PORT TOWNSEND — A 50-year lease between the Lifelong Learning Center Public Development Authority and the Washington State Parks system is expected to be signed today.
The signing ceremony at 3 p.m. at Fort Worden Commons will pave the way for the establishment of a lifelong learning center at Fort Worden State Park when the lease goes into effect May 1.
“This is the result of years of hard work,” said Dave Robison, executive director of the public development authority.
“It will build the foundation for art, culture and education programs at Fort Worden.”
The lease sets up the structure for the public development authority’s management of the “campus” portions of the 434-acre park — about one-fourth of the park and including most of the buildings — while State Parks continues to manage the camping, beach and recreation areas.
The academic campus will be managed to offer educational and recreational options.
Signing the lease starts a 90-day countdown for the public development authority to secure $300,000 for startup costs.
It also must establish a $250,000 line of credit within 60 days of the lease signing, and financial and marketing plans within 120 days.
“We are on track to accomplish all of these,” Robison said.
“We have a marketing plan and a staffing plan in the works.”
Comments from the public development authority board and State Parks officials are expected at the ceremony.
Additionally, a Peninsula College representative will discuss renovation plans for Building 202, which will house both Peninsula College and Goddard College’s academic programs, Robison said.
The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission approved the draft lease in August.
Since then, the public development authority board has been working to resolve “minor issues,” Robison said.
These included requiring that any new construction on the campus reflect current historical parameters, he said.
An immediate goal is the hiring of a hospitality manager, a position that Robison hopes to fill by the beginning of 2014.
Once that person is hired, the public development authority will begin assembling an estimated 13-member staff that will occupy space in Building 205, which also houses the park management offices and the Port Townsend Marine Science Center.
Robison will stay on as executive director, he said.
The idea of the lifelong learning center was first proposed in 2004. During discussions, a proposal for the parks system to transfer ownership of Fort Worden to the public development authority was rejected and a co-management agreement was developed.
For more information, see fwpda.org.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.