PORT TOWNSEND — The Northwest Maritime Center hopes to propose a partnership with the Port of Port Townsend as one option for Point Hudson Marina, which is currently in need of funding.
The maritime center has asked a group of community leaders, the Your Point Advisory Committee, to help in crafting a proposal to the Port of Port Townsend for the management and development of Point Hudson, the center says on a website devoted to the idea at yourpoint hudson.org.
Point Hudson serves as the hub of the maritime center’s biggest annual events, such as the Wooden Boat Festival and Race to Alaska, which bring in tourists and community members.
Point Hudson has operated in the red since the Port of Port Townsend acquired it in the early 2000s, the website says.
It is now in need of $6 million in repairs, including the north and south breakwaters, which are at risk of failing.
The maritime center’s goal is to preserve Point Hudson’s unique feel, or, as the maritime center describes it, the “rosehip and salt water scented funk that makes us who we are.”
“We’re trying to color what a low-development plan would look like,” said Jake Beattie, director of the Northwest Maritime Center.
“Rather than having drastic zoning changes, we’re providing an option that would be driven by the community.”
Port officials have been working through a planning process since June to look at a variety of options to make Point Hudson self-sustaining, which it currently is not, according to a statement from port Commissioner Peter Hanke.
Last weekend at its Navigators Brunch, the Northwest Maritime Center publicly announced its intention to submit one of those options.
“We’re trying to write a proposal for the Port of Port Townsend on how to take care of Point Hudson,” said David King, treasurer for the Northwest Maritime Center board.
Point Hudson is in dire need of repair, but also, the marina and surrounding properties do not bring in enough money to pay for those repairs, said maritime center personnel.
“The port is looking at a variety of options, and we’ve been involved for some time,” Beattie said. “Part of it is we’re just making sure people are clear about the problems Point Hudson is facing.”
King said the maritime center is not currently working with the port directly but is trying to gauge community interest and investment in the project while the port does its own study.
“It is kind of two things running in parallel,” King said.
Port officials are working with Maul Foster & Alongi, an environmental engineering and consulting firm, to develop a strategy for Point Hudson. That contract is funded by a grant from the Community Economic Revitalization Board.
Port officials and its consultants are conducting an existing conditions and market assessment, according to port spokeswoman Kimberly Matej.
In August and September, they will consider various development scenarios, one of which is expected to be a public-private partnership with the Northwest Maritime Center.
“Hopefully we get to where we’re working with the port, but we’re not there yet,” King said.
A final report from Maul Foster & Alongi on the future of Point Hudson is expected in November.
“This is the last part of the puzzle,” King said. “This end of Water Street used to be a really neglected area and with the City [of Port Townsend] and the maritime center now here, the last piece of the puzzle is making Point Hudson sustainable.”
More information on the Northwest Maritime Center’s work can be found at yourpointhudson.org, and the port’s Point Hudson Development Strategy can be found at http://tinyurl.com/PDN-portpointhudson.
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Jefferson County Editor/Reporter Cydney McFarland can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 55052, or at cmcfarland@peninsuladailynews.com.
