here in Clallam County, is just astounding,” said state Rep. Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam.

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The rest of the story appears in the Sunday Peninsula Daily News.