The summer of fund-raising
Published 1:29 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008
SNOQUALMIE – Longtime residents of the Valley will agree that many things in the area have come and gone.
The Tollgate Farm barn, Si View golf course, the gas station and grocery store at Maskrod’s Corner were symbols of Valley life that eventually went the way of all mortal things.
One of the more difficult goodbyes for Valley residents has been to the Snoqualmie Falls Community Hall, which closed its doors in 1970 following the resident exodus from the town of Snoqualmie Falls and preceding its eventual demise.
Any Valley resident over 40 who grew up in the area is almost guaranteed to have many fond memories of the hall, from socials to roller skating.
“It was really a community center for the whole community,” said Snoqualmie City Councilman Dick Kirby, who grew up in Carnation and frequented the community hall. “It’s what combined the two areas [Upper and Lower Valley].”
In the more than 30 years since it closed, Valley residents have felt the hole the hall once filled. The Si View Community Center in North Bend provided another gathering place, but its age and unpredictable county control has strengthened the desire for a new center.
“Every time we turn around, the lack of elements that come from a community center turn up all the time,” said Snoqualmie Valley School District Superintendent Dr. Richard McCullough. “It’s a void.”
When Snoqualmie was planning to add one of the largest developments in the state’s history to its city limits, some demands were made of its builder, Weyerhaeuser Real Estate Co. (WRECO). One of them was resources and land for a community center.
Although plans for the Snoqualmie Ridge development were approved in 1988, efforts to complete the Snoqualmie Community Center are only now starting.
After some discussion on how large the center should be, a design was approved by the community center board for a 39,500-foot complex that included classrooms, arts and crafts rooms, a great hall, a fitness center, a gymnasium and a large pool, among other features. WRECO gave $750,000 to the project and a 33-acre site off Southeast Ridge Street, but it is now up to the city and its residents to take it the rest of the way.
“It’s an investment for the community,” said Windermere real estate agent and community center board member Tom Armour. “It will add value to the area.”
Estimates of the cost of the center run a little over $9.7 million. The volunteers will work on two things, trying to solicit private donations for the center and drumming up support for a $7 million bond levy this fall that will pay for the rest.
Depending on the point of view, the timing of the city couldn’t be worse or better. The bond needed to accrue the funds to build the center will most likely be up to vote this fall, along with other measures such as a school-district levy to build more schools, and a regional, and perhaps state, transportation levy.
The community center will also most likely be packaged with a city levy to build a new government complex, which will include a new fire station.
The tax burden doesn’t faze the supporters of the community center, who see the time as ripe, if not past due, for a new structure.
“There are all kinds of programs we could put there,” said Carl Thompson, director of the Snoqualmie Valley Youth Hub. “The Ridge had been waiting for it and the whole city wants it.”
The size and cost of the community center has been a surprise to some. Although the center is being built with the idea of serving everyone from Snoqualmie Pass to the Lower Valley, being located in a city of a little more than 4,000 people has been some cause for concern for those who think a small community like Snoqualmie will be paying the brunt of the cost.
Snoqualmie City Attorney Pat Anderson, a Valley native who is volunteering legal advice for the community center board, said the size of the center will be a hard pill to swallow for some, especially those used to the small and intimate environs of the old community hall.
“The people in charge of it now are far removed from the original community hall,” Anderson said. “It’s asking for a lot of money, but I support it all the way. We really need it.”
Community center planners hope to curb some of the cost by seeking out financial partnerships and naming rights for the center. Although no specific fees or rates have been settled on yet, center planners have considered giving Snoqualmie residents a discount.
“I have seen community centers that paid for themselves, and in some cases even made money,” McCullough said.
The financial challenge is clear for the volunteers. Not only will the initial funds need to be raised, but so will support for the estimated $770,000 in operating costs the center will be need every year.
But it is all a challenge the volunteers are willing to accept in a city known for moving and shaking the past couple years.
“In this city, there have been some tremendous decisions made,” Kirby said. “This is another one.”
A fund-raiser kick-off party and community ice cream social for the Snoqualmie Community Center will take place from 1-3 p.m. at the site on Southeast Ridge Street on Sunday, June 30.
