FORKS — The new Rainforest Arts Center is on schedule for a grand opening celebration April 18.
And this Saturday at 12:30 p.m., the public can get a sneak preview of the complex.
“We’re building for future generations,” Mayor Bryon Monohon said this week.
The $2.1 million structure at the corner of North Forks Avenue and East Division Street is undergoing the many finishing elements, Monohon said.
On Wednesday, workers completed exterior details of the wood-look concrete shingles and bare-wood accents.
Vertical lettering that spells out “FORKS” has been installed on the curved exterior of the multiuse hall.
The primary contractor is Hoch Construction of Port Angeles.
Inside, the floor of the arts center features a layout of the area’s river systems, Monohon said.
“It’s bigger on the inside than it looks on the outside,” he said.
The grand opening ceremony is planned to cap the 2015 RainFest Umbrella Parade, which begins at noon April 18 on sidewalks along Forks Avenue.
The groundbreaking ceremony took place in April 2014 — also at the end of the Umbrella Parade.
“It’s not fully realized on Day 1,” Monohon said.
There will still be details to complete and equipment to purchase as various community groups add their touches to the building, he said.
Community groups and individuals are urged to contact the city to propose activities and uses, he said.
There are already some plans in the works to use the space, including classic movie nights, he said.
This Saturday’s tour will give residents a chance to see the interior progress of the replacement for a historical building that burned down more than two years ago.
The arts center in the former International Order of Odd Fellows hall at 35 N. Forks Ave. and the adjacent Olympic Pharmacy building, most recently occupied by the Dazzled by Twilight souvenir store, were destroyed in an early morning fire Oct. 29, 2012.
The IOOF hall and property, owned by the city, were insured for $3.7 million, and the city received a settlement for $2.64 million to replace the lost structure.
The site of the former Olympic Pharmacy, then owned by Alaska Financial Co. of Anchorage, Alaska, was purchased in September for $60,000 by the West Olympic Council of the Arts and donated to the city to increase the amount of space that could be used for the new community performing arts center.
A 1,000-square-foot commercial space is located in one corner of the new building. Proceeds from the rental of the space will go toward building maintenance.
About 16 years ago, the Odd Fellows organization deeded the Forks building to the city, which worked with the Rainforest Players theatrical troupe to manage the building as a community arts center.
The 1925 IOOF building had received $300,000 in recent improvements, mostly funded by community donations and grants.
The troupe lost all of its costumes, props, electronics and lighting equipment in the fire.
The theater/ballroom seated 150 people, and a second room had space for 50 people.
________
Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.
