PORT TOWNSEND — Fort Worden’s manager, Kate Burke, worries that the unique historical, natural and economic resource could be loved to death without rehabilitation.
How to preserve the park and maintain its facilities in a budget-conscious fashion is a concern shared by many who visit and work there.
“We continue to fall behind in capital improvements,” Burke said.
“We just are struggling to make our budget.”
A meeting today will allow those interested in helping to shape Fort Worden State Park’s future to comment.
A team will present two options for public review at a workshop at 6 p.m. at park Building 204, next to The Commons building.
Comments will be incorporated into the planning project’s environmental review process.
Two options
Staff and the Fort Worden Advisory Council whittled down five original options for the park to two:
Turn it into a Lifelong Learning Center or a Retreat and Conference Center.
Other options considered were an arts and culture center, a visitors’ retreat, a regional park and nonprofit/small business campus, a university and educational center and an education and conference center.
“Then the advisory committee morphed it to two options,” said Burke.
“And with public input we will end up with one final recommendation of the way to to go.”
Ultimately, the direction the park takes goes before the state parks commission, she said.
Funds will fall short
Should the Lifelong Learning Center option be approved, renovation costs would run about $26 million.
The Retreat and Conference Center option could cost about $32 million.
The Learning Center option proposes forming a new Fort Worden foundation that would generate revenue from rentals to resident institutions and lodging/food service charges to program participants.
Funds generated would fall short, according to Burke, requiring additional sources.
This would require securing strong partners, states the park’s long-range plan.
Under the Retreat and Conference Center option, a concessionaire would generate revenue from rentals and food service charges.
Net revenues to the concessionaire would also fall short, the plan states.
The primary risk would be in attracting activity to the park, according to the plan.
To cut costs, Burke said Building 221, which is not considered historical, could be razed.
The purpose that building serves must be considered, she said.
Building 225, between the park’s headquarters and the bluffs overlooking the park’s eastern shoreline, could be converted to 60 hotel rooms with bathrooms.
“That’s what people want,” Burke said.
Proposed plans
Other major issues needing resolution include access, parking and traffic, she said.
Also important is producing historic preservation guidelines for the park’s facilities, she said.
Site and facility changes proposed under the Learning Center option:
Building a new building for the Artillery Museum; converting Centrum offices to a classroom building; converting several buildings in an existing light industrial area to studio, practice and gallery space; and improving the third floor of the hospital building for conversion to classroom space.
Under the Retreat and Conference Center option, proposed are:
Relocating the Artillery Museum to Building 304; converting the Centrum office to a spa; constructing a new 40-unit hotel building; converting several existing buildings in the light industrial area to meeting and break-out rooms; and converting the hospital building to hotel accommodations.
Working to preserve
Last summer, Washington State Parks began work on the long-range plan to guide program development, historic preservation and business administration at Fort Worden.
For the past year, Burke, agency staff and members of the Fort Worden Advisory Committee have been collecting information.
They also have been researching other state park facilities and enlisting help from visionaries in arts and environmental programming, sustainability, public and nonprofit administration, architecture and historic preservation.
In May the planning team completed a highly competitive process to select a team of consultants to facilitate and provide technical support for the planning project.
PRR, a Seattle-based firm specializing in community development, was chosen to lead an accomplished team of architects, landscape architects, financial planners, hospitality experts, arts program developers and public involvement specialists in a collaborative planning effort with agency staff, volunteers and partner organizations.
An initial step in planning is to identify the full spectrum of opportunities and constraints the planning process should consider.
In late August, the consultant team — working extensively with Fort Worden staff, partner organizations and members the Fort Worden Advisory Committee — completed a Fort Worden Planning Opportunities and Constraints report.
This report is available for download from the project Web page: www.parks.wa.gov/plans/ftworden.
Since completion of the opportunities and constraints report, the Fort Worden planning team has begun the next phase of planning and crafted two distinct conceptual plans for development and management of the park.
For more information contact Peter Herzog, parks planner, Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission, at 360-902-8652 or at peter.herzog@parks.wa.gov.