Jefferson board pauses closure of rec center

Published 4:15 pm Monday, March 30, 2026

PORT TOWNSEND — Jefferson County is turning to the public for funds to keep the Port Townsend Community Center’s recreation programming and other essential park services open.

The potential closure follows a difficult budget season, which saw Parks and Recreation lose 25 percent of its funding, dropping from about $1 million to a $750,000 general fund transfer. The gap was further exacerbated by a 10 percent increase in expenditures, including insurance and utilities.

While the rec center, located on the bottom half of the community center, is being considered for closure, the community center itself will remain open.

The issue saw a robust showing of community support on Monday at the Board of Jefferson County Commissioners meeting. Commissioners noted that the crowd in chambers and online both were more numerous and younger than any in recent memory.

Port Townsend High School boys basketball coach Alex Little said during public comment that he’s been involved in the rec center since 1984.

“Seeing the programs of Jefferson County sports, particularly youth sports, over the last 40 years and the number of kids that have come through, the impact this has on kids’ lives is incredibly important,” Little said.

Beyond the physical benefits, Little stressed the important role that recreational spaces and activities play in kids’ social development.

Public comment took more than an hour and included comments from a number of school-age students who spoke on behalf of maintaining recreation services.

In a presentation to the board, Public Works Director Eric Kuzma said that, in addition to funds cut, an increase of 10 percent in unbudgeted expenses, totaling $94,000, have become apparent.

“That $250,000 cut really becomes a $350,000 cut,” he said. “That’s huge. It’s enormous to try and imagine reducing your services by that much.”

The rec center’s programming was set to close this week, but the commissioners stalled the process, stating they would work with staff to find a way to fund the program during the extension.

A county news release stated that immediate public donations of $85,000 would enable the current portfolio of services at the rec center — including free youth drop-in, fitness classes and the cooperative playschool — to continue through the end of 2026.

A larger goal of $344,000 would completely replace the lost general fund revenue and meet the increased costs, restoring all countywide services to 2025 levels.

The possibility of putting a levy lid lift for parks and recreation on the August or November ballot also was raised on Monday.

Kuzma called parks and rec staff the department’s biggest asset but said the only way to close the funding gap is through layoffs.

“We can’t reduce staff without reducing facilities; we can’t reduce facilities without reducing staff,” Kuzma said. “So we’ve got to look at, ‘What facilities could could we cut?’”

The three most expensive facilities, by far, are HJ Carroll Park, Memorial Field and the rec center, he added.

HJ Carroll Park and Memorial Field both have received state Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO) grants that require them to remain open in perpetuity, Kuzma said.

“We could reduce maintenance there, but we can’t close facilities,” he continued. “The only facility left, mathematically, if you look at the budget, is the rec center. Not ideal, not desirable, but it’s the only one that gets us close.”

Parks and Recreation Manager Matt Tyler presented three options for bringing services in line with the reduced budget.

Option A, which the department and the parks and recreation advisory boards are reluctantly recommending, Kuzma said, involves vacating the rec center and eliminating its free drop-in programming to cut costs.

Under that plan, the department would physically remove the rec center playground due to daily safety inspection requirements it can no longer fulfill. It also would shift several parks, such as North Beach and Courthouse Park, into an entirely volunteer-led “Adopt-a-Park” model.

Additionally, professional maintenance would cease at Memorial Field, transitioning it into a day-use park that could no longer support interscholastic school sports or large events like car shows.

Option B and Option C represent progressively deeper cuts intended to build a slightly larger financial cushion in the face of rising operational costs.

While detailing cuts in services, Tyler paused to state that he had a hard time even reading the extent of the cuts.

While all three options involve staff layoffs, the more aggressive tiers would further reduce the department’s footprint, potentially even involving land sales, to ensure the general fund balance stays above the statutory minimum.

Tyler noted that he did not recommend selling parks land.

Kuzma urged the board to consider the permanent nature of these decisions, noting that the loss of physical land or specialized employees often is irreversible.

“If we start selling parks, we never get them back, and if we lose key staff, we’ll never get them back,” Kuzma said. “So I think that’s sort of the, ‘If this is something we have to do, we want to do it as strategically as we can moving forward.’”

Tyler emphasized the importance of making sustainable decisions.

“We don’t want to sit here again in September of this year and April of next year,” he said. “Our system won’t stand the shock.”

Tyler noted that staff has been strung along since December when the possibility of layoffs was first introduced.

Addressing the long-term outlook, Tyler warned that the department will face a cycle of perpetual decline unless the county establishes a stable, dedicated revenue stream.

Tyler warned that, regardless of the chosen path, the loss of professional staff and specialized maintenance for facilities like the new skate park would result in long-term damage to the county’s recreational infrastructure.

The commissioners were discussing the potential for delaying action when a note from county legal staff informed them that they were not able to take action, as the chambers being over capacity prevented some from attending the meeting.

A special meeting has been set for 5 p.m. April 10 at the Port Townsend rec center, 620 Tyler St.

Community members can contribute to the “Support County Parks and Recreation” fund at jcf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=3422.

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Reporter Elijah Sussman can be reached by email at elijah.sussman@peninsuladailynews.com.