PORT TOWNSEND — The Rhododendron Festival Carnival is expected to be part of the festivities this year, but its location could change or it could be canceled altogether due to weather.
In a two-to-one vote, Jefferson County commissioners voted Monday to allow the carnival — put on by Funtastic Shows Inc. — to be held at the county’s Memorial Field in Port Townsend, with HJ Carroll Park in Chimacum as a backup location in case weather conditions render Memorial Field too vulnerable.
Commissioners agreed this will be the last year the carnival would be able to use Memorial Field as its venue.
Commissioner David Sullivan opposed the motion, citing his continuing concerns about using Memorial Field for events other than its primary function as an athletic field for such events as baseball, football and soccer, and about damage done to its surface.
Last year, the field suffered severe damage from deep rutting and soil compaction due to the heavy trucks and attractions, and irrigation heads were destroyed.
Funtastic helped pay for a small portion of the damage, but the county paid more than $10,000 to repair the field.
As part of the Special Facilities Use Agreement, Funtastic has agreed to contribute up to $10,000 to repair any damage caused to the facility.
It also allows any of the parties to cancel the carnival if weather and field and park conditions warrant it.
Commissioner Kate Dean has been concerned about the traditional event, held at Memorial Field the past 15 years.
“It’s been rather nerve wracking,” said Dean. “We’ve had several wet days and then it will dry out. The forecast is not looking great. This is very much a moving target and I appreciate that we are offering a back up location even if it’s not ideal.”
Sullivan expressed concern that the Rhododendron Festival did not do an adequate job in securing an alternate location last year.
“This [agreement] is improved over what’s been there before with a lot of work from a lot of people. As we talked earlier about our capacity, there are places when we have to say no all too often. In my mind, this is one of those cases. At this point, I vote against it.”
County Administrator Philip Morley said the county asked the Rhododendron Festival committee to secure another location last fall.
“Our parks department convened meetings with the city, parks and the festival committee and others. The county needed to step up and facilitate finding a back-up location for this year. We have provided in writing to the Rhododendron Festival, the city and other partners a memo that states unequivocally that this is the last year [at Memorial Field].”
Commissioner Kathleen Kler was pleased with the collaboration shown during discussions.
“This is the case of the county being a good neighbor and doing a lot of hand holding to get a traditional weekend kept intact as much as possible,” Kler said.
Dean said the county will continue to do some of this work to look to other jurisdictions for a permanent location for the carnival in the future.
“It’s an important community event and serves primarily families, and some would argue there are less and less available for families in the community,” she said.
Representatives for Funtastic, based in Portland, Ore., declined to comment Monday.
Funtastic will begin setting up the carnival May 14. The event runs through May 20.
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Jefferson County Editor/Reporter Jeannie McMacken can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jmcmacken@peninsuladailynews.com.
